Blue Knights Upstage Bishop Stang on the Road

NORTH DARTMOUTH — Four Sandwich boys basketball players scored in the double digits Tuesday night as the Blue Knights took down the host Bishop Stang Spartans, 64-56.

It was what Sandwich coach Dennis Green characterized as a job well done in all aspects. Senior captains Scotty Reels, Joey Downes and Hank O’Brien all scored in the double digits to

Sandwich High School's Scotty Reels poured in 18 points and netted three three-pointers in the 4th quarter to spell the difference against Bishop Stang. Sean Walsh/www.capecod.com sports

Sandwich High School’s Scotty Reels poured in 18 points and netted three three-pointers in the 4th quarter to spell the difference against Bishop Stang.
Sean Walsh/www.capecod.com sports

pace the Blue Knights’ offensive attack, while Andrew Galanek came off the bench to pour in a much-needed 10 points. Will Bennett came off the bench and tore down six offensive rebounds and added three blocked shots in a tremendous defensive effort.

The Blue Knights now stand at 3-1 and will head to Martha’s Vineyard on Saturday. The loss for Bishop Stang was its first of the season. They, too, now stand at 3-1.

“They ran a box and one on Downes but he did a great job shaking his man and getting to the basket for 12 points,” Green said of his usually prolific point-scorer. “I have a feeling we’re going to see a alot of that from here on out.”

Credit Downes with six assists as well, as the speedy point guard routinely dished the ball to an open man or began ball movement to the open man in the paint. Sandwich’s big man, O’Brien, was the beneficiary of many of those nifty inside passes for critical buckets. O’Brien finished with another double-double by adding 1o rebounds to his 14-point night. He also had four blocked shots.

“We did a really nice job on the inside,” Green said. “They were big. I didn’t think we matched up really well to them man-to-man so we made some adjustments.”

Green opted to jump out of a three-quarter court press in the first half and go into a 1-3-1 zone in the second half, then mixed that zone defense up by jumping into a 2-3. And where Downes’ usual point-scoring tally might have been lower than desired, backcourt teammate Reels filled in the gaps. Reels finished the night with 18 points.

“Reels picked up the slack,” Green said. “He came to play tonight in the second half. We were down and he hit three three’s in the fourth quarter to extend the lead. That really lifted us up.”

The visiting Blue Knights were actually down at halftime, losing 26-22, but in the second half made some defensive adjustments that spelled the difference. Coach Green said that those adjustments enabled the Blue Knights to create some turnovers.

“Downes would kick it inside to one guy and then that guy would kick it out for the shot. I could have used that (Reels’ performance) against Wareham but it’s good that he came to play tonight.”

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

 

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