LEE — In-game adjustments and home-court advantage allowed Lee High School to bottle up Turners Falls High School for a comeback victory.
The No. 8 Wildcats battled back from down 12 in the second quarter to eliminate the ninth-seeded Thunder in an opening-round contest in the WMass Division 4 Boys Basketball Tournament, 68-59.
Turners Falls spread things around in the early going, getting points from six players while building a 24-12 lead in the second quarter.
Tyler Lavin and Chace Novak hit back-to-back 3-pointers, forcing a Lee timeout.
That triple, however represented Lavin’s lone first-half points. Lee adjusted into a man-to-man defense and Wildcat guard Evan Heath bottled up the Thunder’s top scorer. Lavin finished with just 8 points.
“He had a great game tonight. With our senior leadership, they help him out,” said Lee coach Jason Bliss. “But Evan stepped up huge tonight and gave us huge minutes.”
It was Lee senior Dom Bartini that walled up against the early Thunder charge. The senior captain lit a spark under his team with a deep, step-back 3-pointer, his third trey of the night. On Turners’ ensuing possession, Bartini came away with a steal that led to points the other way. Winded, he went to the bench, but subbed back in later and sunk a baseline floater to give Lee a 26-24 lead with 2 minutes, 10 seconds remaining in the half.
Myles Whitney-Nason took over from there. Coming off the bench on Monday, he scored nine of his game-high 20 in the second quarter. That included a crowd frenzy-inducing 3-pointer from the Wildcat logo near midcourt at the buzzer. That bomb capped a 25-point second quarter for Lee, which turned a six-point deficit after one to a 33-25 lead at halftime.
“Confidence, I guess. I had missed a couple, but there was no way I was missing that one,” said Whitney-Nason, who admitted he heard about it being a little too deep at halftime. “Last game, long bus ride, we were a little tired and I couldn’t get much done. So, tonight, I felt like I had to go out and get it done for my team.”
Whitney-Nason was held to seven points in a 55-39 loss at Turners back in December. On Monday, though, he came through when it counted.
Starting the second half for JJ Jimenez, he contributed five points in a 9-0 run that capped on a Heath 3-pointer and set the Thunder back 42-25.
“We’ve been down all year, starting slow. But we had enough guys step up tonight. Dom stepped up huge,” said senior Ben Harding. “With Evan, we’ve just been super supportive because we see his talent. Being a young guy it’s tough to step up. So to do it in the playoffs, it says a lot about his character.”
Turners, which had won four of five entering the tournament, went on an even greater run to dive back into things. Novak (17 points) hit a pair of 3-pointers, and Anthony Peterson started bullying his way in through the paint and suddenly Bliss needed a timeout, ahead just 45-39.
“I just told them to weather the storm,” said Bliss, in his second season and coaching in his first playoff game. “It’s a game of runs, and it’s a grind. … Just get a stop, and we did that tonight.”
Harding steadied the ship, along with Heath in the press break, and Lee led by 13 by the end of the frame.
Lee 68, Turners 59
Turners (59)
Lavin 3-0—8, Campbell 1-2—4, Russell 3-0—6, Dodge 3-0—6, Whiting 1-0—3, Novak 7-0—18, Peterson 5-4—14, Waldron, Duclos, Driscoll, Chadwell. Totals 23-6–59.
Lee (68)
Heath 5-0—12, Whitney-Nason 6-5—20, Bartini 4-1—12, Harding 7-2—16, Redstone 2-0—4, Purcell 1-0—2, O’Brien 1-0—2. Totals: 26-6–68.
3-Point Goals: (TF) Lavin 2, Whiting, Novak 4. (L) Heath 2, Whitney-Nason 3, Bartini 3.
Score by quarters:
|
Turners |
14 |
11 |
16 |
18 |
— |
59 |
|
Lee |
8 |
25 |
21 |
15 |
— |
68 |