By Dan Brosgol, with photographs by Jeff ‘JHo’ Hoyland
Bedford’s dreams of a return to the Division 3 Eastern Massachusetts title game at the TD Garden came to a bitter end on Saturday evening in Burlington, as they fell to Watertown 59-52 in a thrilling North sectional final- the 8th time in the past 15 years that Bedford’s playoff run ended at the hands of the Raiders.
Watertown, the #1 seed in the bracket, entered the final led by Middlesex League MVP John Korte and wielding a gaudy 20-2 record, while Bedford came to play as the defending sectional champions and seeking a return to the D3 Final Four for the second straight year.
All images in the gallery below are (c) Jeff ‘JHo’ Hoyland, 2017 all rights reserved – Click to view larger image
Click this link to view Bedford Snapshots’ full gallery of 128 game pictures
The early part of the game featured a very jittery Buccaneer offense, and a spate of early turnovers, coupled with some hot Raider shooting, gave Watertown a 15-10 lead after the opening quarter.
The second quarter proved to be equally vexing, as Watertown continued to rain down three-pointers, the Raiders hitting seven from distance in the first half en route to a 31-21 halftime lead. Watertown’s late surge towards the break was at least partially due to both Malachi Hazelton and Pete Kapanides picking up their second personal fouls and sitting for the final few minutes of the half. Despite Kapanides’ foul trouble, he led the Bucs with 10 points at the midway point.
The Bucs came out in the third quarter on fire, as Jack Cowan scored 4 quick points and Cameron Shelmire attacked the rim with gusto, and the Bucs’ aggressive approach put Korte into foul trouble- two quick fouls halfway through the quarter sent him to the bench. Watertown guard Julio Fulcar, though, was more than happy to pick up the slack, scoring 8 points in the third quarter and ending the frame with 16 points through the first 24 minutes.Fulcar’s offense kept the Raiders ahead, and despite Shelmire’s 9 points in the quarter, Watertown led 45-38 heading into the fourth.
Emotions were high and the crowd was rocking as the teams battled into the final quarter. Bedford’s defense continued to stop everyone except for Fulcar and the Bucs slowly narrowed the deficit.
The play of the night happened with 6 minutes to go. Bedford senior guard Tim Cowen blocked a shot from behind off the backboard and the ball fell to Shelmire, who raced up court and found Jack Cowan on the right wing. Cowan caught the ball and shot in one perfect motion, and as his three-pointer swished through the net, the Bedford fans exploded and the Raider lead was just 47-46.
The teams fought tooth and nail down the stretch, and Bedford did lead the game for a hot second when Cowan drove to the lane and put the ball in off of the glass to make it 52-51 with 2:46 to play, but foul trouble would be the story of the rest of the evening and the Bucs would not score again.Kapanides fouled out after some dubious calls against him, and then a critical call went against Hazelton with 49.4 seconds to go when his basket was waved off for a highly questionable offensive foul. Watertown’s subsequent free throws resulted in a 5-point swing and put the game out of reach as the seconds ticked away. Despite Bedford’s inspired rally, in the end, Fulcar was not to be denied; 11 of his game-high 27 points came in the final quarter as Watertown held on for a 59-52 victory.
Bedford’s scoring attack was led by Shelmire, who netted 14 points in his final game as a Buccaneer. Hazelton added 13, Cowan 11, and Kapanides 10, with Casey Millar scoring 2 and Cowen with 2 of his own. Fulcar’s 27 carried the Raiders to the Eastern Mass final, but Watertown also got 15 from Korte, 9 from Isaac Huff, 6 from Jayden Hairston, and 2 from Lance Kuo.
Congratulations and thank you to all of the players and coaches for a memorable season, but most of all to the seniors who played their final game for the Bucs- Shelmire, Cowen, Colin Doyle, Jake Eliason, Thomas Kimmel, and Matthew Harrington.
Loading ...
