Hamilton-Wenham edges Saugus boys hoop

MANCHESTER ? Saugus’ boys basketball team entered the fourth quarter down by eight points. The Sachems went on a run and actually took a four-point lead with less than 30 seconds remaining. Unfortunately their run came up a little short as top-seeded Hamilton-Wenham prevailed 62-61 with clutch free-throw shooting and a key three pointer in the D3 North quarterfinals Sunday.”The kids did an absolutely great job coming back like that,” Saugus coach Paul Moran said. “They played hard.”The ninth seeded Sachems (12-10) jumped out to a quick 8-3 lead in the first quarter. However, it was short lived as Hamilton-Wenham utilized some efficient post play and went on a 13-0 run to close out the first quarter. Chris Hamilton scored eight of his 17 points to lead this attack.”We definitely executed early on,” Generals coach Doug Hoak said. “Saugus did a nice job getting us out of that (momentum) though. They were really working hard out there.”Saugus’ offense struggled as the three-point attempts were not connecting. Omar Benabicha hit four threes on the day and finished with a game-high 24 points, but watched numerous open three-point attempts flirt with going in only to clank out.”When you live by the three,” said Moran, “you die by the three. Unfortunately we weren’t hitting on those early on.”At the start of the second half the Sachems brought up the intensity on the defense. Brian Boyajian, who was a spark plug for virtually the entire game, gave the team some instance offense by spearheading the full court press. He finished with 16 points.”We really always want to get into a run-and-gun style of play,” said Moran. “As we picked up the energy we got more opportunities.”Saugus unleashed sophomore sharpshooter Curtis Casella in the second half. He was instrumental scoring 11 fourth quarter points, nine coming from behind the three-point line. His biggest shot came with a little more than a minute remaining in the game, when he tied the game. The Sachems had been down by as many as 14 points in the game, and hadn’t seen a lead since the first quarter. The Sachems would take the lead in the next 30 seconds of play.”We knew about (Casella),” said Hoak. “He was huge for them. Every single three he hit was important. I had told the guys that the game was not over and that we still time to win.”Sophomore Isaac Carp hit a clutch three pointer to bring the Generals back within a point. Hamilton-Wenham would then steal the ensuing inbounds pass, and point guard Steve Tam would find himself at the charity stripe to put the Generals back in front for good.”(Tam) is probably our best free throw shooter,” said Hoak. “I have to really tip my hat to Saugus though. They battled hard and you could really feel the momentum swing during that second half.”