Red Raiders Capture Tourney Title, Await Postseason Seedings

Contributed by Sean Walsh of Marstons Mills

Hustle, determination and hunger seemed to define the type of play the Barnstable High School boys basketball team exhibited Tuesday night at the Vincent Moscardelli Annual Tournament as the Red Raiders dispatched host Quincy High and Milton High School en route to the tournament championship title.

Facing a tough and exceptionally taller Milton (6-14) team at the Monroe McLean Gymnasium, Barnstable scratched and clawed and buried shots when it needed to most en route to a 46-43 victory. The Red Raiders now stand at 11-8 and await Friday's announcement of the MIAA Division 1 postseason tournament seedings. The Old Colony League champion Red Raiders likely will play Monday on the road.

BHS forward Charlie Rice, named to the All-Tournament Team, netted 7 points and hauled in 11 rebounds on the night versus Milton, just 24 hours after dumping in 15 points and picking up 14 rebounds in his team's 52-46 victory versus Quincy in the tournament opener on Monday night (Feb. 21).

Everett Walsh turned in a double-double off the bench with 11 points and 10 rebounds, but had fallen into immediate foul trouble the evening before versus Quincy.

Senior captain Matt Delaney turned in arguably one of his best career performances with 15 points and rock-solid defense to pace the Red Raiders' floor attack in the win versus Milton. He poured in 13 points the evening before versus Quincy.

Fellow senior Justin Blaze turned in one of his best career games versus Quincy with 8 points off the bench, including two flawless three-pointers from outside the arc.

Barnstable - 52  Quincy - 46

Barnstable found itself down 4-0 early in the 1st quarter versus host Quincy before Justin Blaze came in off the bench and buried a 12-foot jumper to make it 4-2, then Charlie Rice followed with a baseline jumper to tie it up at 4-4. Quincy senior forward Seth Pullum answered with a leaner off the glass but Rice followed suit by driving the lane off a nice inside feed from Matt Delaney and took the foul. Rice converted to make it 7-6 with just 3:16 to go in the first stanza.

Rice would soon find himself back at the charity stripe and he made the most of it by netting both free throws and marked the beginning of a game-long pattern that saw Barnstable hit 19 free throws on the night.

It was key that Barnstable's inside game was near flawless against a taller Quincy squad, but it was equally that BHS was able to convert on the foul line as it built a 16-11 lead over Quincy by the end of the first quarter. Incredibly, Barnstable was called for as many if not more fouls in the first quarter and Quincy was soon in the bonus at the outset of the second frame. Still, Brandon Gelzer's and Rice's efforts beneath the glass were commendable if not invaluable and Barnstable continued to maintain its lead until 2:03 remained in the first half when Quincy enjoyed a quick 21-20 edge then built a 26-21 lead going into the locker room.

It was a lead Quincy would not enjoy for long.

Rice came out after halftime and immediately buried a deep jumper to make it 26-23, some back-and forth ensued and then Ty Adams provided some electricity with a sweet top of the key jumper (the only shot, unselfishly, he would take for the night), followed by a nice pass from Gelzer into Rice to tie the game back up at 31-31. Blaze then answered coach Gerry McDowell's call and netted a sweet three to make it 34-32. With 1:17 to go in the third quarter, Everett Walsh hit a jumper to make it 36-32 and the jets were turned on in full force as Travis Kendrew drove the lane with a layup and Blaze drilled another downtown trey to make it 41-32. Jake Kipnes stole the ball from Quincy to end the quarter.

Kipnes, a sophomore, would give BHS its first points of the fourth quarter when he went 2-2 from the charity stripe at the 6:24 mark, but Quincy would mount an attempted comeback, eventually bringing the score to 50-46 with just 1:21 to go but Delaney would get fouled with just 7.8 seconds left in the game and he converted on both shots for the 52-46 finale.

Barnstable - 46  Milton - 43

Barnstable quickly found itself in a similar situation in the opening minutes of its championship game on Tuesday night (Feb. 22) versus Milton and got behind quickly, 3-0, before Delaney hit a 12-foot jumper to make it 3-2.

Walsh found Rice inside for Rice's first bucket to make it 5-4, Milton, then the lanky junior guard snared a rebound down the other end, fired it to Delaney who found Adams outside and Adams buried a trey to give BHS the lead at 7-5.

Delaney followed with a layup of his own shortly thereafter, then Walsh snared another defensive rebound, drove down court on his own, missed a jumper but followed his shot and put back his own rebound for the 11-5 lead. Barnstable went up 13-5 after a Walsh rebound and coast-to-coast layup and the Red Raiders soon found themselves enjoying a 13-8 1st quarter lead.

Barnstable's offensive output would continue from the outset of the second quarter as Rice found Delaney in the lane, Rice found Kendrew on the perimeter for a trey, Kipnes found Rice inside and then Gelzer stole the ball not once, but twice and laid it in to make it 23-12 before Milton finally hit a three-pointer and BHS took a time out at the 2:28 mark, ahead 23-15.

Walsh took a rebound down the other end and wove through heavy traffic before finding Kendrew en route to the hoop and Kendrew got hacked, sending him to the line for a 1-2 effort. The half would end 24-17, BHS in the lead.

Kendrew would get things rolling for BHS in the third quarter with a pretty 13-foot jumper, followed by  Delaney back-to-back jumpers but then Milton began closing in.

Ahead just 30-29 with things beginning to look a little hairy for the Red Raiders in terms of offensive output, Delaney ended the worries with a coffin-nailing trey to make it 33-29. BHS took a time out at 3:33 and came back in with Rice finding Walsh for a jumper and the Red & White turned up the volume with Walsh hitting Barnstable's last field goal of the quarter to maintain the lead at 37-34.

A minute into the fourth quarter, Walsh got hacked underneath and went to the line for a 1-2 output to make it 38-36, but Milton wanted back into this affair and knotted the score at 38-38.

A minute went by with some scrappy back-and-forth between the two teams before Delaney found the bottom of the net driving baseline, Milton's Datoine Murray (11 pts.) answered Delaney then Blaze scorched a jumper inside the arc to make it 42-40.

It seemed this game might go either way as Barnstable put up a pair of misses before Milton's Josh St. Fort netted a trey to make it 43-42, Milton. BHS took a time out with 3:06 left.

Milton had the ball after the time out and on the defensive end Kendrew reached inside the passing lane and tipped an errant Milton pass to Rice who gave it to Blaze but his shot missed the mark. Walsh took a feed from Rice with 2:24 to go and Walsh connected on a contested jumper to make it 44-43, Barnstable.

With the seconds ticking of the 4th quarter clock like machine gun fire, things seemed wild for both squads but a Kendrew steal would prove to be an exceptional heads-up play to preserve the win. Rice's two free throws with just 2.2 seconds left maintained the margin needed for victory.