By Avonlea Cummings
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
The Needham Boys Basketball Rockets (13-5) headed to Woburn Memorial High School on Sunday, February 18 for the annual Comcast tournament to compete against Charlestown High (15-2). It was a heated competition in which both teams battled for superiority on the scoreboard, but with a buzzer-beater three-pointer, the Needham Rockets would lose to Charlestown 63-60.
Brian Cloonan, tipped off the ball at center court to commence the afternoon’s competition against Charlestown, and immediately Needham set off like a jet-fueled rocket. Charlestown and Needham were both tactfully adding points on the scoreboard, Needham scarcely ahead. Cloonan passed with Jackson Shaw, and Campbell Keyes to skillfully try to open holes in the Charlestown defense. However, Charlestown kept attempting to overpower the Rockets. Despite Charlestown’s efforts, Cloonan worked his way around with speed and had an impressive first half racking up points left and right. By the end of the first half, Needham took charge of the scoreboard to lead with 40 points and Charlestown was trailing closely behind with 32 points.
In the second half, Needham continued to dare Charlestown in the competition. Jumping for rebounds off the hoop, the Rockets were looking to silence any chances of Charlestown taking the lead away. By the end of the third quarter, Needham maintained to keep their lead 54-48, but not for long. In the fourth quarter of the game, the Rockets were stunned by Charlestown’s comeback on the court. Just three minutes into the quarter, Charlestown took the lead over Needham 57-56. It was a clash on the court as both teams wanted to make it to the next round of the tournament on Monday evening. After a quick timeout, Needham grabbed possession of the ball and knocked in another basket earning themselves the narrow lead once more.
Charlestown responded rapidly with a three-pointer to bring them back up 60 points to Needham’s 58. The seconds on the clock quickly diminished, and soon enough both teams were tied 60-60 with three seconds left to go in the fourth quarter. The energy in the air was full of nerves, as both teams took a timeout. Back on the court, Charlestown headed to the side to throw the ball into their offensive end of the court. Needham hoped to defend to the best of their ability, but, with just a second left to the game Charlestown threw a three-pointer that beat the buzzer giving Charlestown a last-second win over Needham to finalize the game 63-60.
Head coach Paul Liner shared his thoughts on what the guys did well, and how it is great to play challenging games like this leading to the tournament in the weeks ahead: “Great high school game, that is what the tournament is going to feel like in two weeks. Win or lose these are the types of games you want to be playing in this time of year. I thought we were sharing the ball really well, Brian had an amazing first half. They (Charlestown) adjusted, they were guarding really tight and all the guys made big shots, and it came down to the last play, and that’s what happens sometimes,” said Liner.
