Well, it's Friday, and you know what that means. It's time for the Sports Buzz, the fastest three minutes in Brookline sports coming your way right now:
And good news folks, the Brookline boys’ basketball team bounced back from a one-point loss to Braintree with a 60-48 victory over host Framingham, improving to 7-8 overall and 7-6 in the Bay State Conference. The win sets up a huge BSC tilt against visiting rival Newton North tonight, as Brookline needs to win three of its last five games to qualify for the state tourney.
“There’s no easy remedy for this game,” Brookline head coach Mark Fiedor said, after the win over the Flyers. “We need to put the work in at the gym and show it on Friday."
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Brookline will try to avenge a 62-50 loss to the Tigers back on Jan. 14.
Against Framingham, while turnovers were still an issue for the Warriors—they had 21—they overcame their mistakes with a pair of strong efforts from senior guard Stephen O'Neal and freshman Anthony Jennings, who was playing in his first varsity game.
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O'Neal tossed in 15 points against the Flyers, following up a huge effort in the Braintree loss, in which he poured in 27. Jennings, meanwhile, propelled the Red and Blue with eight points and eight rebounds.
“We had a chance to expand the lead even further, but we were turning the ball over in the fourth quarter again,” Brookline head coach Mark Fiedor said. “Games against tough teams are like chess matches and require you to study your opponent.”
On Tuesday against the Wamps, the Warriors trailed, 14-0, early on, before taking the lead at the half. Brookline had a five-point advantage in the fourth quarter, before things unraveled for the Warriors, who had a chance to take command, but instead committed four turnovers and suffered a 54-53 defeat.
"It’s disheartening to lose like that, when turnovers are still a problem, and it took a lot of energy to come back,” Fiedor said. “It’s almost like you’re on a roller coaster because the talent’s there but not the consistency.”
In girls basketball, the Warriors, who already have clinched a state tourney berth for the second consecutive season, had their four-game winning streak snapped, falling to Braintree, 52-43, in overtime, after rallying from a nine-point deficit in the final 2:30 of regulation to force the extra session. Brookline (10-6, 8-5 BSC) visits Newton North tonight.
To indoor track we go, where senior standout Will Jackson was the only winner for Brookline at the Bay State Conference Championships. Jackson won the 600 meter run by more than a second with a time of 1:26.37.
Finally, to the mats, where the Brookline wrestling team took fifth place out of 13 teams at the Division 1 Central team sectionals at Newton South. What made it even sweeter was that Brookline achieved the feat by defeating archrival Newton North for the second time in a week. The Warriors took the Tigers, 54-22, in a dual meet on the road, before winning by an even larger margin in a 63-12 decision over Newton at the sectionals to clinch the fifth-place spot.
Overall, the Warriors went 3-1 on the day, highlighted by a terrific outing by sophomore standout Ramesses Akamefula, who went 4-0, after being bumped up from the 189-pound weight circuit to 215, because it made for better overall matchups for the Warriors. Akamefula pinned one of his opponents, and also won a thrilling 7-6 match in overtime.
The teams competing at the sectionals included Newton South, Malden, Lexington, Newton North, Framingham, Brookline, Everett, Waltham, Lincoln-Sudbury, Cambridge Rindge and Latin, Franklin, North Quincy and Algonquin.
Pat Ouellette and Brookline athletics contributed to this report.
