Boys basketball defeats Waltham 70-40
February 3, 2022
Marked by reliable offensive shots and strong defense, Westford Academy Boys Basketball took down the Waltham Hawks in a 70-40 home win on Feb. 1.
Off the opening tip, Waltham landed the first two points, but WA quickly followed-up with layups from seniors Rohun Voruganti and Jake Aylward. Waltham took the early lead, landing clean three-pointers. Unable to get past Waltham’s defense, WA was forced to take shots from behind the three-point line and missed on several occasions.
However, this lead didn’t last long. While WA was initially failing to convert on scoring opportunities, they soon began to catch up. Free throws put them back on track, as they put pressure on Waltham’s defense.
Both teams then proceeded to go back and forth. Aylward boxed out Waltham’s Ian Laforest and rebounded the ball to senior captain Griffin Eddy, tying the score at 12 points apiece. Waltham then attempted to move ahead after a failed block of senior Brenden Blakely’s layup and a successful free throw. WA subsequently responded with a layup and free throw from Eddy. The quarter ended with both teams sitting at a 15-15 tie.
Both teams started the second quarter with tough defense as WA struggled to weave their way around Waltham and to the basket. Senior captain Will Bramanti started the quarter with a clean basket. While Waltham’s David Cinqegrano responded with a jump shot of his own, Bramanti rebounded the ball and finished at the rim, bringing the score to 19-17.
Waltham’s initial lead began to slow in the following minutes. WA’s defense continued its strong man-to-man defense, employing switches and making several clean steals.
Likewise, their offensive game was just as strong. Both teams scored off free throws as a result of offensive pressure. In particular, WA’s senior Luke Krikorian and Eddy, as well as Waltham’s Visocchi, both made two for their respective teams. However, WA’s momentum pushed them into the lead. Junior Yuvi Gahlaut made a crucial three-pointer, and after a Waltham fumble saw a steal from Eddy, he made a two-pointer to bring the score to 26-18.
The end of the half saw Waltham making several attempts to regroup and bring back their initial offensive lead. But even though Waltham’s Davio Visocchi began to push back with a three-pointer in the last minute of the half, it was too little too late. The half concluded with WA in the lead, 31-23.
WA came out of the gates in the second half with even more offensive movement. Krikorian began with a three-pointer. While Waltham responded with three-pointers of their own from captain Brendan Wilder and sophomore Steph Barnes, these were quickly surpassed by several consecutive WA baskets.
Senior captain Ethan Ewing made two three-pointers and assisted Aylward on another. Waltham stole several balls off of fumbles, but Voruganti, Krikorian, Eddy, and Bramanti all exploited weaknesses in a defensive formation to score multiple two-pointers.
Although both teams lost momentum nearing the end of the quarter, WA began to surge ahead, extending their lead by 14 points to end at 57-35.
In the last quarter, WA continued to maintain their strong lead after an inaccurate pass between Waltham players led to a subsequent steal by Bramanti and layup by Eddy, bringing the score to 59-35. WA then followed up with several free throws. Although Waltham tried to capitalize on junior Chris Samios’s three-pointer, as well as an error made by the Ghosts, they were unable to do so.
Both teams saw several missed opportunities as the game ended. However, junior Ben Jones made a breakaway pass to junior Alex Movsessian, setting off a line of momentum that carried WA to the end. Sullivan finished at the rim for 67-40, after which another Jones three-pointer off a Voruganti assist sealed the deal at 70-40.
WA Head Coach Chris Bramanti was pleased with the team’s performance, citing offensive consistency and defensive strength as two of the main contributors to the team’s win.
“We made our shots. We don’t typically hit this many threes, and all of a sudden, we hit a whole bunch of them. It broke open the game and they couldn’t recover. […] [Defensively,] we got a lot of deflections, a lot of steals, and we got a lot of layups in transition,” Chris Bramanti said.
The Ghosts improve to 11-2 overall this season. Their next game is away at Concord-Carlisle on Feb. 8 at 7 p.m.
