By Avonlea Cummings
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
The lights blared onto Walpole’s shining basketball court floor last Tuesday evening as the stage was set up for the Walpole boys’ basketball team to tip off against the Needham Rockets. The Rockets headed into the evening’s match hoping to start another winning streak after their previous Friday night win against Braintree set them off on the right foot. Walpole held a two-game winning streak heading into the match, ready for the night’s competition. It was a consistent battle full of energy on the court throughout the competition, with both teams working tirelessly to get to the next point. Ultimately, Needham would surpass Walpole in an eight-point lead of 61-53 to polish off the game.
In the first half, Needham came onto the host’s court ready to take over their house. Feeding off the energy from the crowd, the boys began taking their shorts and making their baskets and layups piling up points on the scoreboard. Blocking Walpole’s attempts to take a lead, Needham continued to stay neck and neck throughout the match, finishing the half 38-29 with Needham ahead of the competition. Senior captain Brian Cloonan shared how it felt to be on the court, the chemistry between the team, and how the Rockets were best preparing fo their match against Walpole.
“It felt awesome to be on the court today, this is my favorite group of guys to play with. It’s so awesome to play week in and week out with this group of guys a lot of us have been playing together since elementary school, so it’s a great thing. Our practices are always super intense, always doing conditions to keep us in the best shape possible, and our coaches work us so hard so sometimes it feels like the games are easier, it’s such a great feeling,” said Cloonan.
After the teams reconvened during halftime, Needham took on Walpole with full force during the second half. Working together to create a wall of defense around Walpole’s offense, the Rockets communicated well on the court, keeping their hands up, and continued to take on more points on their offensive end. Needhams’s Brian Cloonan took charge over the Timberwolves throughout the match and led the Rockets in total points for the evening’s competition with a total of 21 points. Not far behind him, Needham’s Campbell Keyes snagged 16 points for the Rockets as well, and Jackson Shaw followed their footsteps taking in 10 points for the final score, adding to Needham’s lead.
Senior captain Cloonan shared his what the Rockets are looking forward to next as they head further into the season.
“I feel like in the back of our minds is always the playoffs and getting our seed for the playoffs, but we really do like to try and take it one game at a time. We are always looking forward to the next one,” said Cloonan.
The boys are now 6-2 this season and will be traveling to Natick High to play against the Red Hawks at 6:30 PM on Friday, January 19th.
