DURFEE BASKETBALL: Hot-shooting Bridgewater-Raynham storms past Toppers

FALL RIVER — The Bridgewater-Raynham Trojans came out of the gates hot Monday night and kept pace all game, beating the Durfee Hilltoppers 71-51 in boys' basketball at the Luke Urban Field House.

“Tonight wasn’t a good night,” Durfee coach Jameson Guimond said. “We need to improve on just about every part of the game.”

Senior Jack Armstrong lead the way for the Trojans offensively, putting up 22 points including four three pointers while going a perfect 4-for-4 from the foul line. Senior Connor Rubenskas added nine for the visitors, including a three pointer.

For the Hilltoppers (5-5), seniors Nilin Nehra and Ty Lopes both put up 15 on the night, with Lopes having a pair of 3-pointers and going 5-for-5 on free throws.

The game started off with a 3-pointer by Lopes only seconds in, which Rubenskas went down court and responded with one of his own shortly after. This early back and forth continued for much of the first few minutes until a 3-pointer by Armstrong gave the guests a 10-8 lead, from where the Trojans proceeded to go on a 10-point scoring run to break away from the hosts. The Hilltoppers added four more before another bucket from Armstrong ended the quarter 21-12 in favor of B-R.

The Trojans continued their scoring ways in the second, and while the Hilltoppers had their chances, their opponents hit nearly every shot they took. While Nehra and Lopes put up points, Armstrong, Rubenskas and the other Trojans kept piling on, heading into the half with a dominant 42-24 lead.

Coming out of the locker room for the second half, B-R tried to put any chance of a Durfee comeback to bed with six straight points to start the third quarter. Armstrong added two more 3-pointers to increase his team's lead to 56-29 before the Hilltoppers scored six unanswered points, but the Trojans bounced right back and closed out the quarter up 61-35.

The Trojans went up by 30 early in the fourth quarter after points from freshman Tristan Herry, their biggest lead of the night. The Hilltoppers showed some fight, putting up a game-high 16 points in the quarter, but it was too little, too late.

“We need to get into practice over the next three days before we play New Bedford and compete as hard as we can and really go at each other and hold each other accountable for what happened tonight,” Guimond said.

Both teams return to action Friday on the road, when the Hilltoppers go down to New Bedford for an important league matchup with the Whalers while the Trojans travel to Brockton to take on the Boxers.