Bourne Boys' Basketball Takes A Bite Out Of Bulldogs

By: Dan Crowley
Published: 01/18/13

 It was too close to call at the end of the third period Friday night. Bourne held a 41-39 edge over visiting Old Rochester, but the Canalmen just couldn’t shake the Bulldogs. In the fourth quarter the Bourne pressure defense finally broke through and the Canalmen outscored ORR 22-14 over the final eight minutes to claim a 63-53 victory.

Separated by just two points entering the fourth quarter, Jack Canterbury stole the ball from the Bulldogs in the opening minute and took it in from midcourt for a lay-up. That began a string of three quick takeaways by the Canalmen; however, Bourne wasn’t capitalizing on their opportunities, which kept the score close.

With 5:37 left to play Canterbury came up with another steal and two points, but Bourne still struggled to get the ball through the hoop. With 4:30 remaining, the ball started to fall and BHS pulled out to a nine-point lead at 51-42.

Shamere Smith got things rocking for the Canalmen down the last-minute stretch, with Blade Leavenworth, Brendan Andrade and Josh Curry adding to the scoring. Bourne got their final four points at the free throw line.

Bourne opened the night pulling away to a 10-0 lead as they controlled the tempo of the game for the first four minutes. Old Rochester got going late in the first, but Leavenworth slammed the lid on any ideas of an early comeback with a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left to give the Canalmen a 17-11 lead at the end of one.

The Bulldogs fought back in the second quarter doing a better job off the glass, especially in their defensive end, holding the Canalmen to a single shot on nearly every possession. By the half ORR had cut the Bourne lead to 29-23.

By the midway point in the third quarter ORR had closed to within a single point as they continued to do a better job off the glass. Curry sparked the Canalmen with 2:43 left going to the hoop for a 37-34 lead, but the Bulldogs came right back to tie the game at 39-39 with 1:15 left in the quarter.

Shamere Smith stole the ball with 42 seconds on the clock and got it to Canterbury on the fast break and then Canterbury dropped in two from the free throw line. Another basket by the Bulldogs left Bourne with a two-point lead at the end of the third.

Twice Old Rochester had tied the game in the third quarter, but never over the course of the night did the Bulldogs hold the lead.

Canterbury and Jovier Nivar led the BHS defense down the final stretch in the fourth quarter as they never allowed ORR to get settled into their offense game.

Old Rochester’s Jeremy Bare led all scorers with 18 points. Canterbury led the Canalmen with 15 points. Sharief Smith and Leavenworth each finished with a dozen and Curry knocked down 10 points. The Canalmen struggled from the free-throw line ending the night at 21 for 48.

Leave a Reply

In order to comment you need to be logged in.