LAKEVILLE — Taking a week’s respite might be just what sophomore Jacob Ashworth needed, even if it was involuntary due to this week’s blizzard.
The Bourne High School boys’ basketball captain poured in 16 second half points last night and tallied a game-high 21 points to pace the Canalmen to a “huge victory” over host Apponequet, 54-53.
Bourne High School sophomore guard Kylar Macoratti played a phenomenally tough defensive game last night in helping the Canalmen to a 54-53 win over Apponequet on the road.
Sean Walsh/capecod.com sports
It was huge because Apponequet — a somewhat underachieving but loaded-with-talent team — made every effort to eradicate a 42-30 deficit after three quarters and almost pulled it off.
With just 50 seconds left in the game and both teams into the double-bonus, Bourne freshman David Laine hit a pair of critical free throws as well as a big field goal to keep the Canalmen ahead, but the Lakers countered with a clutch three-pointer and then still had a shot to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat as time had ticked down to just 0:15 remaining.
“The last 15 seconds seemed like three hours,” Bourne head coach Scott Ashworth said. “It was bizarre. We were both well into the bonus. We’d foul, then they’d foul and then we’d foul. They got the ball over half court at the end but there was just one second left. It was too late.”
The victory puts Bourne at 9-2 in the South Coast Conference and 11-2 overall. The Old Rochester Bulldogs stand unbeaten in the SCC at 10-0 and are ranked number one in Division 3 South by the Boston Herald. As of Jan. 24th, Wareham was ranked second in Division South, just one slot ahead of Bourne at 11-3.
Bourne took an early, 11-8 lead after the first quarter as both teams scrapped it out in an intense, defensive battle. Ashworth credited junior forward Adam Comoletti and sophomore Kylar Macoratti as having “all-star performances” from a defensive standpoint.
“Macoratti had seven deflections alone,” Ashworth said, then added that senior captain Connor Schaefer proved a veritable one-man wrecking crew down low. Schaefer had just five points but he turned in 13 rebounds.
“He was a serious presence underneath,” Ashworth said. “He took one of their shots and pinned it against the glass.”
Apponequet’s Stephen O’Malley makes a futile effort to contain Bourne School sophomore captain Jacob Ashworth who poured in a game-high 21 points last night to pace the Canalmen to a 54-53, nailbiting win on the road.
Sean Walsh/capecod.com sports
Offensively, as noted above, Jacob Ashworth poured in 21 points, had five assists and seven rebounds on the night. Laine and Parker Freedman each added seven points for the Canalmen.
“Jacob played today,” Coach Ashworth said. “And we haven’t practiced since Monday. But I think what happened tonight is we cut the rotation down a little bit and I thought we had some tired legs going down to the finish line. It was a tell-tale sign in the fourth quarter when we gave up 23 points to them.”
Apponequet’s Stephen O’Malley led the Lakers with 13 points, followed by Kevin Falaki with 11 points. Last time Bourne met with Falaki he had 20 points and Pete Loranger had 18 points.
“He’s a pretty good shooter,” Ashworth said of Loranger. “But this time we held him to just three points. We were just trying to scratch and claw our way to the end.”
The Canalmen hit the road tomorrow (Super Bowl Sunday) for a 1:30 pm game against Case.
— Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm
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