The Blue Devils extended their win streak to seven Friday night with a 45-39 South Shore League home victory.
RANDOLPH – Defense wins championships, or at least extends winning streaks.
The Randolph High boys basketball team showcased a sensational defense in the second half Friday night to win its seventh straight game, 45-39 over South Shore League rival Cohasset.
“We had to go and play a completely different game than we played on Wednesday” in a 41-point blowout of Southeastern Regional, Randolph coach Kalon Jenkins said. “Our guys were great in terms of executing tonight, showed a lot of mental toughness.”
Trailing 24-19 at halftime, the Blue Devils went on a terrific 12-2 run in the first three minutes of the third quarter, displaying team basketball from top to bottom.
“When you go on a 12-2 run in a game where you only score 45 points, that’s pretty good,” Jenkins said. “Our defense came up huge; it changed the whole tenor of the game around.”
Junior forward Johnl Johnson was a big factor in the comeback, registering eight points and 11 rebounds.
“He’s 5-10 and he plays like he’s 6-6,” Jenkins said. “Johnl Johnson has played fantastic for us this season.”
Randolph (8-4) also got key contributions from senior guard Ray Mateo (13 points, five rebounds) and sophomore guard Jamarii Robinson (eight points).
“Our leading scorer averages nine points a game; we’re a team that relies on defense and are selfless for one another,” said Jenkins. “We knew that Cohasset executes very well, and we had to play phenomenal defense and make them uncomfortable to achieve what we wanted to get done tonight.”
Despite the loss, the Skippers got a fantastic game out of senior forward Max Davis (11 points, 10 rebounds). Davis was also key in what the Skippers (7-4) did defensively.
“Max did a terrific job for us,” Cohasset coach Bo Ruggiero said. “He’s been our highest scorer in the past couple of games. It’s nice to see a kid like that do well.”
Cohasset senior guard Sam Lelio added nine points.
“Randolph’s a good team,” Ruggiero said. “They did a great job defensively and scored more points then we did.”
The Blue Devils will attempt to extend their winning streak to eight games when they travel to play reigning South Shore League Sullivan Division champion Rockland on Tuesday night.
“We can’t enjoy this win too long,” Jenkins cautioned. “We need to get ready for what’s ahead and try to continue this success.”
The Skippers will try to get back on track on Tuesday night, hosting league foe Hull.
“That’s why you play 20 games in a season,” Ruggiero said. “We’ll be right back ready to go for the next one.”