Boys’ Basketball loses to Newton South
NS and WA players line up for an NS free throw
February 16, 2017
On Thursday, February 16th, the WA Boys’ Basketball team faced off against Newton-South (NS) Lions at 5:30pm at WA. The boys’ game was the first in a doubleheader at WA, with the girls also taking on Newton-South at 7pm. After fighting an uphill battle for the entire game, the boys were not able to catch up to the NS offense and fell 61-48 to the Lions.
The game started off slow for both teams, with neither side able to jump out to a strong lead. WA was unable to put any points on the board until about two and a half minutes in, when senior Jon Glidden hit a three pointer to tie the game at 3-3. He would score another two points for WA, giving the Ghosts a slim lead halfway through the first quarter. The first quarter was pretty close, with the teams staying neck and neck.
The first quarter came to a close with NS in the lead, 13-12.
The second quarter started well for the Ghosts. Glidden came up with a big steal for WA, converting it into two more points for his team. He followed this up with another with a jump shot, giving his team a slight 17-16 lead. However, NS wouldn’t go silent, and came back strong. They went on a run, scoring several unanswered points, jumping out to a 25-17 lead. This run resulted in a timeout taken by the Ghosts with just a few minutes left in the quarter.
After the timeout, the Ghosts still weren’t able to beat the Lions’ defense, and couldn’t cash in a lot more points, as NS was still able to score.. They went into halftime trailing the Lions 31-18.
The third quarter was a rather quiet one compared to the second quarter. WA played stronger defense than they had. This was evident when senior Armen Almasian had a nice block against an NS player. However, it seemed every time WA scored some points, the Lions would respond with more points of their own.
Toward the end of the quarter, Almasian had a strong series of offensive possessions, scoring six points for the Ghosts, chipping into their deficit. However, this wouldn’t be enough to bring the game closer, and WA went into the fourth quarter still trailing, 47-32.
The final quarter began with Almasian scoring another two pointer which, eventually followed up with a put back layup, also scored by Almasian. With about five minutes to go, Glidden scored another two points for WA, cutting the deficit down to eleven, 49-38. The deficit, however; was just too much to comeback from, and the Ghosts were not able to catch up.
With just a few minutes remaining, Head Coach Chris Bramanti made his final substitutions, taking his seniors out of the game. This resulted in a large standing ovation from fans and parents.
The game came to a close with NS winning by a final score of 61-48.
