Barnstable Red Raiders Clinch First OCL Title in Decade

Contributed by Sean Walsh in Marstons Mills

It's been a long time coming.

Not since the storied 2001-02 season have the Red Raiders captured an Old Colony League championship title, but on Monday night at host Bridgewater-Raynham, Barnstable's boys did just that, clinching at least a share of the Old Colony League boys basketball championship title.

But it wasn't easy.

Fresh off last Friday night's (Feb. 11) 60-44 drubbing of the B-R Trojans in Hyannis, the Red Raiders took the long bus ride to Bridgewater for a make-up game and the 4-14 Trojans showed they were anything but prepared to lay down. Barnstable needed just one more victory to clinch at least a share of the title with Dartmouth High School, but B-R simply did not want to go down silently.

Seeming lackluster and disjointed, Barnstable found itself down 30-23 at halftime and the crowded B-R gymnasium was electrified in support for its Trojan boys. B-R had applied a suffocating double and even triple team down low on Barnstable's top scorer Charlie Rice and the Red Raiders' outside shooting left something to be desired.

But in the second half, desire is precisely what got the Red Raiders past a painful first half as point guard Justin Alvaran, Everett Walsh and Justin Wilson-Bordun turned up the defensive pressure and wrecked havoc with B-R's offensive scheme. Power forward Ryan Smith, a senior, also helped amplify the Red Raiders' presence beneath the boards, as did Rice and senior Brandon Gelzer, but Smith went down early in the third quarter with a sprained ankle, giving some life back to the Trojans.

But it was not enough for the hosts. With time running out in the fourth quarter, Alvaran nailed an acrobatic inside lay-up to give the Red Raiders a one-point lead. Bridgewater-Raynham returned the favor but then Walsh hit an inside layup in heavy traffic and followed with a steal at the other end and coast-to-coast lay-up to put the final dagger in B-R's hope for revenge. Senior captain Matt Delaney's final free throw was the icing on the cake for the 52-48 finale.

Rice finished with 11 points, Travis Kendrew with 10 points, Alvaran with 8 points, Delaney with 6 points, Walsh with six points and Jake Kipnes with 4 points.

In Darmouth, however, the Indians were busy defeating fellow OCL rival Taunton in double-overtime, 74-72, to make things interesting in Barnstable's decade-long quest for an OCL championship. Even though Barnstable had beaten Dartmouth earlier in the season, the Indians stood at 3-1 in the league standings, while Barnstable stood at a perfect 5-0. Dartmouth faces Taunton again, tomorrow night (Thursday, Feb. 17) and if it loses, the title will be Barnstable's. If Dartmouth wins, then Barnstable must defeat Dartmouth Friday night on the road for an outright claim to the championship.

Barnstable made quick business of the guest Sandwich Blue Knights on Senior Night, in a 53-40 tilt that likely could have been exceptionally worse for the Knights had head coach Gerry McDowell not emptied his bench early and often, playing each eligible Red Raider in the game.

Top scorers for Barnstable were Alvaran, Travis Kendrew and Walsh, each with 8 points.