Strong Second and Fourth Quarter Play Propels Stoughton Boys' Basketball Past Xaverian

The Stoughton High boys' basketball team (12-8) displayed their trademarked resiliency in their fourth quarter comeback win over Xaverian Brothers High School in the Walpole Hoop Classic Championship game. The Black Knights defeated the Hawks, 67-62, on their way to their second vacation tournament championship this season.

“That was a cumulative effort from about five minutes into the game when we started to play for real,” Stoughton head coach John Gallivan said.

“We had a real bad first quarter and they overcame it. Everybody contributed; huge plays all over the place, so many it’s hard to single out one or two. [Marcus] Middleton’s defense, both nights here, was just something to really write home about; Kris Joyce hitting shot after shot after shot; [Aaron] Calixte hitting that three at the end [of the game]. The kids kept their composure and we’re really happy for them.”

The Black Knights trailed 21-12 after the first quarter, but battled back to take a 29-28 lead into the half. Trailing by four heading into the final quarter, Stoughton responded again.

Stoughton senior captain paced the Black Knights, tying a season-high with 26 points. Joyce was named the Walpole Hoop Classic MVP after averaging 23.5 points for the tournament.

“That’s what seniors do,” Gallivan said of Joyce’s performance. “That’s what senior captains do. That’s what four year starters do. Kris is all of the above. He’s a man of few words but he’s a man out there. He’s tremendous; nothing surprises us that Kris does and still sometimes you go ‘wow did he just do that?’ He’s just that good.”

Sophomore captains Aaron Calixte and Marcus Middleton are used to seeing kind of effort from Joyce.

“I’m not surprised,” Calixte said. “Kris Joyce is a great player. All-around, he’s good at everything.”

“You can always expect the same thing from him,” Middleton added.

Xaverian entered the fourth quarter up 45-41, but Stougton put together a 7-0 run to jump ahead 48-41 in the first two minutes of the quarter.

After Xaverian fought back to tie the game at 50, Joyce nailed a three pointer to put Stoughton up 53-50 and the Black Knights never trailed again.  

“Well, all credit goes to Stoughton,” Xaverian head coach Dan Salazar said. “They made a couple more plays than us. They made them at the right time. I’m proud of my kids. I thought we played hard. We didn’t do enough [and] we have to learn from that going into the postseason state tournament.”

Senior captain Mike Varrichione netted 21 points for the Hawks, using his height to his advantage down low.

“He dominates in the post,” Salazar said. “He’s a physical kid. He’s dedicated to the weight room. We were looking to execute. No excuses, whether he’s getting fouls called or not. He should be finishing in there. Mike’s a fantastic leader, a fantastic player. He did enough to keep us in the game. But like I said we were just a couple plays short.”

The Black Knights were led defensively by senior Atticus Rentsch. Rentsch had four points, and grabbed seven rebounds, and was the difference maker according to Gallivan.

“Atticus’ defensive effort was the difference in both games,” Gallivan said. “Both teams were much bigger than us. You’re not going to get a lot of headlines for really working hard on the low post, but he did it two nights in a row and that’s the difference of winning and losing in both these games.”

Middleton has been the lock down defender this season but was appreciative of the effort Rentsch turned in against Xaverian.

“Atticus did a good job on fronting [Varrichione] and we always had our backside guy have lob help,” Middleton said.

Middleton added 15 points on five three pointers, as well as four first half assists. But his main contribution, per usual, was on defense.

“It’s everything with Marcus,” Gallivan said. “He’s all over the place; he never comes out in the second half. He never looks tired; he never even sweats. He’s a phenomenal athlete and as good as a defensive player you can find.”

The Hawks were able to keep Calixte, Stoughton’s leading scorer, without a basket in the first half. But in the second half Calixte dialed it up, dropping 16 points and recording five of his nine assists. The sophomore captain nailed a three pointer late in the fourth to put the icing on the cake for Stoughton, giving the Black Knights a 64-59 lead.

“He had a slow start,” Gallivan said. “He kept his head in the game, he kept his head up. He patiently waited for the offense to come to him and it did.”

The Black Knights improved to 4-0 outside of the Hockomock League and are looking to take that momentum with them into the tournament.

“It’s fun to get out of the [Hockomock],” Gallivan said. “That’s what the moral of the story is. We’d like to stay out. I talked to a lot of [Hockomock] coaches today and none of us want to see each other. We like going out and playing other teams. It’s different [and] it’s what the tournament should be. Friday morning we’ll find out [and] whoever it is, we’ll get ready.”

Though Middleton looks at this as a momentum boost for Stoughton, he believes they can play even better.

“We just have to come out stronger than that now,” Middleton said.

Stoughton’s next game, date, time and location to be determined, will come in the MIAA Division 2 South Sectional Tournament.