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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
It came right down to the wire on Thursday night for the Medfield High School varsity boys basketball team against TVL rival Medway. In a game that featured nine lead changes (seven in second half), the Warriors came up just short after a pair of made free throws by Medway with 0.8 seconds remaining in the game gave the Mustangs the 53-52 victory.
The Warriors (11-5, 9-3) were led by the big bodies of senior center Christopher McGory and sophomore power forward Henry Mitchell on Thursday night. The giant duo was dominant down in the paint for Medfield, grabbing rebound after rebound, all while McGory thrived on the offensive end, notching 15 points on the night (six in fourth quarter). Mitchell came out firing for Medfield, slamming home a dunk and later converting a three-point play later in the first quarter, helping Medfield jump out to a quick 13-4 lead. Medway would respond by going on a 13-2 run to close out the first quarter with a 17-15 lead.
The Mustangs were able to extend their lead to 32-23 with three minutes remaining in the second quarter, but the Warriors went on a 9-0 run to end the half, highlighted by a three-pointer at the buzzer by senior guard Jack Fitzgerald to knot the game 32 at halftime.
Mitchell and McGory continued their dominant play early in the second half, as after Medway regained the lead at 37-34, the two big men went to work in the paint and converted multiple power drives to the basket into easy layups. The Warriors reclaimed the lead at 41-39 followed by another lay-in after Medway countered with a three, and the Warriors led 43-42 heading into the final quarter of play.
McGory took over for Medfield in the fourth quarter, as Fitzgerald and sophomore guard Stephen Williams kept feeding the ball to the beast in the paint. McGory used his massive frame to win body position and convert two big-boy layups to extend Medfield’s lead to three with just under five minutes to play at 47-44.
After Medway took a 49-47 lead, Jack Fitgerald banged home a three with 1:24 remaining to give Medfield back the lead at 50-49. Medway then retook the lead at 51-50 with 1:07 to play, but junior guard Jake Dubbs stepped up and delivered a pair of free throws with 8.7 seconds remaining to give Medfield back the lead at 52-51.
Following the made free throws by Dubbs, Medway ran the length of the court, but the ball got tied up under the Medfield basket for a jump ball. Unfortunately for the Warriors, the possession arrow gave the Mustangs back the ball with 2.1 seconds left. After Medway inbounded the ball from under the hoop, Medfield fouled Medway’s Patrick Travers in the act of shooting. Travers converted two free throws with 0.8 second remaining to reclaim the lead for Medway and allow the Mustangs to pull out the one-point win.
Despite the outcome, Medfield head coach Herb Grace said that he was proud of the way his team performed on Thursday evening.
“We had two good teams fighting it out tonight,” said Grace. “I’m proud of the effort. We got to stay up.”
At the time of print, the Warriors will look to get back on a winning note when they travel to Westwood on February 10.
