Running and Gunning, Bourne Stays Unbeaten

BOURNE — When you have depth, you have legs, and when you have legs, you can run the floor.

The still unbeaten Bourne High School boys basketball team (3-0, 2-0 SCC) showed its depth Monday night at Upper Cape Regional Technical High School and in the end it simply outran the host Rams, 69-55. Upper Cape Tech fell to 1-3 on the still young season.

Bourne's Kylar Macoratti (15) feeds the ball to Travis Johnston (21) as Upper Cape Tech's Alex Spinner slides to defend. Sean Walsh/CCBM Sports

Bourne’s Kylar Macoratti (15) feeds the ball to Travis Johnston (21) as Upper Cape Tech’s Alex Spinner slides to defend.
Sean Walsh/CCBM Sports

But the Rams sure made things interesting for head coach Scott Ashworth’s boys.

Down 14-11 after the first quarter, the Canalmen went up 17-15 when Upper Cape Tech senior Austin Smolinsky stole the ball, raced down court and fed junior forward Nick Silvia under the basket to tie it up 17-17 as the home crowd in the standing room only gym went wild. But that was as close as the hosts would come to taking a lead as Bourne junior guard Steve McCarthy immediately returned the favor to make it 19-17 and the Canalmen simply would not look back and built up a 10-point lead by the halftime intermission.

The Canalmen played a combination of man-to-man and intermittent

Thanks in no small part to the entire Bourne bench – McCarthy, Andy Chen, Tyler Rondeau, Adam Comoletti and Travis Johnston – that took the floor in the second quarter and thus allowed the relentless Bourne defense to stay fresh once the starting five went back out. The game was high-pressure throughout as a result, but the Canalmen kept their cool.

“I told them to just relax and play,” Ashworth said. “I thought our bench players were outstanding today. They really pulled it out for us.”

But a certain amount of credit was no less due to sophomore point guard and co-captain Jacob Ashworth – Bourne’s high scorer on the night with 14 points – who quarterbacked the Canalmen with the poise of a senior classman and fellow guard David Laine, a freshman, whose lightning speed and brilliant passing throughout the night kept the Rams off balance. Laine had 10 points, four assists and four steals. Starting sophomore guard Chris Davis was no less effective, dumping in 10 points of his own including a back-breaking three pointer in the third that quickly quieted the Rams’ most dangerous offensive threat: senior guard Rally Wheaton.

Austin Smolinsky - Upper Cape Tech

Upper Cape Tech senior captain Austin Smolinsky prepares to feed the ball inbounds in last night’s 69-55 loss to Bourne.
Sean Walsh/CCBM Sports

Down by 10 points to start the third quarter, Wheaton came out on fire and hit three straight (but not unaswered) downtown trifectas that had the home crowd shaking the gym’s steel beams and the Rams into within three points of tying the game once more. But Laine, Parker Freedman and Ashworth would have none of the seeming momentum shift and calmly, steadily built the lead quickly back up to 10 points, 55-45.

Wheaton’s hand grew cold in the fourth quarter, even as Smolinsky (12 points, 6 assists, 11 rebounds, 5 steals) attempted everything possible to keep his Rams in the game. Wheaton would finish the night with a game-high 18 points (including four three-pointers) and a critical fourth quarter bucket but the lead grew too large to overcome, increasing by as much as 21 points in the fourth as time ticked off the clock.

Bourne Canalmen (3-0) – 69
Jacob Ashworth 14
David Laine 10
Chris Davis 10
Connor Schaefer 7
Steve McCarthy 7
Adam Comoletti 6
Parker Freedman 6
Tyler Rondeau 5
Andy Chen 2
Kylar Macoratti 1
Travis Johnston 1

Upper Cape Tech Rams (1-3) – 55
Rally Wheaton 18
Austin Smolinsky 12
Nick Silvia 8
Alex Spinner 7
Nick Gagner 6
Tyler Glover 4

— Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm

 

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