By: KJ Cardinal
FARMINGTON, NH – In a tournament that featured many one-sided affairs, the title bout of the 45th Annual Mike Lee Holiday Basketball Bash was anything but that as Coe-Brown Northwood Academy battled Belmont in an instant classic overtime contest at Farmington High School. When the final buzzer sounded, the Bears came out on top, 66-64.
The Bash championship marked the first for CBNA at New Hampshire’s largest holiday tournament since 1992 and their third overall.
Coe-Brown and Belmont battled back-and-forth throughout, with neither team able to gain much separation at any point in the game. The opening quarter was an offensive onslaught as both teams were trying to figure the other out defensively. The Bears led 21-20 after the opening stanza, but a strong second quarter for the Red Raiders gave Belmont a 37-34 lead at the break.
Belmont’s Keegan Martinez pumped in 18 points in the first half, but he was held scoreless for the third and fourth quarters. The Red Raiders were plagued by foul trouble throughout with Martinez and the lightning-quick Treshawn Ray saddled on the bench for significant time in the second half.
The Bears capitalized as they slowly battled their way back. Trailing by three with under two minutes left to play in regulation, Coe-Brown’s Grant Hayes buried a straight-away three to tie the game at 57-57. The two teams would remain scoreless for the final 1:40, thanks in part to a monstrous block by Jack Matson on a driving Martinez with four seconds left in the 4th. After a Belmont timeout, the Red Raiders had a clean look at a deep three for the win, but the bid came up just short and the game headed to overtime.
In the extra frame, Coe-Brown had a balanced attack with four players scoring and the Bears went 4-of-5 from the charity stripe to squeeze out the win.
Martinez led all scorers for Belmont, while Ray added 18 of his own. The Red Raiders were playing without injured Anakin Underhill, The Bash MVP from two seasons ago.
CBNA was paced by Hayes (19 points), Matson (15) and Ryan Kouchoukos (14). Matson was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and was joined on the All-Tournament team by…
MVP: Jack Matson, Coe-Brown
Matthew Flanagan, Coe-Brown
Ryan Kouchoukos, Coe-Brown
Keegan Martinez, Belmont
Treshawn Ray, Belmont
Connor Dixon, Hinsdale
Cayden Wakeham, Profile
Cai Summers, PCA
Chase Frizzell, Sanborn
Check out the full photo gallery of the action by KJ Cardinal…
