Blue Knight Boys Stage Comeback Win Over Red Raiders

HYANNIS — For three quarters, the Barnstable High School boys’ basketball team owned the show.

But owning the fourth and final frame was all the visiting Sandwich High boys (12-1) would need in this non-league rematch last night, as the Blue Knights rolled on to a 63-59 victory.

Sandwich High School senior co-captain Joey Downes looks for the open man as Barnstable senior co-captain Elijah Baptiste keeps a hand in the passing lane in last night’s 63-59 Blue Knights’ win.
Sean Walsh/capecod.com sports

Once again, senior co-captain Joey Downes played the hero, dumping in 10 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter to pace his Blue Knights to their 12th victory on the season.

When asked if there was any point during the match-up that he was worried a potential victory was in jeopardy, Sandwich 2nd-year head coach Dennis Green said yes.

“Yeah, the whole game,” he said. “Worried the whole game. It’s tough to come in here especially after the Marshfield game, my kids are tired… I knew it was going to be tough. Barnstable is tough, you know. The match-ups are tough, they got good size so it was hard.”

Junior forward Andrew Galanek and senior co-captain Hank O’Brien also reached double digits for the visitors, with Galanek collecting a methodical 15 points and O’Brien 12 points to go along with seven rebounds. As a team, Sandwich went 13-18 from the free throw line, with O’Brien turning in a perfect 6-6 performance. Fellow senior co-captain Scotty Reels added nine points, including five in the fourth quarter that proved key to the win.

Reels might have had more, offensively, had he not been relegated to the bench at the end of the first quarter when he was tabbed with his third foul. Green also noted that O’Brien and Galanek had some difficulty inside the paint in the first half. O’Brien did not register a point in the second quarter and came down with just one rebound.

Barnstable’s sophomore center Will O’Day continued to impress all eyes as he scored an unselfish and gutsy 20 points on the evening to go along with 12 rebounds. His was the sole double-double of the evening but it was Barnstable’s rebounding efforts that afforded it the early and continued lead through the third quarter

Barnstable;s Will O’Day (33) poured in a team-high 20 points as Sandwich senior co-captain Hank O’Brien tries to stop him. O’Brien had 12 points on the night.
Sean Walsh/capecod.com sports

before Sandwich turned it on in the final frame. Red Raider senior co-captain Elijah Baptiste netted 18 points as the only other Barnstable player to register in the double figures. Baptiste shot 7-15 from the field but did not register a single trip to the charity stripe. All combined, Barnstable’s players went 5-9 from the free throw line. Senior Deon Bell added eight points and eight rebounds in one of his best-played games in the past two weeks.

Perhaps the Red & White utilized the home-court advantage in part to build a 20-12 lead after the first quarter and a 32-26 halftime edge. In any event, by the end of the third frame, the hosts had maintained a six-point spread only to watch it evaporate quickly in the final quarter as the Blue Knights ran repeatedly successful screens to give Downes the separation he needed to pump in his usual, silky jump shots. The lead exchanged a handful of times in the first three quarters but once Sandwich tied it at 51-51 in the fourth quarter on a Galanek bunny with 4:03 left, the Blue Knights “Go Light” turned green.

It was Reels who made a pair of free throws to put Sandwich ahead to stay, Galanek perfected a three-point play from the line and Downes added a pair of freebies to ensure the win. Sandwich went 5-5 from the line in the 4th quarter a cold, hard fact that spelled the difference. Having been outscored in the previous three quarters, Sandwich succeeded in running and gunning in transition off at least seven Barnstable turnovers generated by the Blue Knights’ full-court press and two-man trap and the result was a 22-12 margin the hosts could not climb out of, ultimately.

As time began ticking rapidly off the fourth quarter game clock, Sandwich’s Will Bennett came up with a tremendous offensive rebound to give the Blue Knights a shot to tie or go ahead. With just 2:11 left, Reels was the ultimate beneficiary of that rebound as he was sent to the line and hit both free throws with his team behind 55-54. Ahead the, 56-55, and that was all the advantage Sandwich would need to close it out and remain one of the top-ranked teams in the state.

“They hang tough, they don’t give up,” Green said. “But yeah I was worried the whole game.”

The Blue Knights hit the road Thursday to face Case High School at 6:30 pm. Barnstable (6-7) welcomes Dennis-Yarmouth Friday (Feb. 6) at 7:00 pm.

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

Sandwich High School’s Will Bennett turns the corner on the Hank O’Brien pick as Barnstable’s Nate Balthazard tries to fight through it in last night’s 63-59 Sandwich victory.
Sean Walsh/capecod.com sports