Fast start gives Hollis Brookline boys basketball win over St. Thomas
HOLLIS - Mike Soucy had one final comment to make to his Hollis Brookline High School boys basketball players when they broke the huddle before Tuesday night's game against St. Thomas.
HOLLIS - Mike Soucy had one final comment to make to his Hollis Brookline High School boys basketball players when they broke the huddle before Tuesday night's game against St. Thomas.
Knowing that his shorthanded team was going to implement a full-court press from the start of the game, the Cavaliers coach lightheartedly said he wanted to see the players force the Saints to take a timeout two minutes into the game.
HB scored six points in the first 53 seconds of the game and led 14-2 when St. Thomas finally called a timeout with 5:06 left in the opening quarter of a game the Cavs went on to win 57-42.
"When we broke the final huddle, I said to them 'let's make them call a timeout in the first two minutes,' " Soucy said. "When they finally did, the kids came over and said 'is three minutes good enough?' "
It was, as HB (6-2 in Division II) led by 10 at the end of the first quarter and 14 at halftime. The Saints cut that lead to 10 in the third quarter, but the Cavs pushed it up to back to 14 going into the fourth and went up 20 with a little more than five minutes left.
"We had some young guys out there who didn't step up," St. Thomas coach Dave Sokolnicki said. "We paid for it, no doubt about it. We battled all game. You can't spot them that lead and then turn the ball over 26 times, half of which went for layups, and expect to compete. They forced our hand a bit and we didn't react well enough it and they got some easy looks. You can't do that against this team and win."
Logan Blake led the way for HB (6-2) with 12 points while Matt Fothergill and Cole Gallant each chipped in with 10 points. The Cavs were playing without center Shea Whalen, and with a smaller lineup, Soucy wanted to mix things up.
"We tried something new, extending our defense and trying to play more man-to-man," Soucy said. "That was the goal for (Tuesday), to get better at that part of our game, because I think we need to be more than a one-trick pony as the season progresses. We've done it a couple of times, usually when we have some guys out. It's just a matter of using a little bit of small ball and using some of our quickness and our athleticism to try to speed the tempo of the game up."
Guy Kassas had 15 points for St. Thomas, but no one else had more than six for the Saints, who have dropped three games in a row.
"We're young and they forced our hand," Sokolnicki said. "They're one of the tough teams we play, but I thought we battled with them."
After a 10-0 run put HB up 57-37 with 5:14 left to play, the Saints ended the game with a 5-0 run, something that Soucy said his players were not happy about after the game.
"I think they're a little disappointed with how they played, but I said, leave happy that you got the win," the coach said. "You can tell their demeanor changes a little bit when they know they aren't playing well. We didn't finish the way we wanted to, but we started the way we wanted to."
