Red Raiders Can't Catch Up to East Boston

Never underestimate the power of speed and athleticism.

The Red Raiders may have done just that Saturday afternoon (Jan. 7, 2011), as the hosts watched a 16-11 lead after the first quarter evaporate into a tie at halftime and a second half clearly dominated by East Boston High School.

Eastie, ranked 22 in the state prior to tonight's match-up, now stands at 6-2 on the season. The Barnstable boys fell to 5-2 with Nauset on the schedule for Tuesday and Taunton on Friday (Jan. 13) in the squad's first Old Colony League tilt.

The bright side is that the Barnstable boys are defending Old Colony League champions and they started last season 2-5 before taking the league and the remainder of their slate by storm. The downside is that just seven BHS players got their name in this afternoon's scorebook, and the team's overall shooting percentage was erratic at best: 31.82% from the field (14-44). On the free-throw line, BHS was slightly better than usual, going 8-12 (66.67%), and beyond the arc, the Red & White were 7-13.

Junior Nick Peabody again led the Red and White in nearly every possible aspect of the game, scoring 18 points (6-10 from the field), including a 2-2 performance from beyond the arc. Oddly, Peabody never went to the charity stripe, nor did his counterpart big man underneath, Charlie Rice. Peabody added nine rebounds on the night, while Rice adapted beautifully to Eastie's double-coverage as he put up 10 assists - the most by any individual player all season for Barnstable.

Rice tallied eight (8) points to go along with his 10 assists, while Jason Eddy netted 16 points, including a 4-5 performance from the free-throw line. THe only other players to put up points for Barnstable were Everett Walsh (4) four points; Justin Alvaran (4) four points, Jake Kipnes (4) four points and Tedaro France (3) three points.

"They hung in there," Coach Gerry McDowell said after the game. "But that was the most physical and athletic team we've faced all year."

In the first quarter, though, it seemed Barnstable had a mission and was prepared to bring that mission to fruition as it outpaced the visitors, 16-11.

Peabody went 2-3 from the field for four of his 18 points in the first quarter, Walsh had all of his four points, Alvaran added a pretty downtown trey, and Eddy had (4) of his 16 points to make it appear Barnstable was in command of this affair's outcome.

But through the rest of the game, East Boston outscored, out-rebounded and out-manned the Red Raiders (49-41) in virtually every imaginable, statistical output. Four of Eastie's players finished in double figures for the night, with Kyle Fox netting 12 points, Zack Gattoreau (10), Will March (10) and Charles Hines (11). All eight players who saw action for the visitors made it to the scorebook, while only 7 of 10 Barnstable players who saw time on the floor put one in the bucket.

In the second quarter, Eastie took advantage of some of Barnstable's weaknesses and with 40.5 seconds remaining in the half went ahead 24-22 but as time nearly elapsed, Peabody was left alone beyond the arc and he buried a deep bank shot to make it 26-26 as the larger than usual crowd erupted.

But four turnovers and 11 (2-11) missed shots from the field to open the third quarter for BHS spelled disaster as Eastie began building a comfortable lead at 43-38. Somehow, in some way, the synergy of the onset of the game had been lost for the hosts while East Boston turned up the defensive pressure and the its aggressiveness beneath the glass.

Peabody and Rice accounted for 15 of Barnstable's 24-rebound total in this affair, a statistic which has usually been spread fairly evenly amongst the team.

But in spite of this dyanmic duo's efforts, it was truly not enough as East Boston continued to keep the Red Raiders at a safe distance on the floor and on the scoreboard. Still, BHS did not entirely give in as some brilliant hustle by players like Kipnes and Eddy at the very least kept the hosts within striking distance. With time quickly ticking away in the fourth stanza, Eddy buried two downtown treys while Kipnes nailed his first of the season - there was a glimmer of hope the Red & White might tie this one, but again, a final turnover in the game's waning seconds spelled "no-go" for the hosts.

"Some poor passing and not knowing where the defenders were and no use of fakes," Coach McDowell said, played an integral role in why his Red Raiders were unable to overcome an East Boston team that Barnstable matched up to in terms of ability, if nothing else.