SOMERSET — Somerset Berkley’s 71-65 boys’ basketball win over Dartmouth in the preliminary round of the Division 2 South boys’ basketball tournament on Monday night just might be a preview for next year.
Both teams featured very young teams, combining for just six seniors between the two rosters. Oddly enough, this was also a matchup in which not one player on either team had played in a state tournament game before.
Liam McDonald scored 22 points as the 15th-seeded Raiders advanced to a first-round matchup at No. 2 Hingham (18-2) on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
Jake Meehan added 15 points, Chase Stafford 12, Nick Medeiros nine and Cam Cunningham eight for the Raiders.
SB (10-11) got off to a fast start with junior guard McDonald drilling two 3-pointers in the first five minutes. Another from senior guard Chase Stafford at the 3:00 mark combined with the presence of freshman forward Cam Cunningham and Jake Meehan.
The offensive surge was enough to get the Raiders to 21 points in the quarter, but its effect was hindered by a tall Dartmouth team that managed to score 18 points in the first. No. 18 Dartmouth (6-15) controlled the paint from the start, relying heavily on forward David Abolarinwa, who dominated the backboard throughout the game. The sophomore big man’s play managed to keep the Indians in contention by drawing one clutch shooting foul after another down the stretch.
“When we played them last week he didn’t do a huge amount of stuff, but he got almost every rebound. He did that again tonight but he was also putting every rebound back in,” SB coach Bob Slater said of Abolarinwa. “He did a great job and we had to man up in the second half and keep him off the board. I know he had some points in the second half but we did a much better job on him.”
The Raiders relied on their speed and passing ability to set up an open look, usually outside of the paint, but was also deadly from beyond the arc in the second half, hitting five 3-pointers to re-take and extend their lead.
Dartmouth (6-14) took control in the second and with Abolarinwa senior forward Connor Moniz combining for 14 of the 16 points in the quarter. Abolarinwa and Moniz also provided a solid defensive presence for the Indians, cutting off all SB access to the basket to hold them to just 33 points going into halftime.
In the final minute of the half Abolarinwa scored two quick baskets, both coming from offensive rebounds, giving the Indians a 34-33 halftime lead.
“We were trying to force them inside at first and then they began killing us inside. So we decided to take the inside away in the second half and we did a better job with that,” Slater explained. “We wanted to drive and then kick out to our big-men. We had a lot of opportunities to do that. I thought the whole team played great tonight.”
SB (10-11) came out firing in the second half, dropping 17-points on Dartmouth in the third quarter with the help of four 3-pointers. After hitting a 3-pointer and a free throw to bring it back to a 38-38 tie, McDonald drilled another one from beyond the arc to re-take the lead at 41-38.
In the final 3:00 of the third, Meehan and junior guard Nicholas Medeiros each hit 3-pointers from the corner off of inbound plays. Christian Couto put the icing on the cake with another long-ball with just 21 seconds left in the third to bring SB to a 50-43 lead entering the fourth.
The teams clashed late in the fourth quarter as SB’s fast pace of play, headed by Stafford and McDonald took on Dartmouth’s big-men and their ability to draw the foul. The matchup reached its peak in the final minutes of the game, when Moniz and Abolarinwa brought the Indians back to within one-point for the final time (60-59). SB secured the win in the fourth with eight points coming from free throws off of bonus fouls called on Dartmouth.
Dartmouth coach Jeff Caron says he’s proud of the effort from his team this year, despite acquiring a considerable amount of losses in the final stretch of the season.
“I’m proud of these guys, we had a pretty tough stretch at the end of the season where we didn’t win many games, and these guys never quit,” said Caron. “They gave everything they had and it never felt like we were losing. I’m proud that they stuck to it all year and took advantage of their opportunity in the tournament.”