The Newtown Middle School boys' basketball team - down three to Memorial of Middlebury as the seconds ticked away - desperately needed a big shot.
The Newtown Middle School boysâ basketball team â down three to Memorial of Middlebury as the seconds ticked away â desperately needed a big shot.
Memorial was in a vengeful mood, anxious to pay Newtown back for a loss suffered at the Lions hands a couple of weeks ago, and while Memorial was well aware of the talents of Josh Engler and Matt Datin, they overlooked Sean Maher.
And it was Maher who delivered the big shot the Lions needed.
With just four seconds left in the fourth quarter, Maher â now dubbed âESPNâ â drained a deep three-pointer to send the game into an overtime session won when Engler canned 6-of-8 from the free throw line.
Maher scored a season-best 14 points to go along with aggressive perimeter defense. Matt Datin had a strong double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds as Oliver Powers added six points and made his biggest contributions on defense in the low post.
Ishan Tatake and Rob Frangione controlled the ball handling and forced Memorial into abandoning its full court pressure.
The win pushed the Lions to 8-1 on the year and came on the heels of a 65-52 win last week over a physical Jockey Hollow team.
Everyone scored with three players reaching double digits. Datin led all scorers with 21 markers while Engler tossed in 11 and Tatake contributed 10. Maher played an excellent game at the point and broke down the Jockey Hollow defense with a handful of beautiful moves in the paint. Frangione and Brian Reed combined for eight points as Max Brazo and Rory Noonan played explosive defense off the bench.
Sean Devaney had a big game in the paint as well ripping down several rebounds and blocking shots.