This team is so well balanced and unselfish, opponents never know which guy might explode on them. Tonight it was their center Ben Wasco with 20. Once again, though, a big lead slowly evaporated. Ahead by 21 they won by 7. Although it was never in doubt, they can't get away with this in the tournament.
ARLINGTON MARCHES OVER STONEHAM 67-60
ARLINGTON, MA. January 31, 2017. The Arlington High School boys basketball team’s unbeaten march through the Middlesex Liberty Division continued unimpeded Tuesday night with a deceptively close win over visiting Stoneham 67 -60.
The Spy Ponders, leading at the half by 10 and 21 at the end of three quarters, were never really threatened as they extended their league unbeaten string to eleven games.
Arlington coach John Bowler has a very specific picture of the way he wants his team to play. Reduced to a few words, he wants controlled mayhem, and that is precisely what his team gave him for two important intervals last night.
The first of those intervals at the 6-minute mark of the first quarter looked like this. Junior Dominic Black hit a long three. Seconds later his senior backcourt mate Colin McNamara stole a pass at mid court and sailed in for an uncontested layup. After a Stoneham free throw, freshman Bensley Joseph buried a three from the left corner. An Arlington trap at midcourt resulted in a steal and layup for Joseph. Black retrieved his blocked shot and laid it in.
Stoneham ended the carnage with a 3 pointer, but that brief storm brought the Spy Ponders from a 10-8 deficit to a 20 – 14 lead in very little time.
Unfortunately for the visiting Spartans, Arlington produced another such flurry, but instead of just a few minutes it lasted the entire third quarter.
Arlington defenders seemed to occupy every passing lane. Pressuring the ball, and trapping all over the court, Bowler’s guards Black, McNamara, Joseph and quick sophomore Nick Karalis behaved like pickpockets producing no less than seven steals in the quarter with each of them resulting in either layups or free throws.
“The way we played in the third quarter is the way we want to play,” Bowler commented. “Defense turning into instant offense, easy baskets, up tempo. That’s what we are.”
Indeed. By the end of the quarter the Spy Ponders were up 59-38 allowing Bowler to experiment with different player combinations through the fourth quarter.
While his team fulfilled his vision for some of this game Bowler added, “As we go on, though, we’ll have to play that way for the full 32 minutes, not just for a quarter or two, and our kids know that.”
To Stoneham’s credit they did not go quietly, and while Arlington was experimenting,Senior Rick Rock, sophomore TJ Magliozzi and freshman Deshawn Chase combined for 18 of the Spartans 22 fourth quarter points to bring some respectability to the final score.
Arlington junior center Ben Wasco was strong on the boards and the game’s high scorer with 20 points. McNamara added 18 and led the pickpockets with 6 steals.
While Black (7 points) did not have his usual scoring night he contributed defensively with 4 steals and made life difficult for Stoneham’s big man senior Devon Chase.
The energetic freshman Joseph produced instant offense in his short appearances contributing 8 points including two three pointers.
Stoneham’s leaders were freshman Deshawn Chase (14), senior Devon Chase (13) and junior Tre Pignone (11).
The Spy Ponder’s visit Belmont Friday night where the host Marauders will be looking to avenge a 7-point early season loss at Arlington.