By Allison Goldsmith
I&M Sports Editor
The boys basketball team split two games this week, falling in the season opener at Whitinsville 72-50 Saturday, before rebounding to defeat Lighthouse Conference opponent Sturgis 66-41 Tuesday.
Last Thursday’s scheduled game against Dennis-Yarmouth was postponed due to inclement weather and rescheduled for Saturday, Jan. 3. The Whalers (1-1) will host Norton Saturday before traveling to Cohasset Monday afternoon.
Against Sturgis Tuesday, the Storm opened the game with a high level of intensity and physical play to match the Whalers’ traditional fast-paced attack. Nantucket had come out slow in the loss against Whitinsville Saturday and head coach Beau Almodobar was anticipating more from his squad in the league match-up.
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Photo by Nicole Harnishfeger
Jamie Viera, left, and DuVaughn Beckford get in the face of Sturgis’ Max Young during Tuesday afternoon’s 66-41 victory over the Lighthouse Conference foe. |
The Whalers capitalized on multiple blocked shots and steals to initiate the fast-break game in the first half.
“We try to keep it simple and run as fast as we can up and down the court,” Almodobar said. “I want to keep the intensity up. I don’t want them to relax.”
Sturgis’ Andrew Healy and Zac Camp challenged the Whalers inside defense to keep the score close in the early minutes, but Nantucket eventually ran away with the lead.
“They have improved. They are a lot better and they are a scrappy team. Coach (Roy Porter) does a great job,” Almodobar said.
The Whalers had a constant rotation of fresh players from a deep bench substituting onto the floor to keep up that level of play.
“We played a lot of people. We shuffled a lot of guys in and out and that helps,” Almodobar said of his team’s ability to run the floor for the entire game.
The Whalers dressed 14 players, and each athlete made it onto the floor at some point.
“We have a lot of players that can play. Instead of seven deep we have 10 deep,” Almodobar said.
Eric Lowell led the Whalers with a game-high 18 points, pacing five players in double figures. Delroy Lawrence scored 14 points (five rebounds), Troy Sullivan and Carlton Hue scored 11 and Josh Butler added 10 along with eight rebounds, five steals and two blocked shots. Jamie Viera grabbed five boards and scored a basket.
Lowell helped jump start the Whalers offense in the first quarter, opening the game with a three-point shot and scoring seven points of Nantucket’s 16 points in the first frame. The Whalers turned the ball over multiple times with traveling violations, but held the 16-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The inside game came around late in the first quarter and early into the second quarter as Delroy Lawrence and Josh Butler got into the action offensively after a strong defensive start. Carlton Hue added a three pointer and Troy Sullivan knocked down back-to-back baskets as Nantucket opened the 34-16 lead at the half.
The defense became a little too physical at the start of the second half as Nantucket piled up five fouls in the first two minutes. Sturgis spent most of the second half at the free-throw line in the double-bonus. The closest the Storm ever came to the Whalers was 18 points.
Max Young led Sturgis with 18 points.
Slow start
The Whalers did not come out with the intensity coach Almodobar expects from his teams in the opening game at Whitinsville Saturday. Nantucket fell behind 20-5 in the first period and trailed 44-16 at the break.
“We dug ourselves a hole. It was not like we were not shooting. We were shooting, we just could not find the basket,” Almodobar said. “They were tough. We were not getting second shot rebounds. We didn’t run the offense very well and we didn’t run the defense very well and they did all the right things.”
Nantucket switched to a man-to-man defense in the second half and were able to keep pace with the physical opponent. The Whalers rebounded to outscore the Crusaders 33-28 in the second half, but could not overcome the first-half deficit to earn the victory.
“They were a good team. They were a well-coached team. They out-physicaled us and out shot us,” Almodobar said.
Lawrence led the Whalers with a game-high 22 points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots. Butler scored 10 points and pulled down four boards. Jamie Viera contributed valuable minutes off the bench while Beckford played well defensively in his first game for the Whalers.
Andy Dykstra led Whitinsville with 19 points.
Junior varsity
The junior varsity boys basketball team opened the regular season with a 67-19 loss at Whitinsville Saturday.
The Whalers squad (0-1) trailed 28-8 at halftime as the more-skilled Crusaders coasted to the easy victory.
“It was a good old fashioned beat down. Whitinsville had a level of skills that we just don’t have yet. When that happens, the score can get lopsided,” head coach John Stanton said. “They played better than us in every category.”
Nantucket switched to a man-to-man defense at the end of the first half and at the start of the second half, which proved to be successful for a short period.
“I did see some good things, some good moments, but they were small moments and we are going to work on expanding those moments,” Stanton said.
Freshman Andrew Benson led Nantucket with eight points, while Michael Molta and Leo Atkinson score four points each. Zach Gurley (two points) and Jeff Chase (one point) also contributed to the final point total.
The Whalers will be back in action Saturday when they host Norton and then will travel to Cohasset Tuesday for the final game before the winter break.
“We are going to try every practice to bring our skills up. We are going to try to bring a little more focus and a little more aggression. If they do that, they will be OK,” Stanton said.
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