Friday Night Hoops in Worcester, Mass

In conjunction with running this blog, I have been writing for New England Hoop News (nehoopnews.com) for over a year now. It is a New England high school basketball website that is affiliated with the Basketball Hall of Fame. Last night, I covered two of the best basketball teams in central Massachusetts: Saint John's Shrewsbury vs. Worcester North. Below is my recap from the game. I will occasionally link to articles and player profiles that I have written for New England Hoop News. In the meantime, if you'd like to explore the site, click on the New England Hoop News banner on the right side of the page.

St. John's Runs Away with Rematch

This was a different Pioneer basketball team that took the court last night in front of a packed house inside the friendly confines of Saint John’s home gym in Shrewsbury than the team that lost 68-61 at Worcester North just several weeks ago. Led by the strong play of senior David White (21 points) and junior Richard Rodgers (20 points), Saint John’s jumped out to a 17-13 lead after the first quarter and proceeded to extend the advantage to 13 points (37-24) at the half. Longtime head coach Bob Foley lauded the play of White, who plays much bigger than his 6’0 would indicate.

"He’s a strong, strong kid who is our best rebounder. If you noticed, we put him under the basket when shooting free throws. He’s such a big kid that when he goes up for a rebound, guys almost bounce right off him. As he goes, we go."

It is not just White’s physical presence on the floor that makes him the Pioneers go-to guy on offense, but his leadership and sheer desire to win is what makes Saint John’s such a tough team to match up against.

In the early going, Worcester North was having success with their 2-2-1 full-court press, but once Saint John’s solved the pressing defense, they ended the first quarter on a mini 6-2 spurt, highlighted by an emphatic slam by Rodgers. The Pioneers took command of the game in the second quarter as they outscored the Polar Bears 20-11, and never allowed North to get closer than 9 points the rest of the way. Foley explained the progression his squad has made since the first meeting with North.

"We adjusted to what they did and were better prepared for tonight’s game. Historically, my teams have gotten better as the year has gone along, and we hope to continue to improve."

Sure, White and Rodgers were the big scorers for the Pioneers, but it was the play of the bench players that helped in neutralizing some of North’s bigger guns.

"I really thought the key to the game was the play of our bench players Matt Harrington, Ryan Kelly and Matt Palecki," Foley said. "We were able to rotate eight guys in all night to stay fresh and North’s starting five played a lot of minutes."

Markese Berry (18 points) did his best to lead North back into the game, but getting down by double-digits to a fundamentally sound and strong free throw shooting team in Saint John’s makes the task of cutting into the deficit that much harder.

With the win, Saint John’s improved to 16-2 on the season, and looks to be the number 1 seed in the upcoming Central Mass. State Tournament.