Warriors Come Up Short Against Brighton

LOWELL—The Wakefield High School boys basketball team reached the Division II North Championship game by pulling off an improbable win over top-seeded North Andover on March 8.

They just didn’t have another upset in the tank.

The fifth-seeded Warriors tremendous season came to an end last night at Lowell’s Tsongas Center as Wakefield succumbed to an athletic and hungry Brighton squad, 66-59, in the MIAA Division II North final.

The third-seeded Bengals got a game-high 19 points from Malik James, and will face South champions Stoughton on Monday at TD Garden in the Division II State Semifinals. Daivon Edwards added 11 points for the victors.

For Wakefield head coach Brad Simpson, there is no mystery to why his team came out on the wrong end of the decision last night.

“No question about it,” he said as he walked off the floor at Tsongas Center. “They were the better team.”

Although the season ended two games before the Warriors would have liked it to, they battled right down to the wire, and nearly clawed their way back into the game in the fourth quarter.

For Brighton bench boss Hugh Coleman, the win erases some bitter memories from the Tsongas Center hardwood. Last season, he brought his team to the North final only to see them lose a heartbreaker to eventual state champions New Mission by a mere two points.

This time, Coleman’s charges were not about to suffer the same fate.

“It feels good,” said Coleman following the win. “And in this moment, we know we have two more games to go, and we’d like to come out on the upside of those games as well.”

Brighton set the tone early, opening the contest with an 11-2 run, keyed by five points from James. But Wakefield also established themselves and declared that they were not going to roll over, ending the quarter strongly, yet trailing 17-11.

Ominously, the Warriors got into some early foul trouble, and by the end of the opening stanza, freshman difference maker Bruce Brown had already picked up his third foul. Brighton responded by going 7-for-11 from the line.

“Losing Bruce Brown for most of the first half was tough,” said Simpson. “That’s when [Brighton] really built their lead.”

With Brown spending a significant amount of the second quarter on the bench, Wakefield was unable to cope with the athleticism of the Bengals, despite terrific showings from Mike Blake-Green and Keyon Armstrong, both of whom finished with 15 points to lead the Warriors.

“They might have been a little more athletic than us, maybe a little bit taller,” Simpson said. “I tell the kids all year: unless you win a state championship, the season ends with a loss, so be prepared. The memories they’ve created this year ... Those are great memories.”

By halftime, the Bengals had ballooned their lead to 36-22 and looked in complete control. Despite the absence of leading rebounder, 6-foot-5 Tre Dowan, who sat with a broken finger, Brighton was able to control the offensive glass at the Wakefield end enough to deny the Warriors too many second chance opportunities.

Coleman said confidence had a lot to do with his team’s win.

“The way we felt in the locker room last year was that we worked hard and we thought we were capable,” he said. “Coach McCarthy from New Mission said to us the other day: ‘I believe that you guys were hoping you would win last year; you were good enough to do it, but you hoped you would win. This year, I can tell you guys know you are good enough to win.”

The Bengals led 49-37 heading into the final frame, and seemed as though they would cruise to victory, but, all of a sudden, their collective free throw stroke abandoned them, and they went a paltry 6-for-14 from the charity stripe during the fourth quarter.

“In the last three minutes, we cut the lead down to seven,” lamented Simpson. “We needed to hit a couple of threes and we didn’t. They were conveniently missing some free throws for us and we needed to come down and score, but we didn’t, so we couldn’t take advantage of that situation.”

It seemed as though Wakefield might just get back in the game, and with the freshman Brown back on the floor, it became clear just how much his absence hurt the Warriors. Despite reeling off a 22-point fourth quarter, led by 11 points from Blake-Green and 5-for-5 free throw shooting by Armstrong—all underscored by an impressive display of hustle and athleticism from Brown—the Warriors couldn’t hit the big shots when they needed to, and never got within seven points of the Bengals.

James missed what could have been four pivotal free throws if the Warriors had been able to convert at their end of the floor. They were not. Twice the opportunity was there to narrow the gap following Brighton misses, and each time the shots would not fall for Wakefield.

“The main thing is that it was a great run,” said Simpson. “This [loss] will be a distant memory in the not-so-distant future. I told them that of the 60 or so teams that make the MIAA tourney, Wakefield was one of the last eight teams standing. That won’t help them tonight, but looking back on it, that’s something to puff your chest out about a little.”

Luckily for the Warriors, the old Red Sox refrain of wait until next year won’t seem so cruel, as all but James Bourque and Armstrong will return, and, with Blake-Green and Brown, along with Kendall Hamilton, (14 points) set to inherit the leadership roles they all have shown they deserve, they stand a solid chance of being back in this position next year. 

And look how that worked out for Brighton.