Boys’ basketball, 18-4, defeated Bridgewater-Raynham 66-59 at home last Saturday night to advance to the semifinals of the South Sectionals.
“That was a really good team out there tonight,” said special education teacher Paul Connolly, the team’s head coach. “At times we had some separation, but they made big play after big play.”
In the first round of the playoffs, the Tigers soundly defeated Braintree 61-34. Senior Ethan Wright, a captain with senior Noah Neville, scored 22 points. North also showed aggression on the defensive boards, which allowed them to open things up on the offensive end.
Despite the quarterfinal game against Bridgewater-Raynham being postponed, North started the game strong on Saturday evening. They were off to a quick lead and found themselves up by 10 in the middle of the second quarter. Wright scored 17 points in the first half, nine of them coming from beyond the arc.
However, the visiting team began to climb their way back into the game and brought down North’s lead to six.
For the first four minutes of the third quarter, North failed to make a field goal. Neville said, “We work on situations like this in practice, so that really helped us.”
The Trojans continued to play themselves back into the game in part because of several clutch three pointers and nine made free throws.
Connolly said, “We had a chance to bump it into double digits, but we either turned it over or they made a big shot.”
While Bridgewater-Raynham never held a lead, they were able to tie the game up with less than two minutes remaining. Wright was given the ball with less than eight seconds left on the shot clock and was forced to shoot with a defender in his face. He drained the shot and was fouled as well, allowing him a trip to the free throw line.
“I’d been struggling from the field a bit, and to see that one go in to seal the deal is the best feeling,” said Wright.
North will play in the semifinals of the South Sectionals Monday night in Taunton.