CANTON, Mass. – It may have been just another game, but for members of the Oliver Ames basketball team, it was a sense of normalcy.
With heavy hearts, Oliver Ames pulled away late from Davenport Division rival Canton on Tuesday to win 60-49.
Just days after losing a classmate in senior wrestling captain Devin Ness, the Tigers rallied to an emotional victory over the Bulldogs.
“One of our driving forces was obviously Devin,” senior Andrew Reardon said, a classmate of Ness’. “He was a good kid. He was a driving force for us, which helped us come out in the second half and have a good second half.”
Signs of respect for the tragedy were all over the Canton gym. Reardon was one of the Tigers who had “RIP Devin” written on their sneakers, while all Canton players and coaches wore orange laces in their sneakers and dress shoes. The Canton cheerleaders wore orange ribbons in their hair and there was a moment of silence before the game.
“OA’s a tight school,” Oliver Ames head coach Don Byron said. “Everything ranging from close friends, to close family friends to acquaintances. You could see it in their eyes. They were working like crazy to pull some emotion out of themselves to play a basketball game, and it wasn’t easy.”
The Tigers trailed entering the final frame, down 38-36, but a Brendan Welch jumper and a Ryan Carney three gave OA the lead for good. Carney finished with a game-high 19 points, 11 in the fourth quarter.
Oliver Ames stretched their lead to eight after senior St. Clair Ryan’s high-arching three put them up 52-44. Late free throws and strong defense helped the Tigers seal it.
“We picked it up defensively in the second half, and it starts with [St. Clair],” Byron said.
It was a tale of two different defenses, as Canton clamped down in the first half, and more specifically in the second quarter where they only allowed five OA points.
But in the second half, Oliver Ames only allowed eight in the third quarter and then 11 in the final frame,
“I don’t think they did anything different,” Byron said of Canton’s defenses. “Our shot selection, we kind of shot the ball kind of quickly. We didn’t get one offensive rebound in the first half – not one – and that’s kind of an indicator that emotionally you’re not there.”
Sam Larson scored a quiet 17 points to lead Canton while junior Tristin Mullen had 12 points.
“They did a pretty good job on Larson,” Canton head coach Ryan Gordy said. “Every time, he’s the focus of the scouting report. His shot just wasn’t falling. Everyone has those types of games, he’s still a great player and one of the best scorers in the league. It just wasn’t his night.”
Canton took a 28-21 lead into the break, and extended it to 12 with two quick baskets in the third, but OA proved to be resilient, behind the leadership of Cidado.
“I saw something in him I really liked,” Byron said. “He was urging kids that we could get this.”
Cidado outscored the rest of his teammates, netting 8 points to keep the Tigers afloat heading into the final quarter.
“Nick already has a lot of experience,” Reardon said. “He already has that mental edge against some of those kids who are in their first year on varsity. Maybe sometimes, Ryan and I aren’t feeling it, [Cidado] is always there to step up. He’s an important part to this team.”
As the final buzzer sounded, a relieved Oliver Ames looked as though a weight had been lifted off their shoulders. Canton played a tough game, but proved to be even classier hosts with the respect they showed.
“Sports is a great venue to show respect," Gordy said. "They’re dealing with something that’s a complete tragedy and our hearts go out to them. Even though it was small, it was a little something we could do to show we respect them. At the end of the day, it’s just a basketball game.”