After press time:
North Reading defeats Essex Tech 62-37 (Feb. 13)
NORTH READING — The North Reading High boys’ basketball team kept their postseason dreams alive with a clutch, 57-34 win over Pentucket on Monday night at NRHS. The win got NR to 9-9 overall and just one victory away from punching a ticket to the Div. 3 state tournament with two games left.
The victory over the Panthers came on Senior Night for the Hornets as they celebrated captains Matt Myette and Andrew Taylor along with Jason Curran, Connor Gattuso, Parker Griffin, Davide Rosati and CJ Villarroel with managers Badr Ourdyl and Finn Rodger.
In addition to their tournament hopes, the Hornets had motivation from the fact that Pentucket won the first matchup of the season, 54-42 on Jan. 13.
That motivation was on full display from the jump as North Reading raced out to a 13-4 lead with big hoops early on from Griffin and Taylor as the Green and Gold employed a relentless full court press to gain momentum.
Pentucket cut their deficit to 13-8 after one quarter and made it even closer in the 2nd as the Hornets went cold from the floor and scored their only hoop with two minutes left on a baseline 3-pointer by Myette.
The defense kept NR in it, limiting Pentucket to 6 2nd-quarter points as the Hornets went up 16-14 at halftime of a defensive battle.
The Hornets dominated the second half, exploding for 41 points.
They set the tone early with their full-court, man-to-man defense, creating plenty of Pentucket turnovers and leading to easy baskets.
North Reading took a 38-26 lead after three quarters and cruised to victory.
The Hornets got a tremendous second half effort on both ends of the floor from sophomore Cole Bakr who had 13 points in the half and 11 in the 4th quarter as the lead ballooned to 24 points.
“That second half was by far the best we have played this year,” said head coach Joe Casey. “It was a complete team effort fueled by terrific defense.”
Bakr’s 13 led a balanced scoring attack. Myette and junior Gavin Wesley both had 10 while junior captain Jason Berry added 8.
North Reading’s first crack at one more win will come on the road against Essex Tech (3-15) on Thursday night at 7 p.m. The Hornets won the first matchup, 59-33 on Jan. 17. North Reading’s regular season finale will be at home on Sunday, 11:30 a.m. against Pioneer Charter (8-10).