Barnstable Falls to Dartmouth in 2-OT

Contributed by Sean Walsh from Marstons Mills.

The bright side was that the Barnstable High School boys varsity basketball team remained in sole possession of the Old Colony League championship title, but it may have tasted bittersweet on the long bus ride home last night as the Red Raiders fell in double-overtime to the host Dartmouth High School Indians, 62-57.

Barnstable simply could not find the bottom of the net in the first half, missing its first seven field goal attempts before junior point guard Tyler Adams buried two free throws for the game's first offensive output and just a 2-0 Red & White lead at the 4:44 mark of the first quarter.

Dartmouth followed with a bucket to make it 2-2 and then Charlie Rice (13 pts., 19 rebs.) took a Matt Delaney pass for the first Barnstable basket to make it 4-2 with 3:02 remaining in the first quarter. Delaney followed with a drive down the lane and nailed it while taking a foul but could not convert, giving BHS a 6-4 lead before Dartmouth tied it at 6-6 and BHS took a time out with 1:07 left in the first stanza. Dartmouth jumped ahead 9-6 on a bucket and free throw, then Alex Pernick took an inside feed from Justin Wilson-Bordun to narrow the margin to 9-8 to finish out what may have been the lowest first quarter score in the past 50 years by a BHS boys' team.

The second quarter brought much the same with the Darmouth squad seeming to receive the benefit of numerous whistles blown combined with a plethora of BHS misses from the field but a Travis Kendrew trey off a Justin Alvaran inbounds pass with just 2:00 left in the half narrowed the Dartmouth lead to 20-15. Rice capped off the half's scoring with a 1-2 effort from the charity stripe to make it 21-16 as the boys headed for the locker room.

Everett Walsh stole a Dartmouth pass at the top of the key and drove down court but got called for an offensive foul, but followed with a bucket to make it 23-18 and Rice followed with a put back of an Alvaran layup, and Delaney hit a pretty 12-foot jumper to make it 25-23. Barnstable's bench erupted when Kendrew got the ball on the outside and nailed his second trey of the night to give BHS the lead at 26-25 and from the point forward the game became anyone's as the lead exchanged numerous times. With 4:00 remaining in the third, Dartmouth made it 27-26, then Walsh buried a three-pointer from the right wing to make it 29-27 and Dartmouth took a time out at 3:18.

The break worked for the Indians as they tied the score at 29-29, then Kendrew felt the hot hand and buried his third trey of the night to make it 32-29 as things heated up. When Alvaran went coast to coast for a layup to make it 34-29, BHS on top, the momentum seemed to truly shift toward the guests. With the unruly Dartmouth crowd behind its team, however, things were not easy for the Red Raiders as Dartmouth climbed back, but a Rice to Kendrew feed on the perimeter gave the junior guard his fourth trey of the night and made it 37-31. It appeared Barnstable was beginning to feel its groove.

But the Red Raiders rested on their laurels momentarily as Dartmouth clawed its way back into contention capitalizing on some loose BHS defense and offensive misses to knot the score at 37-37.

Still, senior captain Delaney wanted the ball and got it outside as he buried his sole trey of the night to make it 40-37. Dartmouth returned the favor with a field goal to make it 40-39 and an old-school, tooth-and-nail barnburner began to truly develop, replete with the hometown crowd razzing the visiting Barnstable boys like nobody's business. Rice followed Delaney's trey with a nice inside fee and Delaney hit the bucket to make it 42-39 and Delaney felt ice water in his veins as he perfected the play off the foul to make it 43-39.

With 3:39 to go, Rice snagged a Kendrew miss and put it back to make it 45-39 but a couple of BHS miscues saw Dartmouth climb right back into it at 45-44 when Brady Holding buried his first three-pointer of the night. At 1:59, an errant Walsh pass was stolen and Dartmouth brought it home to make it 46-45, but Rice countered with a big bucket underneath to make it 47-46, BHS. He was fouled on the play and he converted in spite of chants of "Charlie, Charlie," from the home crowd to make it 48-46 with 1:18 left in regulation.

Dartmouth tied it up at 48-48 and Rice again came through underneath to make it 50-48 with 51.1 seconds to go. Barnstable's defense stifled the Indians but somehow the Indians Matt Nanopoulos was open underneath and got fouled. With just 2.2 seconds remaining in the game, Nanopoulos hit both freebies and the score was tied at 50-50.

The game went to overtime and at 2:56 Holding buried a three-pointer to make it 53-50, but Red Raider senior Justin Blaze came in off the bench, was left wide open at the top of the perimeter and he answered the call when he drilled a downtown trey to make it 53-53 at 1:29.

Dartmouth's Nick SImonetti, only a freshman, then got fouled and he converted on both to make it 55-53, but with 1:04 left in overtime, Walsh stole the Dartmouth pass and went coast to coast in heavy traffic to make it 55-55.

A mad scramble for the ball, it seemed, then ensued at both ends as the seconds furiously clicked off the game clock, but Blaze again came through with a dive and battle for the ball at the BHS end to get the whistle for a jump with 2.1 seconds to go and the game went into double-overtime.

Legs tired and emotions high, both teams fired up three-pointers at the outset of the second overtime but it was Dartmouth's Alex Coucci who drew first blood from outside the arc to make it 58-55.

Rice battled for a rebound under the bucket in heavy traffic and dished it back out to Kendrew who hit a short runner in the lane to make it 58-57, but five, yes folks, five consecutive Barnstable misses ultimately spelled doom for the guests. Dartmouth would end up with two more field goals but Barnstable had expended its last ounce of energy.

Kendrew finished with 14 points, Rice with 13 points and 19 rebounds, and Walsh had 11 points. Delaney added 9 points and Alvaran, Blaze and Pernick also scored.