Newton North Trounces Brookline Basketball

The opening minutes of the Brookline basketball game against Newton North last night served as a microcosm of its recent play: After scoring five points early, the Warriors turned the ball over five straight times.

Despite Brookline head coach Mark Fiedor’s pleas for his team to take better care of the ball all week, the Warriors committed 24 turnovers and struggled to keep up with the aggressive-but-disciplined Newton North in a 64-40 shellacking.

“Our goal was to keep the turnovers below 10, and we had 11 at the half,” Fiedor said. “We got our butts kicked tonight.”

Newton North jumped out to a 15-7 lead at the end of the first quarter by finding the open man in transition and being careful with the ball. Guard Stephen O’Neal (13 points) helped keep Brookline in the game in the second quarter by hitting a pair of three pointers but the Tigers were hitting from deep as well. Newton North’s Michael Thorpe and Korey Mui both knocked down threes and 6-foot-6-inch Aaron Falzon connected on two three pointers to give their team a 30-23 advantage at half time.

“There were times where we had three guys covering one guy on their team, which showed a need for more mental discipline,” Fiedor said. “Positioning on rebounds and picks may seem like small things, but they end up being important.”

The Tigers completely overmatched the Warriors in the second half as they allowed Brookline only 17 points in the last two quarters. A big issue for the Warriors in the second half was their inability to penetrate the Tiger defense or finish at the rim when they were able to get some space. This was not a problem for Newton North, however, as it outscored Brookline 11-0 at one point in the third quarter and extended its lead to 49-31 at the end of three quarters.

Fiedor has been trying to implement a motion offense, but was disappointed with his forwards’ lack of mobility.

“Our forwards need to move down from the top of the key in a motion offense and our guards need to keep their heads up when coming off high picks,” Fiedor said.

Falzon hit another three to open the fourth quarter, but his ability to draw the Brookline forwards out to the three-point line to clear space down low was just as damaging as the points he scored.

Brookline (7-9) will need to win three out of its remaining four games to give itself a chance at a playoff spot. Fiedor was encouraged by his team’s attitude after the loss.

“They said ‘We lost, but let’s get back to work’,” Fiedor said.