Time will tell how far the Bedford High School Buccaneers will advance in the 2022 MIAA Division 2 boys’ basketball state tournament.
But this is indisputable: the Buccaneers gave a packed BHS gym a memorable performance in the preliminary round Tuesday – 92-50 over Wilmington.
The Bucs take their 15-6 record to unfamiliar territory Friday, the Pioneer Valley, for a 6:30 p.m. opening round match against the 11 seed, Holyoke.
“After every game you win in this tournament, you’re going to be playing a team that’s a little better,” said Head Coach Anthony Halls. Friday night’s match in an opponent’s gym – closer to Albany than to Bedford – is “adversity, and we talk about overcoming that. We’ve got to mentally prepare and go.”
Tuesday’s victory was never close. The Bucs exploded to a 10-0 lead, expanded the led to 16 at the half, and when the Wildcats cut the lead to 54-41 with 2:45 remaining in the third quarter, finished the job with a humongous exclamation point of a scoring run: 38 to 9.
The Wildcats, relying on three-point shooting, just couldn’t keep up with the quicker, deeper, and taller Buccaneers.
“My guys were as prepared as they could be for that game,” the coach stated. “I always want them to have their energy up, grab everything with two hands, and match the other team’s physicality.
It was a superlative performance in so many ways: 64 percent shooting from the field, four players in double figures, 11 offensive rebounds, a dozen assisted baskets, only 14 turnovers. “They all did an outstanding job of rebounding and looking for outlets,” Halls affirmed.
Defensively, Bedford held Wilmington to 16 baskets, only two in the final quarter. Wilmington turned the ball over 25 times.
Nine of those turnovers were in the second quarter when the Bucs established their inside dominance. Sophomores Justice Buchannan and Camdyn Shoesmith came off the bench and combined for 19 points on 9-for-11 shooting. The Wildcats had absolutely no answer.
Buchannan was unstoppable, finishing with a game-high 21 points, posting up or driving coast to coast. “The guys coming off the bench can compete with starters. That’s a luxury I have as a coach,” Halls commented.
The eight seniors finished their home-court careers with iridescent performances. Max Alper, a four-year starter, scored 15 points, nine in the third quarter, when the Bucs sealed the win. Matt Forman swished his first two three-point attempts to kick-start the Bucs and tallied 14.
Dylan DiGangi led all rebounders with nine, five on the offensive boards, and shot six-for-eight for 12 points. Jacari McNeil was the first Buc off the bench; he hit four out of five from the floor for nine points. McNeil, Bryan Aweh-Kesob, Matt Kazangian, and Reidon Ford set the defensive tone that frustrated Wilmington all night.
Shoesmith scored all eight of his points in the first half; he assisted on three hoops in the second. Halls played 11 Buccaneers in the first half alone, as the Wildcats faded under the prodigious pace.
Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763
Loading ...
