FALMOUTH – Nauset boys’ basketball head coach John McCarthy wasn’t sure Razz Green was going to make this trip.
Looking ashen and under the weather, and still suffering the aches and discomfort of a bad winter cold, Green overcame that illness to turn in a clutch double-double performance Tuesday night to lead the Warriors to a thrilling, 38-37, come-from-behind win on the road.
Nauset’s Razz Green (21) turned in a double-double in last night’s 38-37 Warrior win over Falmouth. Nauset’s Mark Takajian and Falmouth’s Leo DeOliveira fight for position behind him.
Sean Walsh/capecod.com sports
Green had 12 points and 13 rebounds to go along with three steals. Three of his baskets were downtown three-pointers that came at key moments. In particular, when he buried an on-the-fly baseline corner trey to tie the game at 35-35 with just 2:42 left in the game.
With the game tied at 37-37, though, it was Andrew Flynn who can be credited with the actual game-winning basket. With just 9.9 seconds left on the clock, Nauset’s Mike Walsh missed a top-of-the key jumper that bounced off the rim and out of bounds. McCarthy called a time out. Falmouth’s Eric Demers took the ball down court and missed a shot and Nauset came roaring back with time almost gone. Flynn got the pass on the wing and drove underneath the Falmouth basket straight into an enveloping double-team and drew the foul. With 3.6 seconds remaining in the game, Flynn rattled in his first of two throws, for the 38-37 lead. His second shot laced the bucket, but the referee nullified the hoop, citing that Nauset had jumped out too soon in anticipation of a rebound.
Falmouth head coach Paul Lundberg then called for a time out and worked up a scheme to feed the ball into Demers. Demers indeed got the ball on the inbounds pass and chucked up a three-pointer but, alas, on “Falmouth Pen Pal Night” with 100 Morse Pond Elementary School students on hand cheering, it missed.
Regardless, Demers poured in a game-high 19 points to lead all scorers and 16 of those 19 points came in the first half. It was Nauset’s high pressure on Demers in the second half that likely gave the guests the edge they needed to pull off the victory. Nauset is now 2-3 in the Atlantic Coast League but its hopes are actually set on winning the next two games to qualify for the postseason. The Warriors are 8-4 and have not been to the postseason in seven years.
“This was really an important game for us,” McCarthy said. “In my three years we haven’t had a heck of a lot of ACL victories on the road so getting a road victory against Falmouth is huge. The goal is the tournament. And we need two to clinch it. The kids are really champing at the bit for it.”
As thrilling to fans as the end of this game was, both coaches characterized the match-up as “ugly.”
“We missed just way too many bunnies,” Lundberg said, a point which his opposing coach McCarthy echoed.
“It was ugly because we didn’t shoot well. I thought during warm-ups we were shooting well and we were getting good looks against their zone. It’s not like we weren’t getting good looks and we tried everybody. Razz Green came up huge by hitting those three’s.”
Green actually was not much of a factor in the first quarter, as Falmouth’s Demers was the only Clipper with even a semblance of an offensive output with six points. Still, Nauset came away from the first quarter with a 9-8 edge, it was just not an edge they would hold onto long. It was Green’s second half that really spelled the difference.
In the second quarter, Falmouth took back the lead but still it was Demers with the hot hand. He scored 10 of the Clippers’ 11 points in the second frame. With Falmouth heading to the locker room at halftime holding onto a 19-17 lead, it seemed like anything could still happen.
What ended up happening was a 6-6 draw in the third quarter as Nauset went 2-13 from the field while Falmouth went 2-12, the true difference being that Demers had zero points in that frame.
In the fourth quarter, Nauset ended up winning the battle outscoring the Clippers 15-12, but it was the free-throw line that spelled the difference for the visitors, right down to the wire. The Warriors went 6-8 from the line in the fourth quarter while Falmouth did not go to the line once.
Nauset shot 13-53 from the field for the evening. Falmouth shot 13-50 and its highest single quarter output was the fourth frame with 12 points scored.
“I think what helped us is we shut Demers down in the second half. We went to a full-court man-to-man defense and I believe he scored only three points in the second half,” McCarthy said. “We took that upon ourselves to really make that a focus so he wasn’t the one to beat us because he had one hell of a first half.”
Usually a factor inside the paint, Nauset’s Ethan Ladue didn’t see a ton of time on the floor as Falmouth’s big man Leo DeOliveira proved a dominant force underneath. DeOlivera finished the night with five points and 10 rebounds. LaDue, however, saved his best for last, sinking a reverse lay-up to tie the game at 37-37, that ultimately led to Flynn’s chance to win it at the line.
Nauset’s Eric Poyant scored only in the first and fourth quarters, but provided a critical 10 points on the night. Falmouth’s Jake Koss had eight points, with six of those points comprised of two three-pointers including a fourth quarter bomb that had tied it at 35-35 and forced Nauset to call a time out.
Falmouth (3-7) next faces Marshfield on Friday (Jan. 23) at home at 6:30 pm in another ACL tilt.
Nauset (8-4) next faces Dennis-Yarmouth on the road on Friday (Jan. 23).
— Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm.
About CapeCod.com NewsCenter
