SWAMPSCOTT — Make it 15 in a row for the Swampscott boys basketball team.
Behind a full team effort and some red-hot shooting, the No. 5 Big Blue rolled to a convincing 73-51 victory over No. 28 Pittsfield in a Division 3 tournament Round of 32 game Thursday night at Swampscott High School.
“It was just a complete team effort,” said Swampscott coach Jason Knowles. “Every guy who checked into the game contributed, and that’s why we were able to win as convincingly as we did against a real quality opponent. We played well in every aspect of the game.”
Swampscott has now won 15 games in a row, with their last loss dating all the way back to Jan. 18.
“To be honest, we don’t really talk about the streak,” said Knowles. “We’re happy with what we’ve done to this point and glad it earned us a five-seed, but since the regular season ended the feel at practice has just been different. The guys are incredibly focused.”
Every player who checked into the game for the Big Blue scored on Thursday, with Mick Ross leading the way with 17 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. Evan Roth added 17 points and five rebounds, while Ryan Ward notched 13 points and two rebounds. Cam O’Brien filled the stat sheet, just missing a triple-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Riad Benagour had a solid game off the bench with six points and five rebounds.
Swampscott was on fire from the field at the very start of the game and never really cooled off. Roth, Ross, Benagour and Max Brodsky all hit multiple 3-pointers in the first half, and the Big Blue took an 11-point lead into the start of the second quarter and stretched that lead to as many as 19 points in the second quarter.
Pittsfield went on a small run to get back to within 11, but a couple of late threes from Swampscott gave the Big Blue a 38-21 lead at halftime.
Swampscott only extended that lead further in the third, going up by as many as 20 points before finally experiencing a slight slowdown on offense. Still, the Big Blue were able to heat up again in the fourth quarter and take their largest lead of the game before coasting to the 22-point victory.
“The thing we were worried about coming into the game was Pittsfield’s ability to run in transition and get points that way,” said Knowles. “We did a great job of possessing the ball and not letting them get out and run, while also knocking down a lot of shots on our end.”
Swampscott (17-4) will now have another home game, facing off against either No. 12 Old Rochester or No. 21 Cardinal Spellman in the Round of 16 at a date and time to be determined.
“We won’t have seen either team in person, so we’ll have to break down the film and see what we’re going to be up against,” said Knowles. “We’ll go through a light practice tomorrow before giving the guys a breather on Saturday, then we’ll come back on Sunday and get right back to business as usual.”
