SHARON, Mass. - Charles Dickens wrote about the tale of two cities. Stoughton head coach John Gallivan described Friday night’s 66-37 loss to Sharon as “the tale of three cities.”
“The first half we were 1 for 11 or 12 from the three point line so I told them no more threes,” Gallivan said. “We got a ton of layups in the second half but we missed almost all of them. And then we missed all of those foul shots. They’re working hard and they’re good kids. They’re doing what’s necessary to get the shot they want, they’re just not going in.”
A game doesn’t always boil down to the numbers but they were pretty telling on Friday night.
Sharon drained nine three pointers, hitting at a 43% success rate compared to Stoughton’s one three.
Sharon hit 17 two-point field goals, the majority coming in the paint. Stoughton hit 14 on 33% shooting.
And from the charity stripe, Stoughton held the advantage on free throws made (6 to 5), but the Black Knights finished 6/22 from the line with the Eagles shooting 5/7.
The separation came in the second quarter as the Eagles were able to outscore Stoughton 19-7 to take a 30-15 lead int halftime. Sharon continued its pace into the third, outscoring the Black Knights in the third 21-12 to take a comfortable 51-27 lead into the final frame.
“I think they became confused with our defenses,” Sharon head coach Bruce Jackman said. “We have the ability to change defensives constantly. I think one of the reasons is that the kids are very intelligent. We spent a lot of time on defense during the week. They’re smart kids and they work hard and I think that became the key.”
Things started to go Sharon’s way on the last play of the first quarter. With the game tied at eight, junior Matt Lower came away with a steal around half court, raced up and laid it in for two to beat the buzzer while getting fouled. Lowerre sank the free throw it go up 11-8.
After going without a three in the first quarter, Sharon drained five three pointers in the second frame - one from starter David Roelke and four from bench players, two from senior Kyle Long and one from Andrew Filipkowski and Ricardo Ripley.
Stoughton was able to get it within 11 early in the third quarter, but Sharon responded with a 12-2 run to put the lead back to over 20 points at 42-21.
Bryce Smith finished with a game-high 16 points for Sharon along with four boards and four assists. Roelke just missed out on a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds and Lowerre had seven points and six rebounds.
Stoughton’s Brandon Teixeira had a team-best 11 points to go along with four rebounds. Mike Manning added six points and four rebounds and Dennis Rebelo had four points and seven rebounds.
Sharon (7-5) has now won a season-best three in a row and will be back in action on Tuesday, hosting Taunton. Stoughton (4-8) will host Mansfield on the same day.
Ryan Lanigan can be contacted at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @R_Lanigan.