Saugus boys eliminated by Watertown

WATERTOWN – The Saugus boys basketball team saw its season come to an end Friday evening after a 79-45 loss to No.2 Watertown. The hosts controlled the game from start to finish and relied on their deadly three-point shooting to open up a lead, which would never be relinquished.”We knew coming in that we would have to defend the three-ball for a chance to win this but it didn’t happen,” said Sachems coach Paul Moran. “They shoot a lot of deep balls and we just weren’t prepared for the onslaught.”The Red Raiders hit seven treys on the evening, including five from Mike Hagopian who began the game with back-to-back triples and finished with a team-high 19 points.Perhaps most impressive, was Watertown’s ability to keep Saugus’ Joe Bertrand silent in the opening half. The Sachems captain and MVP scored just one point in the first 16 minutes, a feat that Moran lauded after the game.”Watertown did a terrific job in not allowing Joe to find his rhythm and control the game like he did almost all season,” said Moran. “He has been our everything and I cannot say enough about the job he did along with Jack Furey and Mike Lichwala (three points each) these past four seasons. They put our program back on the map.”Saugus will have 12 returning players next season, including starters Dan Cacciola, Justin Winn and Kyle Autilio.Watertown opened up an 18-6 lead after the first quarter behind the efforts of Hagopian (8 points) and four points apiece from T.J. Hairston and Brendan Hoban. The latter hit a triple with two seconds remaining.The visitors would improve in the second period, but despite two threes and seven points from David Rownisky, the Raiders would equal their prior output to go into the break up 20 at 36-16.It was inevitable that Bertrand would have his say before long, and he certainly made sure his final performance would not be soon forgotten.The fourth-year scored 18 of his game-high 21 points in the third quarter, continuously brining the large contingent of Sachems fans to their feet. When Bertrand was removed for the last time in the final period, it came with a tremendous round of applause.The hosts meanwhile, got six points apiece from Kevin DiPietrantonio, Hoban, Hagopian and Hairston who would tie for the team-high. The former finished with 15 points while Hoban added 12.For Saugus, Lamarr Jones scored six points off the bench, four in the final eight minutes.”The kids really earned their way into the tournament this season with the 10 wins and fought hard until the very end,” said Moran. “They put together a great season and won a playoff game. I still think they deserved more than they got.”