Red Devils on to Division 2 North Semi-Finals Following 64-54 win

After a thrilling upset victory on the road over Salem in the first round, the Burlington boy varsity basketball team returned home and put together a solid effort that led to a 64-54 win over Boston Latin.

Before the state tournament began it was unlikely Burlington would have the opportunity to play any games at home because they drew were the 12th seed.  However, they beat the 5 seed Salem in the first round and 13th-seeded Boston Latin knocked off Marblehead, the 4 seed so there would be postseason basketball played in Burlington. 

Burlington fans packed the gym and created a great atmosphere for the game.  Early on junior guard Greg Sheridan fed off the emotion of the game better than anyone scoring nine points in the first quarter.  Burlington was able to make shots which allowed them to get into a full court press which Boston Latin was not ready for.  The Red Devils led 17-11 after the first.

The second quarter Burlington once again controlled the pace of play, turning the quarter into the up and down, high scoring affairs that they usually fair well in.  This style of play really allowed Mark Melanson, the first round hero, to get going.  When the teams get out and run he has a knack for getting lost by the defense and getting open looks from downtown, which usually connect.  He hit three of them in the second quarter and tied Sheridan for the lead with 13 points at the half.

Another thing that got Burlington going in the second quarter was the spark from the bench coming in the form of two freshmen, Shane Farley and Christian Morneweck.  The two have made big strides over the course of the season and now give Coach Tom Lyons a couple of reliable bench players.  In the second quarter Farley scored a couple buckets and had a huge chase-down block that got the crowd going, and Morneweck played tough defense doing a lot of the team’s dirty work inside.  The Red Devils took a 38-33 into the half.

In the third quarter point came at a premium with both teams playing good defense but also committing silly turnovers.  Burlington had one of their lowest scoring quarters of the season scoring just nine points.  But as poor as they played on offense the team’s lead actually grew because they played such tough defense they only surrendered eight points and took a 47-41 lead into the final quarter. 

They team continued struggling offensively for the first couple minutes of the quarter until coach Tom Lyons took a time-out which really got the team back on track.  The team quickly built a 10 point lead and really did not allow Boston Latin to get any closer than that.  The star of the second half was Ryan Putney who scored the majority of his 21 points in the final 16 minutes. Sheridan also finished with 21 points but also was a star on the defensive end.  The guard managed to grab eight rebounds and also took two charges at key moments that kept Burlington’s momentum going. Melanson would finish with 14 points and Farley ended the game with six points.

Burlington now will wait and play the winner of the Brighton versus Winchester game on Monday night.  Burlington has not played Brighton this year and split the season series with each team winning on the road.  The game will be played sometime later this week at a neutral site. Check back with Patch as we will post the game time and site as soon as it is announced.