In which Arlington introduces a Freshman with upperclassman skills. Also, a big lead slips away for the second straight game, and I start to wonder. But the senior co-captain says not to worry. Ok. I won't. I trust.
ARLINGTON TURNS BACK BURLINGTON 71-56
ARLINGTON, MA. The outcome of Friday night’s game between Arlington, unbeaten in the Middlesex Liberty division, and Burlington, struggling to make the play-offs, was a not unexpected 71 – 56 win for the Spy Ponders. But there were some interesting and surprising moments along the way.
Arlington produced the first surprise by unveiling a talented freshman guard Bensley Joseph. Joseph, who had 11 points for the game, went on a personal tear midway through the 3rd quarter hitting a baseline jumper after a nifty ball fake followed by a 3 pointer and finished with a 3 point play on a difficult driving lay-up in traffic.
Amidst raucous chants of “he’s a freshman” from the home crowd, his unexpected 8 point spurt appeared to put the game away as it stretched the Spy Ponder lead from 14 to 22 points at 52-30 with 3:24 left in the third.
Arlington coach John Bowler said, “He played great tonight. He’s really worked on his skills. He’s going to be a very special player for us.”
But Burlington had some surprises, too. Behind by 21 early in the fourth quarter and seemingly out of contention, senior guards Will Melanson and Mike Demartinis and junior guard Mariano Rodriguez, the Red Devils tri-captains, went on a 17-4 run with Melanson’s 3 pointer, his sixth of the evening closing the gap to just 9 points with 3 minutes left.
“We knew they’d shoot a lot of threes,” Bowler said. “It’s what they do. We gave them some open looks and they shot their way back in the game.”
But those were the last points the Devils would score as the Spy Ponders regained their defensive resolve and turned the offense over to their dependable duo of senior Colin McNamara and junior Dominic Black.
Black answered Melanson’s 3 with a driving layup 3 point play set up by a nifty pass from sophomore guard Nick Karalis. Shortly after that McNamara calmly swished two free throws bringing the lead safely back to 14.
“Honestly,” McNamara said, “it just didn’t feel like a close game, and we trust each other to get the job done in situations like that.”
Arlington did lead wire to wire. It was 14-11 at the end of one thanks to a hot start from Sophomore forward James Gascoigne who had 10 of his 12 points in the first quarter. After a 23 point second quarter, the Spy Ponders led by 14 at the break.
Black led all scorers with 23 on his usual assortment of drives, put-backs and jumpers. McNamara added 15, and the twosome came up big when needed scoring all of the Spy Ponder’s 13 fourth quarter points.
Karalis, who may be 5’8” stretched out, shocked Burlington with two blocked shots in the second half. “He has amazing quickness and can get himself to the right places,” Bowler said. “He’s a great defender for us.”
The hot shooting of Melanson (20) and Demartinis (21) carried Burlington. Of the Red Devils’ 22 field goals 10 were 3 pointers.
Arlington’s next challenge is 5:30 Tuesday night at Stoneham. “We don’t take them lightly,” Bowler said. “We barely beat them at our place last year, and they’ve got everybody back.”