DEFENSE KEYS WIN AT READING
Reading, MA. 1/2/18. In what has become a familiar winning formula, the Arlington boys basketball team dialed up the defensive heat in the second half Tuesday night holding host Reading to just 10 points while ringing up 28 on their way to a satisfying 57-41 win, their fourth straight in Middlesex League play.
Down three at the break, 31 – 28, the Spy Ponders were a different team in the second half.
Sparked by an intense, ball-hawking man-to-man defense, Arlington got a steal from junior Nick Karalis, another from senior co-captain Dom Black along with a blocked shot that keyed an 8-0 run to open the half. Just 90 seconds into it Arlington had erased the deficit and took the lead for good at 32-31.
In short order senior co-captain Ben Wasco hit a lay-up on a perfect drive and dish from Karalis. Sophomore swing-man Bensley Joseph followed quickly with a difficult driving lay-up for a 36-31 lead, and the Spy Ponders never looked back.
Two statistics exemplified the difference in the two halves. In the first Arlington hit just three of nine free throws. In the second they sank 12 of 13.
In the first half Rocket sophomore guard Matt Mulvey torched Arlington with 12 points. In the second, Karalis held him scoreless.
“We were determined not to give them anything easy in the second half,” Arlington coach John Bowler commented. “We didn’t give Mulvey any open looks. We allowed them only 10 points, and they had to earn every one of them.”
Junior co-captain James Gascoigne led the winners with 14 points and added seven rebounds. Joseph added 12 along with five steals.
Black did not have a great shooting night with nine points but, as usual, was busy doing everything else with nine rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.
Wasco contributed four offensive rebounds and eight points to Arlington’s balanced attack.
Summing up this league win on the road Bowler said, “If we play a full 32 minutes like we played the second half tonight, we’ll be a tough team to beat.”
Woburn, also unbeaten in league play, is next up for the Spy Ponders Friday night at 7 in Arlington.