Top Seed Colonials Lose at Home

The boys varsity basketball team was top seeded in the playoffs and the Fitchburg Red Raiders came into Shrewsbury as underdogs, but left victorious.

Fitchburg defeated the Colonials 68-50 in their first game of the district tournament.

What was supposed to be a "white-out" by the Colonial Crazies, diehard Shrewsbury fans, was more like four rows of students, mostly wearing white.

The most energy the super fans did display was at the very beginning of the game. Senior Ryan Stowe wasn't shy from throwing up 3-pointers early. The crowd held their collective breath as Stowe missed his first couple 3-point attempts. He buried his third attempt, to put his squad up 14-6 early. The score at the end of the first quarter was 16-11.

The calls weren't going in Shrewsbury's favor at all in the first half. Play should've been stopped at one point when Sophomore Mike Coggeshall among other players were on the ground, wrestling over a loose ball. The referees ignored the royal rumble long enough for the ball to come free, and roll into the possession of Fitchburg.

The Red Raiders moved the ball well. Guard Quinton Perkins ran a good offense. Fitchburg also capitalized on second-chance points. The first half ended with a 30-30 tie.

"We got out-rebounded" said Shrewsbury assistant coach Derek Leab. "They were just scoring so easily, and we had to work so hard for our points"

Fitchburg started off the second half with a 16-5 run. Perkins hit two big 3-pointer's during that run. Shrewsbury Senior forwards Matt Kneece and Wil Michalski made several good takes to the rim, but most rattled around and fell to a Red Raider.

Just as the Colonials were starting to lose sight of a victory, Fitchburg's Abi Akanni was fouled on a 3-point try, for a rare 4-point play. Akanni finished with 11 points.

Fitchburg has a battle coming up on Sunday when they face South High at WPI. The winner of that will likely face the #2 seed Saint John's Pioneers, who are facing North Middlesex on March 6 for a place in the district championship to be played on March 13.