Abbreviated Week 4 in the books for TBBL

While most of TBBL took the weekend off to attend and celebrate the TMHS Superbowl win, there were a few TBBL travel games and the Intermediate Division (Grades 6 & 7) held their normal schedule.  Sunday Hoops, the High School Division for 10th through 12th grade boys also started this past Sunday.  If you are interested in joining the high school division, send an email to the league at TBBLANNOUNCEMENTS@GMAIL.COM.

TBBL Travel

Tewksbury (6th Grade Red) 60 – Lowell (6th Grade White) 58

Tewksbury 6 Red travelled to Lowell Thursday night and escaped with a thrilling 60-58 victory. This was a game of runs by both teams as 6 Red jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead but found itself down by 6 at halftime, 29-23. The second half brought the same story with 6 Red storming back to take the lead, only to see Lowell jump right back out in front. The teams went back and forth throughout the second half with 6 Red seemingly starting to control the game with a 48-42 lead. But after yet another run by Lowell, Tewksbury found itself down by 4 with 36 seconds to go. Tewksbury was not ready to give up. After a quick hoop and then a turnover, Chris Antonelli finished off a fast break tying the game at 58. After another defensive stop, Tewksbury found itself with a chance to win as Antonelli was fouled with 4 seconds left allowing him to go to the line for a one-and-one where he calmly and cooly sank both shots. Lowell's desperation attempt fell short and Tewksbury moved to 2-0 in MVL action.

Antonelli led all scorers with 22 points with 17 of those coming in the second half. Additional scoring came from Richie Markwarth (9), Greg Sencabaugh (8), Garrett Kingston (6), Thomas Bradley (6), Shayne Aylward (5) and Paul Manzi (4). Tyler Keough, Nolan Timmons and Nicky Iannacci all contributed with solid play on both ends of the court and injured player Colby Ward was there lending his support from the bench.

Tewksbury 7th Grade Blue 1 and 1 on the weekend

Tewksbury 42 – Masco 43

The TBBL 7th Grade Blue team had their shoes tied tight in a close game against Masco on Saturday, December 7th.  Casey DeCost not only did some great dribbling all over the court he was able to block their attempt at the basket in mid-air. David Miller showed no fear when he blocked the other team from getting in the key.  Brandon Melo must be the fastest backwards runner on the team, beating many others up the court.  Joe Balboni made very strong passes to his team mates without tiring.  Vinnie Hulme was able to fake out the other team and pass the ball into the key time after time.  CJ Zemetres did not give up the ball despite the pig pile and squished head he had to endure for the team.  With less than 30 seconds on the clock, Tony Mannetta made a 3 pointer to tie the game -- 36 to 36.   Matt Cahill attempted a buzzer beater, but it just missed and the game went into a very exciting overtime.  CJ Zemetres quickly made a basket; Michael Rosenberg then grabbed a rebound and made yet another basket.  Connor Nugent made a third basket.  Unfortunately Masco not only made 3 baskets themselves in those 3 minutes, the third one was a three pointer resulting in a 43 to 42 score. 

Tewksbury 50 – Swampscott 19

On Sunday, December 08, 2013, TBBL 7th grade Blue trounced Swampscott 50 to 19.  It was hard to keep up with the baskets as the boys kept making them.  Casey DeCost had 9 points, Brandon Melo and Michael Rosenberg each added 8 points, and Tony Mannetta contributed 7 points.  Connor Nugent and Derek Schumaker grabbed rebounds all day while Matt Cahill and Joe Balboni continued to push the ball up the court.  David Miller and CJ Zemetres were aggressive on both defense and offense.  Coaches Darren Schumaker and Mike Mannetta were impressed with how well their team worked together to win the game.     

TBBL Intermediate Results for 12/7-12/8

Suns 38 – Bobcats -34

Bobcats 36 – Suns 35

Thanks to a quirk in the schedule, the Suns & Bobcats split a Home-and-Home series with two very exciting games over the weekend.

On Saturday, the Suns prevailed 38-34. Matt Fronduto (15 Pts) and Andrew Froio (12) led the scoring attack for the Bobcats, while Jared Doyle, Jonathan Mahoney and Nick Brooks also added buckets. Billy Chase and Tyler Strong led a very tough Bobcats defense with a number of key steals down the stretch. Despite these performances, the Bobcats came up just short.

The defense of the Suns held off the Bobcats in a tight game in which the Suns came out on top with a score of 38 to 34.  Leading the defensive charge with tenacity was a team effort lead by William Andella, Ryan Bennett, Matthew Dugan, and Anthony Miano.  Each player contributed with a well round game with defense and good shots on offense. Sean Whelton and Christopher Zdinak each had 10 points, while Phadungdet had 9 points, and Mance added 5 points.  Harrison Graczyk and Jack O'Neill both had 2 points.

In the rematch on Sunday, the Bobcats came out on top 36-35. Collectively the team did a great job finding the centers down low as Matt Fronduto scored 15 and Jonathan Mahoney added 10.  Andrew Froio netted five points, while Jared Doyle, Nick Brooks and Billy Chase also scored. Tyler Strong and the Bobcats defense continued their tenacious play over the weekend by forcing a number of key turnovers.

For the Suns, Phadunghet Kaeokit and Harrison Graczyk led the Suns in keeping the game close with Offensive and Defensive rebounds as well as a number of steals. The Suns were lead in scoring by Sean Whelton with 14 points, Matthew Dugan with 8 points, and Christopher Zdinak with 6 points.  William Mance added 3 points, while Ryan Bennett , William Andella, and Anthony Miano each had 2 points.

Bucks 34 – Wizards 22

The Bucks showed what happens when they play as a team and work hard on defense for the 34-22 win over a tough Wizards team.  Leading the way for the Bucks was Jake Dillon with 19 points and hard work on the defensive end of the floor.  The rest of the scoring was done by Jake Winter with 5 points followed by Cam Grace (4 points) and Patrick Killion, Michael Kelleher, Kyle Braciska all added 2 points each. On the defensive end of the floor with key stops and rebounds were Patrick Rosemond, Josh Winter and Jason Richardson.  It was just a great TEAM effort, from a great bunch of kids for the win.

Despite the scoring by Dominic Cohen, Matt Perron and Nick Cappiello, the Wizards found themselves behind early and at the end of the first half, the score was Bucks 25- Wizards 10. In the 3rd quarter the Wizards had all the momentum outscoring the Bucks 8-2 and cutting into the lead of the Bucks with scoring from Alec Sokol and Owen Gilligan. Sean McMahon, John Murphy and Rich Cappiello displayed great defense and were the leaders of rebounding for the team. Unfortunately the Wizards were only able to put up 4 points in the 4th quarter as a result of the Bucks defense and ended up losing by the score of 34-22. All players never gave up and played great as a team. Excellent game guys!!

Heat 36 – Thunder 31

The Heat pulled out a 36 to 31 win on Saturday morning, sparked by Brian Ndungo and James Reardon who each scored 10 points.  Steven Nickerson, who added 6 points, and Daryl Quek, with 5 points, also rebounded extremely well.  With the Thunder surging near the end of the game, the Heat relied on strong defense, led by Ian Tacey and Diego Monteiro, along with solid efforts from Jared Gray and Pranav Hari, to help them hold on and win the game.

Hornets 30 – Heat 20

The Heat got contributions on offense from nearly everyone on the team in their 30 to 20 loss to the undefeated Hornets on Sunday afternoon.  Daryl Quek and Chris Blimberg continued their strong rebounding, pulling in 8 and 9 rebounds respectively.  Andrew Maresca played tenacious defense and Ian Tacey had another solid defensive game while leading the team in blocked shots.  After going into the half with a 3 point lead, the Heat had trouble getting their shots to drop as the Hornets pulled away for the win.

Jazz 30 – Celtics 24

After a week off, the Celtics faced off against the Jazz, for what turned out to be a very exciting and close game. The Jazz came in undefeated, but the Celtics game them all they had, keeping the game close tight right to the end.  The scoring for the Celtics was spread around with everyone participating in one way or another. Once again the leading scorer for the Celtics was Evan Wood, who put up 12 points, along with some great defense. Ryan Anderson chipped in with 4 points, Tyler Paulding with 2 points and a strong performance under the boards with 3 rebounds. Ryan Smith had his best game all year contributing 2 points along with 3 strong rebounds and great defense. Rounding out the scoring for the Celtics were Kyle Marrocco with 2 points and 2 steals, Patrick Letourneau with 2 points and 2 steals, Arya Mehrabani crashed the boards for 2 important rebounds, Kyle Burris displayed great leadership with 3 rebounds and 1 steal, and Nathan Jones exerting his strength on defense.

Great showing by the Celtics who managed to overcome an early 22-4 lead by the Jazz and fight back to make it an exciting game.  Way to go Celtics, we are all proud of you!

The Jazz were able continue their winning ways Saturday against a very talented an fast Celtics team. The Jazz had 7 players get into the scoring column with Josh Donaher leading the way with 10 points.  Ryan Meuse added 6 points, both Derek Wallace and Nick Stephens had 4 points.  Nate Wilkinson, Jack Kenneally, and Shawn Manson each contributed 1 basket each.  Mike Ferreira, Matt Pelletier, and Mike Bankowski all had great shot attempts that just didn't fall.  It took the entire team to step up on defense to hold off the Celtics comeback attempt.