Tiverton Boys Lose In Home Debut

A negative result with positive attributes.

The boys' basketball team opened its 2010-'11 home season Saturday by losing to Catholic Memorial High School, of West Roxbury, MA, 83-71 in a fast-paced and entertaining non-league game.

Patrick Doyle scored 28 points and Jason Droney added 19 points as the visiting Knights – a long-time traditional power in Massachusetts scholastic basketball – led for all but the first 50 seconds of the contest, which was their season opener. Tiverton, which received a game-high 34 points from Gunnar Bjornson, dropped to 1-2 in non-league outings.

After two Bjornson free throws gave the Tigers a 2-0 cushion in the opening 45 seconds, Catholic Memorial ran off 13 unanswered points. Much to their credit, the scrappy Tigers never quit and pushed the Knights hard to the final buzzer.

"I think we can take a lot of positives out of this game," said Tiverton Head Coach Jerry Arcouette. "Catholic Memorial has a very good team. They're big, strong and quick, and I think we competed against them well for the entire game.

"That's why we play them every year," he added.

With Doyle draining seven three-point baskets – and twice registering rare four-point plays – and the Knights doing considerable damage with an array of pressure defenses, Catholic Memorial built a 14-point lead (44-30) by intermission and peaked at 20 points (75-55) with 4:23 left. Bjornson then led a counter-surge with seven points that three times whittled the difference to 12 points by the final buzzer.

With a deep and talented squad, the Knights constantly pressured Tiverton, forcing a high-octane pace, which generally did not favor the hosts. Nevertheless, every time Catholic Memorial threatened to blow it open, the Tigers rallied to keep the score respectable.

"We turned the ball over too much today, usually because we dribbled too much," said Arcouette. "We still have to learn how to play and stay under control in games played at this pace."

One Tiger who enjoyed the "up" tempo Saturday was Bjornson, who consistently diced and sliced his way through the Catholic Memorial defense and tossed in three treys for good measure. However, only one other Tiverton player, Ben Bergandy (12 points), finished in double digits.

After Catholic Memorial's early surge, the Tigers narrowed their deficit to 16-11 midway through the first half, but the Knights countered with a 17-8 streak to forge a 33-19 advantage and maintained a 14-point edge to the break. Bjornson, Bergandy and Alex Rosa (8 points) sparked a 9-0 Tiverton string early in the second period, slicing its disadvantage to 47-39, before Catholic Memorial regrouped to run off a 10-2 burst, assuming a 57-41 lead.

The Tigers never came closer than 12 points the rest of the way.

Despite the loss, Arcouette said Saturday's game should be helpful to Tiverton in its next outing, a Division II-South debut Monday night, Dec. 13 at l.

"Rogers has a very quick and athletic team like CM, but isn't as big," Arcouette said. "Today's game should be good preparation for us for Monday's game."