BELMONT EARNS SHOT AT TECH BOSTON WITH WIN OVER HINGHAM
By Jim Baldwin
Woburn, MA. 2/17/19. Showcasing a plethora of weapons both offensive and defensive, the unbeaten Belmont Boys basketball team rolled to their 19th straight win today over the highly regarded Hingham Harbormen 93-79.
The win earns the Marauders a spot in finals of the IAABO Board 27 Officials vs. Cancer Tournament against defending Division 2 state champs Tech Boston at Woburn tomorrow night at 5:30.
But first, about those weapons. In the first half it was the usual assassin, Belmont senior co-captain Danny Yardemian who put up 21 points—on his way to a game high 31—on repeated successful attacks on the rim. The sorcerer had an eager apprentice in sophomore guard Tim Minicozzi who added 18 on an array that included both drives to the hoop and four three pointers. The duo paced Belmont to a whopping 52 point half and a 14-point lead.
Defending Belmont can be like playing Whac-A-Mole. With Hingham focused on Yardemian and Minicozzi in the second half, junior shooting guard Mac Annus had multiple open looks and cashed in with four consecutive threes followed by a floater in the lane to carry Belmont with a 14 point quarter resulting in a seemingly safe lead of 79-58 at the end of three.
But the resilient Harbormen, 15-4 coming into this game, would not go quietly and used senior co-captain John Gates’ three consecutive trifectas to cut the deficit to a manageable 12 half way into the fourth quarter.
Enter Belmont weapon number four, sophomore Preston Jackson-Stephens. With momentum shifting, Jackson-Stephens hit two dagger threes to stretch the Marauder lead back to 17 and put the game out of reach with just under three minutes left.
Throughout the contest Belmont also had a defensive weapon. Senior co-captain Ben Sseruwagi, playing at the point of the Marauder’s zone press, created constant havoc with steals and deflections repeatedly triggering Belmont’s devastating transition game.
He’s a terrific front man in the press,” Belmont coach Adam Pritchard said. “He has great anticipation. Terrific hands. He extends those arms, They really aren’t as long as they look. It’s just that he has this great anticipation. And he really works hard at it.”
He added, “We’ve got a lot of talented players out there. Everything’s great as long as we play fast and share the ball.”
There was a lot of Belmont ball sharing. In addition to Yardemian’s 31, Annus and Minicozzi both had 21 and Jackson-Stephens 10.
Hingham’s senior tri-captains led the Harbormen. John Lowther tallied 19, on an array of turnarounds and baby hooks in the post, Jack Johnson had 21 and Gates buried eight three’s for his 24 points.
Asked about tomorrow’s opponent Tech Boston, ranked second on the South side of Division 2, Pritchard was enthusiastic. “Great. We’re psyched,” he said. “They’re the defending state champs. We’re really looking forward to it. I couldn’t be more excited.”
Should be not-to-be-missed high school basketball. Tomorrow night. 5:30. Woburn.