Senior night in Arlington and a freshman crashes the party.
ARLINGTON CELEBRATES SENIOR NIGHT TO COMPLETE UNBEATEN SEASON IN MIDDLESEX LIBERTY
Thursday night was senior night for the Arlington High School boys basketball team, but a freshman crashed the party.
The visiting Winchester Sachems had just clawed their way back from a 14-point deficit to trail by only 6 midway through the third quarter, when Arlington coach John Bowler summoned freshman guard Bensley Joseph from the bench.
Joseph brought his incendiary offense with him draining 3 consecutive 3 pointers over the next four minutes to lift the Spy Ponders back to a comfortable 13-point lead on their way to a 75-55 win that secured their unbeaten season in the Middlesex Liberty Division.
In pre-game ceremonies the home fans honored their two departing co-captains Dan Kim and guard Colin McNamara.
McNamara received special mention as a four year starter with the most wins in Arlington basketball history, then went out in style leading all scorers with 19 points while holding Winchester’s potent junior guard Liam Fitzpatrick to 11.
Both teams took care of the ball. With only 13 total turnovers combined in the game, it was not played at Arlington’s preferred breakneck pace.
“Our game plan tonight was not to gamble on defense,” Arlington coach John Bowler reflected. “14 (Fitzpatrick) scored 25 on us at their place. We wanted to keep the ball out of his hands and let other guys have some shots. Colin did a great job on him tonight.”
It was a game of spurts. With 3 minutes left in the first quarter Arlington went on a 12-1 run to end the quarter up by 13 at 20 -7. The run was sparked by McNamara and backcourt mate junior Dom Black driving down the lane and dishing to sophomore forward Jaden Dottin for lay ups.
The Sachems responded in the second quarter with a full court zone press that effectively slowed Arlington’s momentum, and Fitzpatrick came alive with 9 points to cut the deficit to a very manageable 8 at the half 32-24.
In the third quarter the visitor’s press continued to annoy Arlington, their ball movement improved and they grabbed the momentum.
At the 6-minute mark senior guard Brennan Clarke hit an open 3. A minute later junior forward Mario DiBenedetto drove the lane, made a twisting layup in traffic, was fouled and converted for a 3-point play. A few seconds later senior Justin Miranda’s layup closed the gap to 40-34.
“Winchester is a tough team with very skilled players,” Bowler said. “If we hadn’t brought our A game, we would have been in trouble.” That’s why he called Joseph’s number. “Sometimes Bensley just plays at a different level than everybody else,” Bowler laughed.
In the fourth quarter Arlington’s superior balance and ball movement wore down Winchester. With McNamara and Black running the show seven Spy Ponders scored in the final eight minutes to put it away.
Arlington’s balanced attack saw four players in double figures led by McNamara’s 19, Black 16, Joseph 15 and Dottin 12. Kim swished two free throws with just over two minutes left in his regular season career.
DiBenedetto whose determined drives to the glass were difficult to stop, led Winchester with 15 and along with Clarke’s 14, all in the second half, kept the Sachems in the game.
Arlington plays on Sunday in the Comcast Tournament at Malden Catholic facing 13-5 Marlborough. With a legitimate division I prospect in 6’ 7” Chris Doherty, Marlborough should provide the Spy Ponders with an excellent tournament tune-up.