Bourne Boys' Basketball Opens With A Bang

By: Dan Crowley
Published: 12/13/12

 A physical, fast and furious first half ended in a 25-25 tie last night, but the Canalmen turned it up in the second half as they wore down visiting Monomoy claiming a 67-54 victory in their home opener.

“I thought our pressure wore them down,” Coach Scott Ashworth said. “It’s always nice to open at home. It was a good all around game by everybody.

Bourne turned the ball over in their first two possessions of the third quarter, but at the same time kept the Sharks away from the net. Jack Canterbury, who finished with a game leading 19 points, got things going in a foot race the length of the court with Monomoy’s Miguel Encarnacion and a lay-up that put the Canalmen on top 27-25. Brendan Andrade then stunned the Sharks with a steal that he took to the hoop for two and then took the ball away again, this time feeding it to Shamere Smith underneath as BHS increased their advantage to 31-25.

Monomoy managed to catch the Canalmen and tie the game with 1:50 left in the third on a 3-pointer from Jon Robinson, but an acrobatic move to the net by Canterbury for two points drew a foul, which he sunk as Bourne pulled back in front 38-35.

Josh Curry, who robbed the Sharks five times, stole the ball in the final minute and dished it to Canterbury, and then Canterbury took the ball away and went the length of the court to give BHS a 42-35 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Bourne came up dry in 10 trips down the floor, but their defense wasn’t allowing the Sharks any shots.

“I thought the twins Sharief and Shamere [Smith] played very well,” Ashworth said. “They played well off the glass and Brendan (Andrade) chipped in too. We did some things well.”

The Canalmen held Monomoy scoreless for the first 2:15 of the final quarter when Robinson hit a 3-pointer. Bourne then scored the next 5 points completing a 15-3 scoring run and taking a 57-38 lead with 4:28 left to play.

“Josh Curry off the bench was a major lift tonight,” the coach said. “Jack took a lot of shots and when he does it opens up the floor. I thought we had good production from Jovier Nivar, he took care of the ball and had a couple of steals and points and Jared Cardoza and Connor Schaefer did a nice job.”

For Nivar, Cardoza and Schaefer it was their first varsity game.

Monomoy pulled out all the stops down the stretch, but the Canalmen controlled the tempo, maintained the pressure and allowed the Sharks to go to the line just once in the fourth quarter.

Curry, whose aggressive performance wreaked havoc on the Sharks, finished with 10 points, including a 3-pointer. Andrade had 11 points and five rebounds and Shamere Smith had nine points and 10 rebounds. Blade Leavenworth had eight points before leaving the game early in the fourth quarter with an injury. Sharief Smith finished with nine rebounds.
Robinson and Wilson Amezquita each had 13 points for the Sharks.

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