Raiders Clinch Tourney Berth With Win Over Indians

The Red Raiders are going to the postseason.

Playing in front of a lively, chirpy crowd at Dartmouth High School last night, the visiting Barnstable High School Red Raiders outlasted the hosts, 53-47, but not without great effort and they did it all without the services of senior captain Charlie Rice.

Rice, who suffered a bruised tailbone the night before in practice, gave way to his understudy Dylan Morris who did not disappoint, even with 20 stitches in his elbow. The junior forward poured in a career-high 14 points and hauled in 7 rebounds to help pace the Red & White to a crucial Old Colony League victory. Barnstable now stands at 3-0 atop the OCL standings in its defense of last year's Old Colony League championship title.

And now at 10-2 overall, the Red Raiders have clinched an MIAA Division 1 South Sectional postseason tournament berth.

But Barnstable's victory did not come without a gutsy, collective effort by all who participated, including some key baskets from men off the bench. Liam Garrity, usually the starting center for the JV squad, took an impromptu promotion to the varsity rotation once it was learned Rice needed a night off. A sophomore, Garrity did not disappoint and turned in an 8-point performance from the floor - he went 4-5.

Morris led all BHS scorers with 14 points, followed by France and Garrity with 8 points, Everett Walsh with 6 points, Jason Eddy with 5 points, Justin Alvaran and Nick Peabody with 4 points and Travis Kendrew and Jake Kipnes each with a pair.

Tedaro France added a pair of critical 3-pointers when the Red & White needed a spark, and of course, Morris's 14 points in his first-ever varsity start capped off a night of unexpected but pleasant surprises for Red Raider fans.

But early on the buckets would not seem to fall even though BHS did an exceptional job staving off the hot hands of Dartmouth sophomore sharpshooter Nick Simonetti (19 pts.) and senior Luke DaCosta (7 pts.) as the Indians could not seem to penetrate the paint to their liking.

Nor could the Red Raiders.

In what could only be characterized as a defensive slug-fest in the first quarter, the two teams were deadlocked at a minuscule 8-8 with only Peabody, Alvaran, Walsh and Morris scoring buckets. Walsh and Eddy combined for three first quarter steals and Kipnes notched three first quarter assists, but everything inside the paint seemed to be contested within a maelstrom of waving arms, slaps and body blows.

In the fiery din of Dartmouth's cavernous gymnasium, nary a referee's whistle could be heard. Barnstable rarely went to the line throughout this affair, registering a paltry 4-10 performance for the entire game, while the hosts were frequent visitors to the charity stripe. Ten of Dartmouth's 47 points were freebies.

Deadlocked after the first quarter, BHS found itself down by five points at the half, 23-18 as Simonetti made mincemeat of the Red Raider reserves, at one point rattling off 8 straight points in less than three minutes.

But the third quarter belonged squarely to the guests, as Morris opted to ramp things up on the inside with 10 second half points, combined with France draining a pair of treys.

Down 25-23, Walsh took a pounding beneath the basket but finger-rolled in a pretty one amidst the fray to tie it at 25-25. Tied at 27-27, Morris drained a poetic baseline jumper to make it 29-27, Red Raiders, and the momentum had turned. Even though shots began to fall through the bucket in rapid succession on both ends, the Red Raiders ended the quarter ahead by 6 at 37-31.

It was the fourth quarter that proved to be a veritable whirlwind of flailing arms and loose balls, but it was an unrelenting Jason Eddy who stole the ball on the inbounds and laid it in in what would prove to be the game-winner at 48-47. Kipnes would take a foul and drain both freebies in the bonus to make it 50-47 and Barnstable would not turn back as the seconds ticked off the clock for the final tally of 53-47.