Senior Dan Ockene gains possesion of the ball and scores two points against Lunenburg. (Photos by Tyler Papazian)
Sophomore Brian McCullough goes up for a layup against Lunenburg.
The Bromfield boys basketball team lost a tight, tense thriller of a game in overtime against Lunenburg Friday at home, giving up a lead with two seconds remaining in regulation and falling in the added period.
The Trojans had one of their best starts all season. Sophomore phenom Brian McCullough played his first game at home since suffering a wrist injury against Ayer a month ago. McCullough played his heart out the whole night, using his ball-handling, quickness, and ability to slash into the lane to create opportunities for teammates. The boys in blue took a 17–13 lead after the first quarter, putting the Lunenburg Knights on upset alert as Bromfield was unfazed by Lunenburg’s all-star senior duo of point guard Mike Xarras and DJ Guillette.
The second quarter opened up with a jump shot from Sam Shepherd, who played some timely minutes off the bench for the Trojans. Lunenburg switched to a 2–3 zone, gambling that Bromfield didn’t have enough threats from three-point range to give them problems. Their switch paid off in the second quarter as Bromfield failed to penetrate into the lane. Big men Dan Ockene and Tyler Shepherd, both seniors, were effectively neutralized by Lunenburg’s length and quickness in the zone defense. Despite the zone, however, a late run by the Trojans extended the lead. Ockene managed to plow his way through the lane for a 3-point play, and a cutting drive from Jeff Yates made it 30–23 Bromfield at halftime.
In the third quarter the Trojans threatened to blow open the game following two straight 3-pointers from Yates, but Xarras refused to have Lunenburg fall behind. Lunenburg’s playbook was minimal, but with Xarras’ ability to drive the lane and hit the outside shot, they didn’t need one. Xarras scored on three straight possessions for the Knights. Bromfield was able to regain momentum following a monster block from Ockene on a Xarras lay-up attempt. The block was one of four on the night for Ockene. McCullough charged the team with a 3-point play reminiscent of a Rajon Rondo drive towards the end of the third. On the next possession McCullough drove right, faked, and slotted a clever pass to senior captain Tyler Shepherd for an easy layup. Yet despite McCullough’s crafty play, the Trojans couldn’t stop Xarras, who continued to frustrate Bromfield’s man-to-man defense with his talent and range. Bromfield went into the final period down 1.
Bromfield again turned up the pressure and excited the crowd with timely play from Ockene and Shepherd inside. Two putback lay-ups and a pair of free throws from Shepherd and a short shot from Ockene gave the Trojans a 4-point advantage early. Xarras returned to take back the lead for the Knights on a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws. Yates responded with a 3-pointer of his own to make it 44–42, but Xarras refused to be outdone and nailed a deep trey from beyond the arc of his own two possessions later to make it 46–44. Bromfield found itself down by 2 with a minute to go. Naturally, the Trojans turned to their sharpshooter, and Yates delivered to give Bromfield a 49–48 lead. It looked like the Trojans were going to put the game on ice up by 2 with 15 seconds to go, but Xarras drove into the lane and lofted a pass near the rim for Guillette, who put it in to tie the game with 2 seconds left. A last-second heave from Ockene failed to connect and the game went to overtime.
The Knights immediately captured the mental advantage and momentum early with a floater from Xarras, which resulted in a 3-point play. A McCullough drive in the middle of the pain cut the lead to 58–52 but poor rebounding on the defensive end led to repeated offensive possessions from the Knights that proved to be costly. Yates hit another 3 late, but by then it was 64–57, with only a minute left. Lunenburg sealed the victory 68–60, avoiding a scare from a determined Trojans squad.
