Boys hoop hits rough patch
Two weeks ago the Marauders looked to be well on their way to getting into the postseason with at least 10 wins. After a win over Walpole on Jan. 19, the Marauders were 7-4 and winners of six out of seven.
A four-game slide has put those postseason hopes in jeopardy as Dedham was blasted 66-39 by Newton North on Friday and 58-45 by Norwood on Tuesday.
While a blowout loss to the 15-2 Tigers is not all that uncommon, dropping a game against the Mustangs who had just two wins entering the game was stunning.
Dedham (7-8, 5-8) had just 14 field goals for the game, just eight over the final three quarters after the teams played to a 16-all deadlock over the opening eight minutes. Nick Walch was the leading scorer with 15 points while Ryan Welch was the only other to reach double figures with 10.
“Poor shot selection, poor movement,” said Marauders coach Ed Hickey of the Marauders struggles at the offensive end. “Give Norwood credit, they defended our key guys well and left us settling for low percentage shots.”
The Marauders did not lead after the opening quarter, and were playing catch up for the rest of the night when Sean O’Neill (17 points) buried an open 3 from the top off a kick out pass from the interior by Tommy Munro to finish off Norwood’s opening possession of the second quarter.
Dedham used an 8-2 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to get within 41-39 when Walch finished in transition off a turnover, but Norwood got an answer from an unlikely place, reserve forward Owen Gearty, who drove into the lane for a three-point play with 6:32 left.
Gerard Bernazzani sealed the Mustangs win with an outside jumper as the shot clock was winding down for a 52-45 lead with 1:06 left. Norwood extended the lead by going 6-for-6 from the line in the final minute (13-for-16 for the game).
Cam Clifford led Dedham with 10 points in Friday’s loss to Newton North.
Dedham was slated to have played Weston yesterday. A win in that contest against the 6-9 Wildcats would put the Marauders into the Division 3 South sectional tournament by the Sullivan Rule because the Marauders are the only BSC team in Division 3 for boys basketball.
With every BSC opponent being in a higher division, the Marauders are tournament-eligible provided they win 50 percent of their games against non-league Division 3 opponents. They are playing three such schools this season; Abington, which they defeated 66-56 on Dec. 28 in Holliston, yesterday’s scheduled contest against Weston and the regular season finale Feb. 16 in Weston. If they can win one of the Weston contests they will be assured a spot in the upcoming tournament.
Girls hockey in Herget hunt
After a picking up a 3-3 tie against Wellesley last Wednesday followed by a 5-2 win over Newton North Saturday, the Marauders find themselves right in the middle of the wild five-team race for the Bay State Herget title race.
The three points put Dedham in a four-way logjam for second place in the division at 6-3-3 in the BSC and 7-3-4 overall, two points back of Milton. The Marauders were also two points way from securing a spot in the postseason heading into last night’s key battle with rival Norwood, one of the other squads in the chase along with Walpole and Wellesley.
“We are down to four games left and its all pretty much against each other. It’s honestly going to come down to whose playing best of out the five teams,” said Dedham coach Don Parr. “I’ve never seen the league like this in the 10 years.”
Kelly Celata continued her hot play, scoring three goals in the two games to give her nine points in the last three contests.
Celata scored twice in the win over North Saturday while Sam Parr, Meaghan Dwan and Tara Celata added tallies. Celata, Parr and Kathleen Donlan all had goals against Wellesley last Wednesday but the Raiders came back from deficits of 2-0 early and 3-1 in the third to steal a points.
Track teams fall to Wildcats
Both indoor track squads concluded winless Herget Division campaigns with losses to Milton last Thursday.
The girls dropped a 72-14 decision, getting their lone win from Melissa St. Preux, who won the 55-meter dash in 7.61 second, the second-best time of the day. The Marauders also got seconds from Lisa Joyce in the 600, Lydia Caissy in the 300 and Molly Downing in the shot put.
St. Preux bounced back three days later to qualify for the final in the dash at the MSTCA Elite Meet on Sunday, running 7.46 in the preliminaries and 7.51 in the final, taking eighth overall.
Joey Connolly’s tie for second in the high jump was the top performance for the boys in an 82-4 loss. Connolly became the first Marauders to clear the opening height with a leap of 5-feet, 2-inches. Jonathan St. Preux (300) and Nick Mazzola (dash) added thirds.
