BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Senior guard Jimmy Fritzson put on a shooting exhibition on Sunday afternoon with eight three-pointers in the opening three quarters in Sharon’s 68-64 win over Bridgewater-Raynham in the holiday tournament final. He finished with 33 points in the game and took home tournament MVP honors.
The Eagles guard got things started quickly in the first quarter with three shots from beyond the arc, including one from the corner that turned into a four-point play. He had the first 14 points for the Eagles (4-0), who jumped out to a 14-11 lead just a few minutes into the game.
It was just the kind of start that Fritzson had been looking for after a difficult start to the season.
“I’ve actually been off lately; I’ve been in a slump shooting,” admitted the senior. “I don’t know, I’ve been working on it and it helped today. Once you break out of it, you get going.”
Despite having the hot hand, Fritzson would not get any other shots in the opening quarter and only two looks in the second (he made both) to finish with 20 for the half. Despite, the offensive display from Sharon, the Eagles struggled defensively and frequently allowed the Trojans to get to the basket and dominate the paint.
B-R started to get inside to senior centers Alex Rose, who had a pair of putback layups and six points in the quarter, and Joe Freiday, who was able to post up the smaller Sharon defenders. The Trojans also were able to break the Eagles pressure defense with point guard Rashad Bell (eight points) and guard Jamie Carey (16 points, 11 in the first half).
Down 36-34 at the break, Jackman adjusted his defense to pack the paint, switching from a 3-2 zone to a 2-3 that gave more support to the post defenders and tried to take away driving lanes by keeping someone fronting the high post.
According to Frirzson, the move forced the Trojans to go away from their strength and try to knock down outside shots.
“Honestly, we were being too aggressive in the beginning; we were playing up too far,” he explained. “They were hurting us because they could dribble and break through our pressure, so we backed up and stayed in the middle and made them take threes.”
Jackman added, “They couldn’t come down the middle like they were doing in the beginning and really putting pressure on. By putting three people on the bottom it clogs things up and makes it difficult for them.”
Fritzson had another strong quarter in the third with 11 points and three more from beyond the arc. He was helped out by sophomore Jordan Mello-Klein, who followed up his 27-point performance against Falmouth on Friday with 17 on Sunday. Fritzson and fellow senior Brian Mukasa drew a lot of attention from the B-R defenders and it left Mello-Klein space to get off his shot.
Jackman commented, “He’s a very important cog because if you stop the other two, you got him. Any team would love to have a kid like him. He would start for any team in the league and they would be happy to have him.”
Sharon held a slim 54-53 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Trojans attempted to limit Fritzson as much as possible by putting Isiah Bell on him full-court. The onus fell on Mukasa to start controlling the ball and he began finding seams in the B-R defense and taking the ball to the basket. The senior had seven of his nine points in the final quarter and Mello-Klein had five, including a clutch jumper with just 16.8 remaining that gave Sharon a 68-64 lead.
“I told him at halftime, ‘You are not allowed to shoot any more three’s,’ and it’s a hard thing to tell a kid, but he reacted well and he accepted it,” said Jackman. “He took the ball to the basket and got some layups like he should do since it opens things up for him.”
Sharon will have two days off before a showdown with undefeated Mansfield on New Year’s Eve.
Josh Perry can be contacted at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @Josh_Perry10.