By Avonlea Cummings
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
Amidst the echoing cheers and dribbles, the Westwood court came alive Thursday, January 18th as the Dover-Sherborn boys’ basketball team visited the Westwood Wolverines for an unforgettable Tri-Valley League competition of the season. With skills and determination, the Raiders pressured the Wolverines on the court but ultimately fell short to Westwood with a final score of 34-51.
In the first half, the boys were electric on the court, both teams battled against one another looking for an offensive opening to shoot and begin tallying points on the scoreboard. The Wolverines pushed through the challenging defense of the Raiders and came up with 10 points to close the first period. However, D-S took a narrowing lead by one point ending the first quarter with 11 points on the board. After a quick discussion, the Dover-Sherborn boys were ready to take the court and challenge the hosts with their fiery energy and defensive blocks. With lightning speed, the boys took on rebounds and passed the ball with precision, the Raiders dared the Wolverines’ defense at their offensive end of the net; but were only able to snag seven points for the second quarter, bringing the halftime score to 23-18 Westwood taking the lead.
As the whistle blew to commence the third period, the Dover-Sherborn boys sprang onto the court with confidence, the boys continued to be a wall of defense around the Wolverines, looking to narrow the leading score gap. The Raiders fought looking for new ways to trouble the Wolverines’ defense but were only able to mark up five points in the third. Westwood launched their shots from left to right making baskets often, leading them to gain ten more points in the third quarter. The thrilling competition continued as the teams headed into the fourth quarter, and the Wolverines deep to secure their win for the night’s TVL competition despite the strong efforts from the Dover-Sherborn boys throughout the evening. The Raiders would climb up the scoreboard another ten points but would be short of the Wolverines lead, finishing the night’s competition 34-51.
Head coach Rick Grady spoke about the game and shared insight on what challenged the Raiders during the competition, and what he hopes to improve throughout the rest of the season. “Westwood is a very good team, we made too many mistakes to beat a good team like that tonight. We did a good job in the first half, I think our zone was effective it slowed them down, the score was actually at a good spot for us, and we envisioned a low-scoring game. I was pleased with that, but we were challenged offensively tonight, we had too many turnovers and too many missed shots. Westwood is physical, and they do a good job of clogging up space, I didn’t think we were quite ready to take the shots that were given to us. We need to do a good job of being balanced and being ready earlier, and finding the rim earlier,” said Grady.
The boys will continue the season playing Medfield High on Friday, January 26 at home. The tip-off is 6:30 PM.
