Lake Braddock knew a run was coming soon. It had to. The Bruins were playing a three-win team they had beaten twice already, both times by more than 20 points.
That run was started by a foul from West Springfield that led to three free throws for Bruins’ senior Corey Bonds.
Bonds made two of the free throws to give Lake Braddock a 37-36 lead at the end of the third quarter. From there, Lake Braddock opened up a 7-0 run through the first three minutes before giving up one point at the line to Spartans’ senior Lawrence Rouse. After that point, the Spartans went through a drought where they didn’t score until 2:30 remained in the game.
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At that point, the damage was done. Lake Braddock was up 50-37. The Bruins went on to a 60-46 victory that pits Lake Braddock (13-9) in a rematch against Annandale (15-6) in the Patriot District semifinals.
“No question about it,” said West Springfield coach Jason Eldredge of the three-point foul as the turning point. “Those calls, they took the air out of us.”
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“The thing is, the pressure moves to the higher seed because you’ve had a really successful year,” said Lake Braddock coach Brian Metress. “You’ve won a bunch of games and you feel like your whole season’s going to go out the window. As much as we try to put a façade on that it’s just another game, guys know it could be the last game of the year.”
The Spartans (3-18) held the edge through most of the first three quarters not looking like a team that had finished the regular season 3-17. The Bruins didn’t hold a lead after their 9-8 first quarter lead until the beginning of the fourth quarter.
“I have to take my hat off to our kids,” Eldredge said. “They came out and fought and fought and fought and fought, and that’s just a reflection of who they are. We came up short, but hopefully there will be other days.”
“That’s the beauty of basketball: it’s a tournament sport,” Metress said. “When a team gets in there, it doesn’t matter what seed number they are. Everybody gets a new life.
“West Springfield comes into this game thinking ‘We’re 0-0, they’re 0-0.’ We kind of let them hang around, make a couple of shots, get their confidence up. I told our guys ‘We’re playing man-to-man the rest of the game. And if you lose, you’re going to lose to the guy that’s in the neighborhood next to you.’
Lake Braddock senior Bobby Freedman scored a game-high 21 points, and Bonds added 18. Both delivered from the free throw line, going a combined 17-for-19. Juniors Brendan McHale and Dylan O’Connor scored nine and six, and senior Matt Zanellato also added six.
For West Springfield, Rouse led the Spartans with 16 points. Senior Ali Kazmi added 12. Seniors Ali Hassan, Mitch Hadfield and junior Colin Mosley each added five.
Lake Braddock will face Annandale in the Patriot District semifinals Thursday. The Bruins beat Annandale at home this season, 61-55, but lost on the road, 75-65. The Patriot District tournament is played at Lake Braddock Secondary School.
