Warriors Knock Off North Andover, Advance to Sectional Final

WOBURN—Freshman Bruce Brown may have had trouble getting into the swing of things early on last night against top-seeded North Andover, but when it came time for someone to step up in the fourth quarter, he was there to answer the bell.

Brown dropped eight of his 14 points in the final frame as No. 5 seeded Wakefield stunned the Scarlet Knights, 47-45, in the MIAA Division II North sectional semifinals at Woburn High School.

While it was Brown who led the Warriors down the stretch, at the outset it was Keyon Armstrong. The senior guard had the hot hand early and torched North Andover’s skilled defenders for 14 first-half points. Armstrong ended the game with 16 points, including four 3-pointers.

“They believed they were going to win the game ... somebody was going to do something,” said Warriors coach Brad Simpson of his team. “Keyon Armstrong. In the first half we just got on his back, and in the second half, it was Bruce Brown.”

Wakefield (17-6) earned a date with No. 3 Brighton (19-3) in the North final at 7:45 p.m. on Saturday at Lowell’s Tsongas Center.  

Senior Zach Karalis led North Andover (21-2) with 10 points, while junior Isaiah Nelson netted nine and senior Mike Moroney dropped seven.

Wakefield's coach also pointed to the efforts of senior James Bourque, who was helpful in containing North Andover's two big men all game.

"I didn't know how well we could match up with them," said Simpson. "But James Bourque, giving away about four inches, probably 20 pounds, did a great job on the big guys ... They got their points, but boy, they earned them."

Despite Armstrong knocking down buckets in the first half like Kobayashi at Kentucky Fried Chicken, Simpson and his staff saw something in the matchup with Brown and his man that led them to put the game in the hands of the talented underclassman. And Brown responded with a clutch performance of the first order.

“Coach just told me to take over. He said it was my time.” Brown said. “Coach told me to take over the quarter ... he told me to push the ball every time we got the rebound, so that’s what I did.”

With Wakefield trailing 39-35 in the fourth, Brown brought the ball through two much larger defenders, and the fantastic freshman contorted his body in midair to net an aesthetically perfect layup, drawing a foul in the process. He would grab another quick two moments later to tie the score at 39 with just under five minutes to play.

The lead would change hands seven times in the fourth quarter, and it looked like the Scarlet Knights might pull back the momentum when Karalis buried an ultra-clutch 3-pointer with less than two minutes left to give them a 45-43 lead, but Brown responded with a two at the other end to tie it up again. Next he collected an assist on what proved to be the winning  tally—a two from Mikol Blake-Green (nine points) with 1:03 remaining.

“It feels good,” said Blake-Green following the game. “I’m kind of at a loss for words,  because every day in the Middlesex League has been a battle. and we’ve had to fight these last three playoff games.”

North Andover got one more chance to tie the score, with 6.7 seconds left to play, but Brown was able to knock a pass out of bounds near half court, effectively ending any chance the Scarlet Knights had to create a reasonable shot.

“We practice these situations,” Blake-Green said. “The last 15 minutes of every practice, we work on this type of stuff, so I give credit to coach [Simpson].”

Wakefield seemed to be on the verge of opening up a sizable lead in the second quarter, opening the stanza with a 13-2 run to seize a 27-18 lead. The Scarlet Knights answered immediately, however, closing the half with a 7-2 run of their own and trailing just 29-25 at the break.

The third quarter was mostly North Andover, as they outscored Wakefield 12-6 and led 37-35 heading into the final frame. Brown drilled a jump shot at the buzzer to cut the lead to two for what was clearly going to be a thrilling fourth quarter.

No one seemed disappointed.

Wakefield’s defense was tight down the stretch, something that has been a mainstay of their game all year long. The Warriors limited the Scarlet Knights to eight points in the fourth quarter, coming up with some big stops in the process.

“Defense first, like always,” said Blake-Green. “Defense wins games. You’ve just got to show heart.”

If one thing became perfectly clear last night, it’s that Wakefield’s fans—The Red Sea as they have become known—are among the loudest and most passionate to be found anywhere. There was no shore on earth that could have held back the deluge of red and white from spilling onto the court as the final buzzer sounded last night.

“They’re crazy,” said Blake-Green about Wakefield’s fans. “The Red Sea is where it’s at. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do.”