TBBL Week 5 is in the books

TBBL rolled on this weekend with games across all divisions.  After last week's shortened schedule, teams shook off the rust and hit the courts.

Cadet Division (Grades 2-3)

Bucks  22  -  Pistons  12

     The Cadet Bucks, looking to continue their winning ways during the young season played host to a very aggressive Pistons team. With a slim two point lead at halftime, the Bucks looked to their strong defensive and aggressive rebounding game to carry them to victory. However, the Pistons quickly tied the game in the 3rd period, which lit a fire under the Bucks that would not be stopped until the final horn sounded. The Bucks used aggressive defense from the guard positions and solid rebounding from the post players down low to put together a 12-2 run in the final 8+ minutes of the game and come away with a hard fought 22-12 win; their fourth of the season.

The Bucks were led in scoring by Brian Carleton and Tristen Leslie (6 points each). Noah Lehouillier, Ryan Murphy, Dylan Paulding, Brenden Owens and Colby Coolidge each contributed with 2 points each. Carleton, Paulding, Ian Shpritzer, and Owens each contributed with multiple steals, which led to scoring opportunities from the guard position. Leslie had multiple assists as a result of impressive passing from the forward position. William Humphries, Coolidge, Lehouillier, Murphy and Scott Miller had solid rebounding games leading to multiple second and third shots for the offense. Miller played with intensity and hustle throughout the entire game; single handedly leading to 6 points for his teammates.

     The Pistons lost their game with the Bucks this past Saturday in a hard fought game.  The game was close from the start with both teams playing hard.  The Pistons had a great offensive effort with a lot of players in the mix; Tim Bradley (6 pts), Morgan Dunham (2 pts), Cooper LeMieux (2 pts), Jared Krueger (1 pt), and Simon Dunham (1 pt) all put points on the board for the Pistons.  Vincent Marchelletta and Mathew Tramonte showed great ball handling skills as Piston guards and Shea Moynihan had some great defensive plays that kept the game close with the score tied at 10-10 into the 2nd half.  A late run by the Bucks broke things open and unfortunately the Pistons were unable to come back from the deficit.

Thunder  27  -  Suns  17

     The Thunder jumped out to an early lead and were able to hold off a tough Suns team for the victory.  The passing on the offensive end was crisp led by Derek Wogan with 2 assists.  The good passing enabled 6 of the 9 players to get into the scoring column getting points from Nicholas Alvarado, Bobby Branchaud, Matthew Duggan, Connor Griffin, Brady McHugh, and Andre Monteiro.  McHugh anchored a strong defensive effort, which also received solid contributions from Paul Allen and Jason Forbes.

     The Suns gave the Thunder quite a run on Saturday! Congratulations to the Thunder for the victory; very strong team! Noah Rizzo had the hot hand with 12 points for the Suns, followed by several key baskets by Anthony Burgess and Ben Piccolo.  Jake Ryan & Andrew Estabrook had some quick steals and strong rebounds while Ryan Mackeen led the defensive charge.   Nicholas Gonzalez delivered several shots and had a smooth breakaway. Alex Dellorusso snatched up every loose ball while Robbie Beggan and Jonah Bennett delivered a clinic on defense.

 T-Wolves defeat Raptors 

     The T-Wolves won their third straight in a tough game against the young Raptors.  After falling behind 2-0, the T-Wolves used their good passing offense to surpass the tenacious Raptors defense.  The T-Wolves were led in scoring by Ian Maresca (10pts), Kodie Legrand (6pts), Colby Flahive (4pts), Evan Galanis (2pts), and Edward Galante (2pts) to take command of the game. The scorers were set up by excellent passing, by David Forgione and Noah Healey, who made several nice passes.  Excellent timed steals and solid middle defense were crucial to the victory.  This defensive effort was most exemplified by Jason Morris who made a great leaping steal late in the game, which led to a fast break.  Outsized at times, the team battled for rebounds throughout the game, none more than Colin Hansbury.  Once again the team played great overall defense down the stretch to secure the win!

     Luke Montejo and Justin Magee lead the way in the scoring for the Raptors.  Unfortunately the rim was unkind to the Raptors as there were several shots that rimmed out or just would not fall in.  Nice aggressive defensive plays by Eric Bellavia, Jason Svedsen and Zach Hayes and strong rebounding.  Daniel Richardson, Anthony Naghibi and Michael Gaglione had some great steals and helped push the ball up the court.  Connor Broderick, Lucas Adams, Peter Impink helped on the offensive side of the court with some nice passing to set up several scoring chances.  The Raptors are a very young team with only 2 returning players from last year so they are all learning, as well as the coaches and look forward to the rest of the season.

Sixers  14  -  Rockets  13       

     This week the leading scorers for the Sixers were Ryan Fleming who was on fire with 5 baskets and a total of ten points.  Additional baskets were scored by Pouriya Mehrabani and Kyle Adams who had one basket each, for two points.  David Timmons had at least a dozen shot attempts on the board, but couldn’t catch a break with several shots just falling off the rim.  Both David and Sam White played strong defense together, causing many jump ball calls and creating many steals.  John O’Donnell, Braydon Alyward, Owen Kinnon and Nathan Jolly all played strong defense down low and on the wings and were instrumental in assists offensively.

     The Rockets hung in this game and fought hard right up until the final buzzer with several shot attempts that wouldn’t fall late in the game! Shayne Exilhomme and Daniel Sullivan gathered up several rebounds each while also doing a good job handling the ball and distributing it along with Timmy Panilaitis. Playing excellent defense for the Rockets were Jimmy Holmes, Jayden Trudeau, and Colin Buchanan. Brendan Waddell played very well down low and inside the lane at both end of the floor. Liam Kelley played an all-around solid game at both ends of the floor. The Rockets were led offensively by Shayne Exilhomme with six points, followed by Timmy Panilaitis with four points, Daniel Sullivan who chipped in with two points and Brendan Waddell with one point from the free throw line.

Knicks  defeat Pacers 

     The Knicks had another strong offensive showing on Saturday as they topped the 20 point plateau for the second straight game. Ryan Flynn (9 points) and Blake Ryder (8 points) led the way on offense and also helped to control the paint on the defensive end. Jayden Donaher chipped in by throwing three tremendous passes that led to easy baskets and Seamus MacDonald scored for the second game in a row. Joey Bourgea scored 4 points (2 of which came on a tough running jump shot) and Quinn Brown was once again a defensive terror. Quinn had several steals and made it very difficult for the other team to setup their offense. Matt Stadtman and Santino D'ippolito also both grabbed some strong rebounds and helped to bring the ball up the court. Overall, the Knicks played their best team game of the year.

     The Pacers were led offensively by Drew Rennell and Jack Rennell in scoring while Cam Kearney, Jacob Martel and Ian Starr all played some amazing defense. The Knicks offense was just too strong for the Pacers on this day. The Pacers worked very hard throughout the game with top notch passing, stealing of the ball and spreading of the court which was led by Alex Grove, Drew Nestor, Ryan Thompson and Billy Burris.

Celtics  14  -  Hawks  8

      The Celtics played their best team game so far this season earning assists on a majority of their baskets.  After falling behind by two points early in the game, Matthew Flynn found Noah Williams for a layup on back to back plays setting the tone for the C’s.  Williams lead the team with six points.  Strong all-around games were played by Flynn (two points, two assists, and five rebounds) and Romyn Lorick (four points, three rebounds, and one assist).  Alexander Arbogast finished the scoring with two points and added five rebounds.  Cade Barron was also big on the glass pulling down four rebounds.  Adam Saad and Carter Forbes showed big improvements contributing aggressive defense efforts.  Daniel Franklin and Dominic Johnson did a nice job bringing the ball up the court and getting the offense started. 

     For the Hawks Albie Bosworth started the scoring with a basket and ended up with 6 points and 4 rebounds to lead the team.  Micheal Carlson added a basket and 2 steals while providing solid all-around play.  Michael Hill was a monster on defense coming up with 4 steals, driving to the hoop and making some sold passes.  Johnny Baker added 3 steals and solid ball handling to the effort.  Nichols Ingersoll stole the ball, brought it up court and passed to earn a nice assist.  Kyle Cumming played solid shut down defense and was a key player in keeping the game close with his ball handling skills.  Ryan Feudo passed the ball well in the effort.  Aidan MacDonald was everywhere on the court, blocking shots, rebounding and making several key steals.

Junior Division (Grades 4-5)

CELTIC 27 CAVS 19

The Junior Celtics advanced to a record of 4 wins and 1 loss with an impressive win against the Cavaliers on Saturday. The Celtics scored the first 12 points and survived a second half run from the Cavs with strong team defense and rebounding. Celtics scoring was led by Derek Munroe with 10 points followed by Liam Macdonald with 4, Cameron Loder with 4, Aiden Grogan with 3, Brady Johnson with 2, Jake Pelletier with two and Logan Auth with 2. Cameron Lameroux played a strong center position with many rebounds and blocked shots.

Warriors 19  Wizards 17

The Warriors were able to prevail in a matchup of two very evenly matched teams.  The game was back and forth all day long with the Warriors slowing down the Wizards offense early going behind aggressive defense from Will McFadyen (8 steals on the day) and Julian Costello.  Sreetej Digmurthi and Sean Kaiser worked a perfect give and go in the second quarter with Kaiser netting 2 of his team high 6 points.  The Warriors trailed 10-6 at half time but kicked the offense into gear in the second half behind buckets from Kaiser, Luke McFadyen and Will McFadyen to take a 2 point lead into the fourth quarter.  Ryan Melo hit a key jumper to stretch the lead but the Wizards fought back and took a one point lead before Travis Cohen (4 points) made the game winning shot off a great pass from Sean Kaiser.  Luke McFadyen (5 points) sealed the victory with a free throw in the last 10 seconds.  Bryan Doherty and Dylan Crowley were outstanding in grabbing big rebounds to feed the Warrior offense.

The Wizards started the game well jumping to a 10-6 lead but couldn’t hold on in the second half as the Warriors pulled ahead in the 4th quarter. The Wizards had 6 players with points, Jonny Norwood, David Miller and Jason Donaher had 4 points each with Colin Goggins, Ethan Exilhomme and Colin Fullerton also scoring in the game. Logan Teixiera had a great defensive game with a number of steals and blocks with Connor McFadyn, Felix Nararette, Nathan Norwood and Will Forbes also playing great defense. This game came down to final seconds but the Wizards couldn’t fight through the Warriors defense for the final shot.

SIXER 23 SPURS 15

The Sixers started off with an explosive first half scoring 15 of their 23 points and holding on to win their first game of the season. Nik Smith led the team with 11 points, Eric Ndungo added 6 points and 3 steals, with Cole Kimtis and Logan Reinhard adding 4 and 2 points respectively. The defense played tough, especially in the second half with strong rebounding from Aidan Crawson, Damien Hadden, Nicholas Danielson, Paul Spanos, and Robert Ryan, who also had a steal.  Jonathan Spanos contributed to a great defensive effort with a blocked shot. 

Mathew Woods led the scoring for the Spurs with 8 followed by Dylan Dufresne with 4 and Samuel Hines with 2. Brady Litton pitched in with a nicely made free throw.  The strong defense was led by Ryan Rosenberg with a ton of rebounds, along with great plays made by Charles Matsas, Daedon Bere and Joshua Linnehan.

LAKERS 20 MAVS 16

Saturday's Jr. Match-up was the Mavericks vs. the Lakers.  Both teams started slow trying to match up players.  The Lakers got on the board first with Robert Cortes (8 pts) putting in a layup rebound, then Mike Wilson hit a nice jump shot for his 2 points. Nick Polimeno (4 pts), with two nice open court jump shots kept the Lakers out front.  Sean Fahey and Lee Ghannam kept the Mavericks from mounting any offense and a 12-0 half time lead.  The Second half started slow for the Lakers and the Mavs tied the score. Abhi Lingareddy (3 pts) helped the Lakers keep the lead with the help of great defense by Nick Wilson, Mihir Bagul and Jack Stadtman forcing the Mavs outside.  Sean Fahey (3 pts) put the Lakers out front with a nice corner shot and a foul shot to win the game. At total team effort by the Lakers was played by all. James Ministeri had broken his toe (Again) and missed the game but was seen cheering from the sidelines.

Despite finding themselves down 12 - 0 early the Mavs never gave up. Scoring for the Mavs were Mark Olu 8 pts with Derek Wilkinson, Devon Stoddard, Henry Pestana, and Cullain Johnson each adding one basket. Playing great defense and showing great hustle were, Jordan Mackenzie, Nick Johnston, Alex Johnston, Josh Engelken, and Paul Tower. 

Intermediate Division (Grades 6-7)

Jazz 29 – Heat 24

The Heat lost a close game to the Jazz late Saturday morning, 29 to 24.  The Heat came out fast, starting the game on a 9-0 run, led by Daryl Quek, who had 5 points and 3 steals in the game.  Andrew Maresca had another strong game for the Heat, leading the team in scoring with 7 points, before needing to leave the game with an injury (ankle) early in the fourth quarter.  With time winding down, the Jazz were able to hold on to their lead and not allow the Heat many shots. Other top performances for the Heat were put in by Steven Nickerson with 4 points and 4 rebounds, Chris Blimberg with 2 points, 1 steal and 3 rebounds, and Ian Tacey with 2 points, 1 steal, 2 blocks and 3 rebounds.  James Reardon and Jared Gray each scored 2 points while Diego Monteiro and Pranav Hari made contributions on the defensive end.

The Jazz were able to hang on yesterday and hold off the talented Heat by a score of 29 - 24. Leading the offense for the Jazz were Ryan Meuse with 11 points and Josh Donaher with 10 points. Matt Ferreira, Nick Stephens, Nate Wilkinson, and Derek Wallace all added one basket each. Shawn Manson continues to play great at the guard, while Mike Bankowski and Jack Kenneally played tough down low. Matt Pelletier who forced a couple of turnovers late played his best game of the season.

Hornets defeat Thunder

The hornets were lead on offensive by Andrew Lefebre, Adam Hines, who both had eight points also Logan singleton had 6 points and Cameron Hodgson had 5 points. The defensive effort was great by Mike Fowler, Zack Hines, Gustavo Tizotti and Justyn Lester who manned the boards.

Suns 38 – Wizards 29

The Suns broke out in the final quarter to defeat the Wizards. Leading the team to victory with an outstanding effort of shots on the basket, defense, rebounds and steals were: William Mance, Ryan Bennett, Anthony Miano, and Jack O’Neill. Scoring was spread around to six of the Suns. The Suns inside game was on fire with scoring led by Phadungdet Kaeokit with 14 points, followed by Matthew Dugan with 8 points. Sean Whelton had 7 points, Christopher Zdinak had 4 points, and both William Andella and Harrison Graczyk had 2 points.

The Wizards played their best game of the year keeping their effort up and the score close the entire game. Even when the Suns started to pull away the Wizards managed to cut the Suns lead at the end of the first half down to 1 point. Scoring in the first half was generated from Xavier McShane, Matt Perron and Alec Sokol. The Wizards executed phenomenal pressure defense lead by Owen Gilligan, Rich Cappiello and Nick Cappiello who caused multiple turn overs and cut down the amount of scoring opportunities for the Suns. Despite second half scoring from Dominic Cohen, John Murphy and Sean McMahon the Wizards were unable to close the scoring gap and fell short 38-29. All players never gave up and played great as a team. Excellent game guys!!

Celtics 43 – Bobcats 35

Senior Division (Grades 8-9)

Bobcats 58 - Hornets 53

The Bobcats and Hornets played a back and forth game Saturday.  Mike Flynn, Dave Pesantes, and Damian Dugan led the offensive attack, while baskets by Danny Nguyen and Jarryd Hickey in the first quarter got the Bobcats up early. Great defense including tough guard play by Danny Carter and clutch rebounding by Josh Snyder and John Kenney kept the Bobcats in the game. Late baskets by Nick Heinze and Ryan Nickerson sealed the win for the Bobcats as they improved to 3-1 on the season.

Bobcats 58 - Hornets 53

The Senior Hornets had their first difficult game of the season, and were handed a close loss by the Bobcats. The Hornets had to contend with not having a full team and unfamiliar lineups, early foul trouble, as well as exceptional players on the Bobcats to contain. Despite the obstacles they played hard to end losing by only a few baskets. The leading scorer was power Forward Leo Frisella who muscled in 12 points, followed by big man Center Ben Connors who dominated off the glass to put in 11 points. Despite early foul trouble for Guard Matty McLaughlin he was able to last the full game and contributed 10 points. Center Robert Page helped the Hornets make a late run by dropping in 6 points in the 4th quarter, and Forward Brendan Murray also added 6 points with key outside shots. Daniel DeRosa’s relentless defense led to Derek Steinbrecher having two clutch baskets (4 points) to stay pace with the Bobcats. Sam Fortier and Nick Borges each carved through the tough defense to put in 2 points.

Timberwolves 46 - Magic 51

All the Timberwolves scored!  Timberwolves pulled together to keep the score close.  Great passes.  We had some good ball handling.  Offensive moves were blocked by the Magic.  Our top scorers were Chris Chiccarelli with 11 points and Joshua Tirrell getting 9 points.

Blazers 40 Sixers 32

Although still in search of their first win, the Sixers continued to play good team ball, with seven different players getting buckets for the third time this season. Bryan Lelos led the way for the Sixers with 14 points. Elijah McTiernan, Jonathan Raschella, and Nick Zullo each scored 4 points.  Jacob Cofer got his first basket of the season, and Robbie Gilligan and Nick Catizone each scored 2.  Pat Carleton played a good game at point guard, feeding his teammates on a number of assists.  Nick Chinappi, Raymond Humphrey, and Jonathan Zurawski all pitched in with good defense, some nice picks, and a few key rebounds.

In other Senior basketball:  Bucks (43) vs Rockets (41).  It was a close game both teams played well. 

Travel

Tewksbury 6th Grade Red 43 Chelmsford Maroon 27

Tewksbury 6th grade Red squared off against a strong Chelmsford Maroon team on Saturday and came away with a hard fought 43-27 victory. 6 Red was forced to start the game with only 8 players and played the entire first half with just 3 substitutes. 6 Red's aggressive defensive style once again proved effective but was taxing on the team with such a short bench. 6 Red's offense could only muster 14 first half points and took a 14-12 lead into the break. The boys came out re-energized in the second half and began to take the game over. They were bolstered by the arrival of Greg Sencabaugh (4 pts) and Nicky Iannacci who brought some much needed fresh legs to the effort. Richie Markwarth led all scorers with his dominant inside play leading to a 14 point game. The sharp shooting of Garrett Kingston (8 pts) and the incredible hustle of Nolan Timmons (7 pts) also provided a much needed spark. The scoring was rounded out by Chris Antonelli (5 pts), Paul Manzi (2 pts), Thomas Bradley (2 pts) and Shayne Aylward (1 pt).

Tyler Keough chipped in with his typical defensive hustle and gave Chelmsford fits throughout the contest. Colby Brown was once again forced to be a spectator for hopefully the last time as he hopes to have his cast removed in time for the next game which would be the best Christmas present for the coaching staff.

Tewksbury Red is now 3-0 in MVL play and 9-2 overall