ARLINGTON ADVANCES BEHIND MCNAMARA’S 28
By Jim Baldwin
Arlington, MA. 2/26/19. Ever since the Arlington Boys basketball team’s narrow loss to league champ Belmont two weeks ago, a game they felt they could have won, they’ve been hoping for another shot at their rivals next door.
Thanks to a spectacular performance from their sophomore point guard Brendan McNamara, the Spy Ponders will get their wish.
McNamara poured in 28 points, dished out five assists and had four steals to lead Arlington to a 60-51 first round tournament win over the visitors from Melrose Tuesday night.
With Arlington leading by just six points and 3:40 left, McNamara scored 10 of Arlington’s final 14 points including 8 of 10 from the stripe to extend the lead and preserve the win.
Arlington coach John Bowler summed up McNamara’s performance by saying simply, “He was just awesome for us tonight.”
He got some help from forward Jhalani Joshua who chipped in ten points, a handful of rebounds and some serious energy early.
Joshua entered the game towards the end of the first period. In just three minutes of action the senior grabbed four rebounds and scored six straight points to carry Arlington from an early 10-8 deficit to a 14-10 lead at the end of one.
“Jhalani played great,” Bowler said. He did a great job on the glass.”
The victory earns Arlington their sought after third shot at their Belmont neighbors, the top ranked team in Division 2 North, Friday night on the Marauders home floor.
“Friday night in Belmont. That’s what we wanted,” McNamara said. “It should be fun.”
“I’d prefer seeing them in the North finals,” Bowler laughed, “but second round, it doesn’t matter. You have to beat the best in this tournament anyway. Our guys are happy to be still playing. We play them twice a year. We’ve combined with them to win the last five league titles, so we won’t be intimidated going in there. We know we have to play very well to beat ‘em.”