February 28, 2024 Text and photos: William Wassersug
No matter what happens in the Round of 32, the Cohasset boys basketball team can look at this season as a success story.
The Skippers were without three of their top players by the middle of the season due to injuries and injuries, but they participated in the MIAA Division 4 tournament here, with a record of 12 wins and 9 losses, and were ranked No. 33 in the qualifying round. A resounding victory for the Upper Cape. Technology (16-5).
The Skippers finished the regular season on a high note, climbing into the top 32 of the league, and it was enough to earn them a home game on Tuesday night against a solid UCT team with an impressive 16-4 record and a solid win. was. They have a size advantage over the Skippers.
no problem.
One way to overcome the size disadvantage is to hit outside shots that open up the inside later, and Cohassett did just that.
The Skippers really opened up the inside with 14 3-pointers, and after falling a little behind by missing the first five or six shots of the game, Cohasset came out hot and took a convincing 83-59 win. Ta. It was almost the same as the indicated score.
Jack Cullinan led everyone with 30 points, including six 3-pointers, and Luke Moore added 24 points, nine of which came on 3-pointers.
Max Monahan also had a great night, scoring 15 points including three treys.
Will Henle added nine points on two threes.
Max Ellinger (three points) and Daniel Baker (two points) rounded out the scoring for Cohasset.
“I think this is the best win of the year,” Cohasset coach Bo Ruggiero said. “We shot very well. We had 14 threes. That's the best we've taken this year. I thought we played the offense very well. They made 14 threes. It's a well-coached team. They had good athleticism and good size, but with our speed, both in pressure defense and running the ball, they just couldn't maintain that pace. I thought, “Our pace set the tone. We've been working a lot on filming, and that hasn't always been evident this year, so I'm really happy for them.''
Upper Cape Tech took advantage of some early trouble by Cohasset putting the ball in the net en route to leading 7-2 and 10-3, then the Skippers began to chip away at the lead, trailing by 10 late in the first. Scored 3 runs. With less than a minute left in the quarter, the game was tied at 13-13.
Upper Cape Tech briefly halted the momentum with a three and took a 16-13 lead into the second quarter.
It was all Cohassett's play from there, as Cullinan tied the score with a 17-2 run, a perfectly placed trap by Cohassett resulted in a steal, and Henle completed the run with a wide-open three.
“We went down early, called a timeout and said let’s go,” Cullinan said. “Then we came out, scrambled and hit shots.”
The second quarter was about as impressive as Cohasset has been all season. They scored 30 points while holding UCT to 10 points, and entered the first half with a 43-26 lead, but it ended with a buzzer-beater of sorts for UCT, and everyone was watching. It bounced a few times over the net, but rolled in right after the buzzer sounded.
Cohasset continued to pull away in a similar fashion in the third quarter.
UCT's 3-pointers led Moore, 47-33, with a 3-pointer of his own, forcing a turnover, before Cullinan made another one.
UCT responded with a bucket, but then Cullinan hit a fallaway bank shot and Monahan hit two buckets and three more on a strong drive to take a 60-35 lead.
UCT went on a 5-0 run until Henle hit a three for the next five points, followed by a steal and coasted to the other end for a layup to take a 65-40 lead.
In the fourth, UCT made some small runs, but Cohasset continued to respond, increasing the lead to 30 at 75-45 on Cullinan's three with 4:30 left.
Ruggiero then brought everyone into the game in the final minutes, leaving Monaghan as the only starter remaining.
Cullinan, a junior captain, was in good spirits after the win.
“That's what I wanted,” he said of the 30-point night and, more importantly, the win. “When I woke up today and came to school, I wanted to play my best game heading into the playoffs.”
Cullinan said the team is focused on practice.
“I've been locked in for the last two days of practice because I missed the play-in game last year and I knew I couldn't do that again,” he said. “We all knew their records. We tried to find some games and movies. We knew what they had, so we were going to overlook them. There was no.”
Last year, Cohasset lost to Maimonides 65-57 in the preliminary round and finished with a record of 9-12.
Cullinan praised the great game of his teammates, including Moore, Henle, Monaghan and Baker. They once again made huge contributions on the board.
“They were sizing us, but it didn't matter,” Cullinan said. “I think we wanted more of it.
Regardless of what happens Thursday night in Wareham, Cullinan is happy with his season.
“With how many injuries we've had, how many guys we've lost and what we've had a 12-win season, I feel like we've bounced back. I think that's an accomplishment in itself,” he said. “i am happy.”
Monahan liked the way things were going.
“This was definitely our best game of the season,” he said of Cohasset's second-quarter rally. “When one guy starts hitting, everyone starts hitting.
When he heard Cullinan and Moore's points, he was impressed.
“Luke and Jack are two of our best players,” he said. “They work very hard.”
Cohasset will face No. 1 Wareham (18-3) in Thursday night game with tipoff at 6 p.m.
Wareham is a big challenge and a team that will score a lot of points.
His lowest point total of the season was 58 points in a 59-58 win over La Habra High School (La Habra, Calif.) in a tournament in Orlando.
The next lowest score was 61 in a 61-53 win over Milbury Memorial.
Both teams have only played against a common opponent, Monomoy.
Wareham defeated them 89-42, and Monomoy defeated Cohasset twice, 62-49 and 61-44.
