BELMONT SURVIVES ARLINGTON TO STAY UNBEATEN
Arlington, MA. 2/14/19. Last night on their home floor, Arlington’s Spy Ponders were doing what no one else had been able to do this season…figure out the Rubik’s Cube that is the—still unbeaten—Belmont High basketball team.
They had forced Belmont to play their game, a slow and deliberate slog, using almost the full 30 seconds on virtually every possession. Playing committed team defense they held the high-powered Marauder offense, averaging over 80 points per game, to just 30 points in three quarters (only seven in the second).
Their defensive specialist, senior co-captain Nick Karalis had kept Belmont’s dynamic Danny Yardemian away from the rim and held him to an unbelievable four points over the first three quarters.
The snail’s pace was working. Arlington held a nine-point lead 34-25 after sophomore Brendan McNamara’s three-point play, with two minutes left in the third.
“We put in a game plan to be really deliberate and we executed it,” said Arlington coach John Bowler.
So as the fourth quarter opened with Arlington up 34-30, the SpyPonders dropped back into a zone defense saying essentially, “We’re not letting you get to the rim. You’ll have to beat us from the outside to win,” which is precisely what Yardemian and the Marauders did on their way to a stirring 55-51 comeback win, their 18th straight.
Yardemian must have taken off his cape at the break between the third and fourth quarters. His performance in the final eight minutes was simply stunning.
He hit four consecutive threes, each of them from NBA range.
He managed an acrobatic lay-up in traffic—one of the few times he got to the rim—with 1:43 left to extend the Belmont lead to an almost comfortable 53-48.
He scored 18 points (of his team’s 25) with the game on the line.
“That’s the first time this year we’ve been down late like that,” Yardemian said. “I just had to have a short memory. Bad things happen. I just had to forget about it and move forward. I’m so proud of our team the way we hung in there. Great teams make plays when they have to.”
Belmont coach Adam Pritchard said, “That was a tremendous individual performance from Danny Yardemian in the fourth quarter. He came to the rescue.”
With four minutes left, after Yardemian’s third straight long-range bomb, Bowler called time, clinging to a one point lead. “In the huddle I said, ‘let’s go back to man to man, but I really don’t think he can make four in a row.’ Then he did it. (Right after the time-out.) That’s the kind of player he is.”
Yardemian did get some timely help from his mates as their lead bobbed back and forth between one and four points over the last three minutes. Sophomore Preston Jackson-Stephens hit a clutch three pointer at the three-minute mark for 49-45 Belmont.
But the resourceful McNamara, who led Arlington again with 20 points, answered with a three of his own to bring the Spy Ponders back within a point 49-48 with two minutes left.
Seconds later, Belmont senior co-captain Jake Herlihy made his only two points of the game at a critical moment, grabbing an offensive rebound over a mass of bodies. His put back made it 51 – 48 Belmont with just over a minute left.
Yardemian’s lay-up extended the Belmont lead to 53-48. Arlington senior co-captain James Gascoigne then hit an unlikely three from the deep left corner to keep things interesting with just eight seconds to go.
But Arlington was forced to foul, Belmont got the ball to Yardemian, of course, who swished his two free throws for the 55-51 final.
Yardemian had a game high 22 points, Jackson-Stephens 11 and senior co-captain Dan Seraderian added 9.
Gascoigne had 16 for Arlington.
“They’re a really good team, really well coached, better than their record,” Yardemian said. “They threw stuff at us we hadn’t seen all year. It took us a while, but we hung in there.”
With the league title long in hand, Belmont has one regular season game left tonight at Woburn and moves on to the tournament with a lock on the top seed in Division 1 North.
Arlington, who will be seeded in the middle of the pack and hoping for another shot at Belmont, finishes their regular season tonight at Reading. The Rockets need a win to qualify for the tournament. Should be interesting.
Belmont coach Adam Pritchard said,