By Nathaniel Ford
FARMINGTON – Belmont, the reigning Bash champions, lost a hard-fought game 63-53 against the Sanborn Indians.
Sanborn knew going into today that Belmont had size in forwards Anakin Underhill and Keegan Martinez. “We wanted to pressure their guards and make it more difficult to get the ball up the floor,” said Sanborn head coach Wayne Souther.
Souther’s squad is lacking in size, but they make up for it in the backcourt. He played to their strengths in the game plan, relying on backcourt defense to make the Red Raiders’ lives in the paint a lot harder.
Early in the first, it was all Sanborn. They jumped to an early 7-0 lead, and they held their opponents scoreless for the first two minutes of the game. Belmont recovered and traded some baskets with the Indians, keeping the game competitive.
Sanborn kept their relentless pressure on offense, and they finished the first quarter with a 23-11 lead. A big reason for this was Chase Frizzell, who caught fire and scored 11 points.
Belmont locked in defensively in the second quarter, holding Sanborn to a scoreless three minute drought to open. Offensively, this quarter was all Keegan Martinez. The junior poured in 12 points, all of which coming in the paint.
An 8-2 run in the Red Raiders’ favor cut the Sanborn lead to just seven points entering the break. Martinez had a game-high 15 first half points, while Frizzell was leading the way for Sanborn with 11.
The third quarter was as back-and-forth as a basketball game gets. Neither team could string together a big run at any point, and both teams were trading baskets. When all was said and done, Sanborn led 47-41 entering the fourth.
A key contributor for the Indians in the third was Cole Chaplin. He’s a big forward for Sanborn, who lacks size, and he contributed six points and stellar defense and effort in the quarter.
Souther was impressed by his performance. “I’m hoping he can build off of that, and more for the regular season as well,” he said. In future games against teams with a solid big man, Chaplin can hopefully provide the Indians with a spark they need, just like he did today.
Both teams kept battling in the fourth quarter. Belmont blew it open early, going on a 7-2 run in the first minutes, forcing a Sanborn timeout. This run cut the lead to just one point. Frizzell did not waver one big, finishing two layups coming out of the timeout and bringing the Sanborn lead back up to 5.
The Indians had another 6-0 run late in the quarter which gave them a 13-point cushion and secured the victory. It ended up finishing as a 63-53 victory for the Indians, knocking out the defending champs.
Sanborn was paced by a 21 point performance from Chase Frizzell. Dylan Rego added 17 points, and Brandon Sarette scored 15 of his own. Belmont was led by a game-high 25 points from Keegan Martinez.
The Indians advance to the semifinals to face Derryfield tomorrow night at 7:00.
Check out photos of the action by KJ Cardinal…
#9 Belmont at #8 Conant
#12 Newport at #5 Campbell
#11 Somersworth at #6 Stevens
The Coffee County girls from Manchester, Tenn. were all the buzz coming into the finals, but Larry Meader had his quick and feisty Kennett squad ready to play and they did the 603 proud. The Lady Raiders would take home the title with a 54-33 victory, dethroning the two-time defending champions in the process.
Kennett’s speed and ball pressure seemed to rattle the Lady Raiders at times as the Eagles held Coffee County to 30 points fewer points than any other team in the tourney. Kennett trailed 12-3 after the first quarter and later 20-3 in the second and the game appeared destined for another blow out like the other Coffee County contests. The Eagles had other thoughts, however, as they outscored the Lady Raiders 16-11 to close the half, sparked by two Hope Elias threes, and trailed by just 12, 31-19, at the break.
The boys title game pitted Division III Belmont’s size and length versus Division IV Profile’s speed and shooting. The size of Belmont’s front court proved to be too much as the Red Raiders defeated the Patriots, 56-46.
Junior sharp-shooter Josh Robie struggled to get it going offensively in the first half for the Patriots as he was held to just four points. He came into the game needing 17 points to reach his 1,000th and he would reach the milestone on a pull-up jumper in the 4th quarter and finish the game with 17. He finished the tournament with 123 points, which broke Tim Lee’s 25-year mark of 105 set back during the 1997 event.