Belmont High’s Jazz Combo Presents All Kinds of Music Friday Night

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Five talented senior musicians will premier their chops tonight, Friday, Jan. 30 as the Belmont High School Jazz Combo presents “Jazz of All Kinds” in the High School’s Little Theatre at 7 p.m.
The members – Max Davidowitz, drums; Mary Yeh, bass; Charlie Smith, piano; Rowan Wolf, tenor saxophone and Zoe Miner  vocals – have been part of ensembles in the past few years which have several gold medals from the Massachusetts Association of Jazz Educators for performances in the Northeast District Jazz Festival held each spring. They have also performed at Jazz Night and POPS concerts in Belmont as well as at the Hatch Shell in Boston. Friday’s concert is a first of its kind for the combo.
Under the direction of jazz pianist Maxim Lubarsky, the combo have been rehearsing weekly after school; in the past week, they have rehearsed extensively at members homes.
Special guests for Friday’s performance include Sa-Sa Gutterman, Riley Grant, Alex Sun and the BHS Jazz Choir directed by Sean Landers.
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Belmont Girls’ Basketball De-Pressed Burlington, Runs Record to 8-3

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A pair of forwards stepped up to lead Belmont High School Girls’ Basketball to consecutive away game wins this past week as the Marauders continue on the programs best start, 8-3, in more than a decade.

Junior Sarah Stewart had 12 points and 9 rebounds as Belmont defeated Wilmington, 60-43, on Tuesday, Jan. 20 while senior Elena Bragg connected for 11 points (while being near perfect from the free throw line) and 8 rebounds in the Marauders’ 53-43 victory over a good Burlington High (6-5) squad as it snapped the Red Devils’ four game winning streak on Friday, Jan. 23. 

While Belmont rushed to a 20-3 lead against Wilmington to won convincingly, the Marauders faced a team similar to itself on Friday as the hosts prided itself on playing an aggressive defense style.

But Belmont came out gunning from the start as freshman guard Carly Christofori (10 points) hit the first of two first quarter three point shots for the first basket of the game fallowed by jumper by Bragg as Belmont caused the Red Devils to turn over the ball three times in the first two minutes.

When Burlington attempted a use a full-court press – when the defensive team pressures their opponents for the entire length of the court by putting two players on the person with the ball – Belmont’s backcourt of Christofori and Sophia Eschenbach-Smith (5 points) attacked it with long passes that resulted in easy layups for Bragg and Irini Nikolaidis (6 points and 7 rebounds). 

“Our defense was amazing in the first quarter,” said Eschenbach-Smith, who Head Coach Melissa Hart called “stone cold” leading the team.

“We were playing so well because we were communicating and that helped a lot when they were pressing us,” she said.

Forced out of their preferred defense, Burlington allowed Belmont to dictate the game which saw the Marauders take advantage by picking up offensive rebounds and force the Red Devils to foul Belmont players. When Christofoi hit her second three pointer, Belmont saw its lead grow to 15-2 with two minutes remaining in the first quarter.

But Burlington started playing a tough man-to-man defense and reduced the margin to 3 points (18-16) behind senior guard Arianna Rivera (6 points in the quarter) before junior all-around player Samari Winklaar (6 points) hit a long three pointer to stop the bleeding mid-way through the second quarter. A bucket and foul shot by Christofori and a power move by Stewart (6 points) saw the lead go back to 10 by the half, 29-19.

The second half saw Belmont nurse its lead for the final 16 minutes, during which Burlington could only crawl within five points (34-29). Yet the Red Devils could never get a scoring run against the Marauders’ suffocating defense that included senior center Linda Herlihy (4 points), Bragg and Stewart successfully boxing out a collection of tall Burlington forwards.

“Eight and three. We’re on our way,” said Hart, saying she saw a great deal of composure from the team to preserve the margin of it lead through the game.

Hart also acknowledged the bench players “who come to practice each day and works so hard to make everyone a better player. They’re the reason we are the team nearing the playoffs. They are our unsung heroes.”

Belmont’s MLK Breakfast: Act for Change to Make All Lives Matter

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Emperor Phillips is a big 17-year-old – about six-and-a-half feet tall – who doesn’t look like much would intimate him.

But Phillips, a Belmont High School junior who lives in Boston, admitted he was “real nervous” as he stepped up to speak to an overflow crowd at the Martin Luther King Birthday Breakfast held at the high school’s lunch room.

Brought up by storyteller Sumner McClain, Phillips just wanted the chance to “speak from the heart.”

“I realize I have a lot to be thankful for,” he said. “I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for Martin Luther King.”

Three years ago, Phillips attended a high school in Boston where “you entered through a metal detector, and it wasn’t very safe.”

Now at Belmont High School, “I have a solid education,” Phillips said, praising the program established by the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO) – which McClain has been a longtime staffer – giving Boston children the opportunity to attend suburban school district.

METCO’s purpose is tied to King’s legacy of equal opportunity in all aspects of life, “and I’m really grateful for,” he said.

Phillips one wish was “that more of my friends could come here and get a good education,” he told the Belmontonian.

Monday marked the 21st annual celebration of the civil rights leader’s birthday, hosted by the Belmont Human Rights Commission and Belmont Against Racism, a commemoration highlighted by the expressions of hope and action during the best attended MLK event in recent memory.

Along with songs, acknowledgments and speeches, it was Phillips and the morning’s keynote speaker, WGBH Senior Investigative Journalist Philip Martin who spoke to the audience’s hopes for the future.

“What if we do nothing” in the face of institutional racism, Martin asked the audience. In a nation that “is sweltering with racial tension in the height of winter” after a year in which several African-American men and teenagers were killed by police officers across the country, “what if we absolutely nothing as the fires rage around us as children ask, ‘Do black lives matter?'”

Martin told the assembled crowd that a public consensus has grown in the past week that “it wasn’t the best way to demonstrate that black lives matter” for more than two dozen protestors to promote their cause by blocking highway I-95 in Boston or Medford to the chagrin of commuters and the public.

“But a young woman I corresponded on Twitter says, ‘What if they did nothing?'” asked Martin. Would anyone, even those commit to changing the system, be discussing black lives in mid-January if not for that direct action?

“And indeed, all lives do matter. No doubt most people believe this sincerely. But subconsciously, some lives matter less than others,” he said, referring to his reporting on the worst of humanity; those who exploit children and women “of all colors and poor” in the slavery known as the human trafficking trade.

Too many times Martin has heard exploiters said the woman “is just a prostitute” while others explain it away since “these people don’t value life at the same level [as we do].'”

“How is it that some lives are valued less than others and what if we do nothing about this?” Martin said, pointing “we lament lives lost in Paris very differently … than in Nigeria.”

A Thai father whose daughter is returned to her home after she was rescued from sexual bondage, “shed tears real and emotional stirring than any in Belmont, as any tears in New York or … Detroit.”

Speaking of Pope Francis’ conversation with a crying 12 year old in Manila who asked why does God allow children to suffer as sex slaves, Martin paused, taken by the emotion of the moment, then said Frances spoke to her with compassion and love.

“He said her life mattered. He humanized the situation. And what if we did nothing about it?” he said.

While all lives matter, Martin said there are attempts to diminish black lives with the “crucibles of imperfection,” that those victims of fatal police shootings were drinking, committing minor illegal acts, not listening to commands quickly enough.

“This crucible … is often what makes white Americans hesitant to take to criticize or take issue, to disagree with what others see at least as questionable behavior,” he noted.

While many communities and individuals in law enforcement “do the right thing, it is the system that has to be re-examined and reworked. And it is up to all of us to decide what to do in our own capacities,” he said.

“If all lives mattered, act like it matters. Behave like it matters. Legislate like it matters, Adjudicate like it matters. Black lives matter only if they truly matter,” he said.

What if King or generations of civil rights leaders had done nothing if it had settled for the normalcy of the time, Martin asked.

“Would there be a [former Gov.] Deval Patrick, a [President] Obama, the young man who was speaking from the heart earlier today?”

And if the consensus is to accept this new normalcy and wait for problems of justice and the judicial system to work themselves out, “tensions will increase and undermine our sense of nation,” he said.

“Do something to make sure that all lives matter.”

Belmont Girls’ Basketball Puts Up A Pair of Wins to Reach 6-3

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After consecutive road losses to powerhouse teams in the Middlesex League, the Belmont High School Girls’ Basketball team last week reeled off a pair of victories to see its record jump to 6-3 overall and 5-3 in the league. 

On Thursday, Jan. 15, Belmont outscored an undermanned Waltham High School team 28-10 in the third quarter to sail by the Hawks, 67-49, at Wenner Field House. 

Tied 28-28, the Marauders’ used its quickness and ball hawking skills on defense to tire the nine-man Waltham squad, sparked by freshman point guard Carly Christofori who in a final three minutes of the third put on a one-woman show, pouring in 8 of her 12 points, stealing the ball on back-to-back plays, rebounding and caused two fouls to be committed against her aggressive play.

On one play in the sequence, Christofori ran down an errant pass and lunged to keep the ball inbounds and then scored on the subsequent foul.

“I was just trying to help the team by playing hard,” said Christofori. 

Playing her best game of the season on both ends of the court, senior center Linda Herlihy put in 16 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and 3 block shots while junior guard/forward Irini Nikolaidis hit for a career high 19 points, going 9 for 11 from the charity strip.

On the next night, the Marauders’ got by a one-win Winchester High team, 47-32, in a game an assistant coach of Head Coach Melissa Hart described as “one that you are not going to write home about.”

The quick turnover saw Belmont struggle to get any rhyme or reason to either the offense (no player hit double digits in scoring as Herlihy threw in 9 for the team lead) and defense for the night. It took the insertion of junior guard Samari Winklaar to lift the team’s defensive presence while scoring some much needed outside shots (4 of her 5 points in the quarter) to propel the team to a 10 point lead (24-14) at the half.

“I go in and do what ever [Hart] asks me to do; that was shooting and play strong on defense,” said Winklaar, who said she is becoming more comfortable with her teammates “as I get to know how they play and where they are [on the court.]”

With the game in hand after the Marauders scored 15 points in the third quarter while holding the Sachems to 7, Belmont was able to empty the bench, allowing several players significant minutes on the court. And out there, junior Sara Lyons put in a runner in the paint for 2 points, junior Ani Maroyan stroked a three from the outside, sophomore Mary Kate Egan battled for her 2 points and freshman Gretta Propp hit a jumper and three free throws before leaving the game with a lower-leg condition.

Come Support Belmont High in the Audience at High School Quiz Show this Saturday

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This Saturday, students from Belmont High School will go toe-to-toe with their contemporaries from Shrewsbury High in the first round of this year’s WGBH’s High School Quiz Show!

Thomas Zembowicz, Rahul Ramakrishnan, Clare Lai, Lucas Jenkins, and Sai Sriraman will begin taping in front of a studio audience on Saturday, Jan. 24, at 3 p.m. at WGBH’s studio at 1 Guest St. in Brighton. 

Students and residents can reserve FREE tickets to the taping at http://www.wgbh.org/quizshow/

The BHS quintet will be competing in season six of High School Quiz Show after scoring in the top 16 out of 120 teams from across the state in a fierce tryout at the WGBH studios on Nov. 16.

“The students did a phenomenal job. The breadth of knowledge they collectively possess is extraordinary,” said BHS science teacher Stacy Williams who is the team’s faculty advisor/leader/cheerleader.

The High School Quiz Show is a single-elimination tournament with qualifying matches; quarterfinals, semifinals, and a state championship match. The team that wins the tournament goes on as Massachusetts state champion to compete in the third annual Governor’s Cup Challenge, a “winner-take-all” matchup against the winning school of Granite State Challenge, New Hampshire’s public television show. This year the Governor’s Cup challenge will be hosted by WGBH.

The show will premiere on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 6 p.m. on WGBH 2. The show is hosted by local radio and television personality Billy Costa.

Questions? Contact Williams at sawilliams@belmont.k12.ma.us

Belmont Boys’ Hoops Speeds By Winchester, 75-58, for Back-to-Back Wins

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When faced with sudden changes and unexpected situations, the US Marines’ have an unofficial mantra it relies on: “Improvise, adapt and overcome.”

Those words have been the modus operandi for the Belmont High School Boys’ Basketball since losing all-star senior center Adam Kleckner this past Monday to a sprained ankle. On Friday, Jan. 16, the Marauders’ demonstrated it has changed to its new reality by relying on speed and a suffocating defense to race past Winchester High School, 75-58, at Wenner Field House.

“For sure, they played unselfishly and team defense. I liked our decision-making tonight that included making the extra pass that led to better shooting opportunities,” Adam Pritchard, Belmont’s head coach, told the Belmontonian.

Winchester (7-5, 3-5 in the Middlesex League) came into the game with a five-game win streak which included beating two teams – Woburn and Somerville – Belmont (7-4, 6-2 in the league) lost to in the past week.

Pritchard said the team focused on Winchester’s senior captain Michael Grassey, who had been scoring 25 points per game.

“We made him a focus because he’s the key to their offense,” said Pritchard.

But it was the speed of Belmont’s backcourt, junior Matt Kerans and senior Ben Lazenby, proved to be the decisive factor Friday as the pair took on the Sachems’ undersized guards time and time again through the middle or around the edge, allowing for chance to head to the basket or dish to a teammate. Benefiting from the pass-offs were junior centers Luke Peterson (6 points) and Justin Wagner (7 points).

On one particular rush up court, Lazenby burst down the wing caused the Sachem forward to look back down the court, and the pass went into an open Peterson for the easy two.

By the time the duo – who have played together for the past three years – left the court in the fourth quarter, Kerans (20 points) and Lazenby (22 points) had topped the scoring table.

Joining the pair in double digits was senior forward Seth Altman (12 points) who led the Marauders with a three and two hoops in the first quarter, all the while using his wide wingspan and aggressive presence to make life difficult for the Winchester forwards.

Yet the pressure defense and the full-court press employed during the game was a team effort, employed by seniors Jaemar Paul (4 points), Tom Martin (2 points) and junior Joe Shaughnessy (2 points), who came off the far end of the bench to contribute a pretty turnaround jumper and take a charge on the other end of the court on the next play.

Winchester pulled back an early Marauder lead down to two (32-30) with two minutes remaining in the first half, but a Lazenby bucket and a pair of foul shots from Kerans before a Altman jumper at the buzzer gave Belmont an eight-point advantage (38-30) at the half.

Within the first six minutes of the third quarter, Belmont’s in-your-face D and fast break saw the Marauders go on a 13-6 run and a 15-point lead (51-36). And when Wagner took a Lazenby miss and converted while being fouled, Belmont’s advantage jumped to 17 points (61-44) early in the fourth which sealed the team’s 7th win.

“The game is only 32 minutes and there were guys coming off the court exhausted. That’s what you want to see,” said Pritchard.

Tuesday, Jan. 20, Belmont heads to Wilmington (5-5, 4-4 in the league) where they will meet the Wildcat’s 6-foot, 10-inch senior center Connor Bennett, who is coming off a 34 point, 20 rebound and 6 block shot performance in its Friday win over Stoneham and 39-points in a loss in the game previous vs. Watertown.

Belmont Girls’ Hoops Stumbles to Lexington and its Superstar, 54-46

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Disappointment. You could see it in the face of Belmont High School Girls’ Basketball Head Coach Melissa Hart after the team took a tumble against host Lexington High School on Tuesday, Jan. 13.

The 54-46 loss was a step back for the Marauders, who have lost two consecutive games and falling to 4-3 overall and in the Middlesex League after reeling off four straight victories.

“We were enjoying that we were that good,” said Hart of the four-game winning streak that included a victory over a strong Arlington High squad. “We have to get our focus back on basketball.”

Tuesday’s game saw Belmont never getting into the rhythm offensively it has shown since the opener with Watertown with only junior Irini Nikolaidis reaching double digits (16 points) to lead the Marauders.

And Belmont needed to up its point production as it faced someone in white and gold many of the girls’ knew only too well. Minuteman guard Anna Kelly is just a junior but has already topped 1,000 points in her career – in a game played in Orlando at the ESPN complex – while dropping 43 points against a team from California a few weeks ago. She is a superstar – she is projected to be playing top-flight Div. 1 basketball in college – that makes a very average team very good.

But Belmont knows Kelly best from last year’s match at Wenner Field House when she scored 52 points against the Marauders, a Lexington school and Belmont gym record and the third-most points by a girl in recorded state history.

Tuesday saw a more human side to Kelly, missing more shots than making and throwing up an air ball (!) while being defended by senior Sophia Eschenbach-Smith (3 points) and junior Sarah Stewart (6 points).

And while the Belmont defenders kept Kelly to “only” 24 points, whenever Lexington (6-4, 5-2) needed a basket to first take the lead (a jumper to make it 13-11 in the first quarter) or to stem a Belmont comeback (a running layup to up the Minutemen’s lead to 21-18), Kelly was there to drill another basket.

Adding to Belmont’s frustration was allowing Lexington to take uncontested three point shots. The Minutemen scored a three pointer while extending their lead including a gut-punch buzzer beater from 25 feet by junior Eleanor Van Arsdell (6 points) to end the first half, 28-22.

“Our worst statistic on defense is allowing three pointer. And they are starting to really hurt,” said Hart, pointing to Woburn who scored 5 threes.

With the lead in hand, Lexington dished out what Belmont usually does to opponents, applying close, man-to-man defense over the entire court. With the exception of freshman Jenny Call who hit a pair of threes, Belmont’s seeming reluctant to take outside shots forced the ball down low near the basket, only to find four Lexington players waiting in the paint. For Belmont’s forecourt of senior center Linda Herlihy (4 points), Stewart and senior Elena Bragg (4 points), it was like dancing in a crowded phone booth.

Belmont did rally to keep the score close (35-31), coming within three points (38-35) when freshman point guard Carly Christofori (4 points) hit two from the charity stripe with a minute remaining in the third quarter.

But there was that girl Kelly with a pair of jumpers to up the lead to 42-35 at the end of the quarter. An 11-0 run in the fourth sealed the deal for the Minutemen.

Next up for Belmont is an out-of-league matchup with Waltham High at Wenner Field House at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 15.

 

Despite Kleckner Loss, Belmont Boys’ Basketball Takes Host Lexington, 65-58

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Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for the Belmont High School Boys’ Basketball team, there was senior center Adam Kleckner sitting in street clothes at the end of the bench during the Marauders’ game with host Lexington High on Tuesday night, Jan. 14.

Last year’s co-Player of the Year in the Middlesex League who has been dominating the boards and scoring this season, Kleckner arrived to the game on crutches, the result of “a serious ankle sprain” that he suffered at practice the day before, said Belmont Head Coach Adam Pritchard.

The loss of the dominate center in the league for “the next few weeks” comes as the Marauders had traveled through a hideous patch of games, going 1-4 including last-minute losses to Woburn on Friday and Saturday to a winless Somerville High squad in the feature match held at the TD Bank Garden in Boston.

“It’s adversity that you have to accept,” said Pritchard, noting that during this season the team has lost to injury three of their four captains; Kleckner, starting shooting guard junior Matt Kerans and senior guard Tom Martin.

It appears fourth captain, senior point guard Ben Lazenby, should be outfitted with a rabbit’s foot.

Despite Kleckner’s loss, the Marauders’ was able to press the 1-7 Minutemen – which saw a potentially playoff run go to the wayside when brothers Tom and Harry O’Neil were recruited to play at St. John’s Prep – and score a series of three point buckets to walk away with a much needed, 65-58, victory.

“We just wanted to put down our heads and play fast and tough. Sometimes if you just give maximum effort and just do what you’re capable of, things work out. The team was great tonight,” said Pritchard.

While at times looking like a pick-up game at the local Y with a lot of running around but no scoring, Belmont relied on the inside play of now-starting junior center Justin Wagner and stellar work by senior guard Jaemar Paul and Luke Peterson which included yet another monster rejection from the junior forward.

Belmont kept seeing its lead yo-yo-ing between 10 and 4 points throughout the game, up by four at the half (29-25), then by 11 midway through the third, then back down to four points again (49-45) with six minutes to play in the game.

But that was as close as the Minutemen would come as Martin hit a three, Belmont stole the ball and senior forward Seth Altman hit one of two to increase the lead (53-45).

Lexington did stick around to within five points (57-52) but Lazenby was fouled on his successful layup for three more, a return to the line for two more and Kerans’ long-distance three pointer was the coup de grâce (65-55) with just under two minutes to play. 

Belmont will need this same drive and effort on Friday, Jan. 16, as they play a surging Winchester team (6-4, 4-4 in the league) with 6’4″ center Michael Grassey who is scoring 24 points a game.

 

Belmont Girls’ Basketball Push Unbeaten Woburn to Limit, 59-56

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Photo: Belmont High School junior (#15) Irini Nikolaidis heading for the basket defended by Woburn High School senior Taylor Kane at a game in Woburn on Friday, Jan. 9, 2015.

There are no good losses.

But for Belmont High School Girls’ Basketball Head Coach Melissa Hart, the team’s 59-56 loss to undefeated Woburn High School on Friday, Jan. 9, did have a lot of positives her squad can build on.

“We’ll learn from [the game],” Hart said. “This is hardly a loss we’ll look back and shake our heads.”

After falling behind by 10 points at the start of the game and being down by as much as 16 points midway through the third quarter, Belmont (4-2 overall and in the Middlesex League) would outscore the high scoring Tanners 38-21 with a combination of a up-tempo offense and its trademark high-power defense that visibly tired the hosts.

Only the play by Tanner all-star senior Sam D’Angelo who put in 8 of her 18 points in the final eight minutes allowed Woburn (8-0, 6-0 in the league) to escape with the win in its most challenging game of the season.

Not that Belmont started the game looking like a team to challenge the table toppers. The Marauders was tentative facing an aggressive opponent, finally scoring with a strong move by senior center Linda Herlihy at the 3:37 in the first quarter to make the score 10-3.

“This reminded me of the Watertown game (an opening loss of the season); [the team] was so unselfish because they didn’t want to make a mistake,” said Hart.

But the damage was done as Belmont’s vaunted defense was being beaten by long outlet passes before either hitting open players driving to the basket or waiting to take outside shots.

“Our press was not the best but you have to give a lot of credit to Woburn. That’s a very good team,” said Hart.

Down 19-6 after the first quarter and 29-17 at the half, Belmont’s sloppy work on the offense side of the ball allowed the Tanners to run off to the 38-21 lead.

But for the final 11 minutes of the game, Belmont began its comeback, starting with two steals that led to a pair of foul shots from freshman point guard Carly Christofori (4 points) and a three-pointer from fellow frosh Jenny Call (10 points including a pair of threes) to brought the score to 45-34 at the start of the fourth quarter.

As in past games, the Marauders followed the lead of senior point guard Sophia Eschenbach-Smith (7 points and three assists), Herlihy (8 of her 18 tough inside-the-paint points in the fourth to go along with 5 rebounds) and junior shooting guard Irini Nikolaidis (12 points) to cut into the Tanner lead.

On defense, senior Samari Winklaar (5 points) began pushing around the exhausted Woburn players into mistakes. The 11-point margin quickly fell to six, 49-43, with 5 minutes remaining on Herlihy’s turnaround, bank shot.

“Sometimes you have to forget the score and play,” said Herlihy. “We just ran the floor and tired them out.”

A pair from Call including a long three kept Belmont close at 55-48 midway through the quarter before a Nikolaidis layup from a court long pass from Christofori, a pair of free throws from Herlihy and Nikolaidis and a pretty step-back three from Eschenbach-Smith reduced the lead to five before Christofori hit two from the charity stripe to whittle the Tanner’s lead down to a single possession.

But Belmont’s charge was a little too late in the game as time ran out.

“We need to stay close for the entire game with good teams. We seemed to be battling from 10 to 12 points behind for most of the game. But they never gave up. They know they are capable of coming back,” said Hart.

Despite Kerans’ Return, Boys’ Basketball Collapse in Woburn, 54-53

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In a season-deflating collapse, Belmont High School Boys’ Basketball team failed to score in the final two-and-a-half minutes in its matchup with host Woburn High, allowing the Tanners to run off nine points, including a steal and basket in the final 23 seconds to founder to a 54-53 loss on Friday, Jan. 9.

“I don’t know what to say. I don’t have a sound bite to give you,” said Adam Pritchard, Belmont’s head coach after the game.

The loss send Belmont to a 5-3 record and 4-2 in the Middlesex League, two games behind undefeated Arlington (7-0, 6-0 in the league) and a game behind Woburn (5-4) which is 5-1 in the league .

The defeat spoiled the return of starting junior shooting guard Matt Kerans thought to be lost to the team until late January after he was injured in a win over Cathedral High School over the winter recess. Since losing Kerans in December – who with senior center Adam Kleckner are the Marauders’ top scorers – Belmont is 1-3.

It was with 1:55 remaining in the first quarter when Kerans entered the game, pairing him with his long-time backcourt partner, Ben Lazenby (7 points). While rusty in his passing, Kerans (9 points) hit his first shot, a long-distance three point basket – the first of three threes in the game – to give the Marauders a 18-14 lead a minute into the second quarter.

While the Marauders’ took the game to the Tanners, leading 15-10 after the first quarter and 26-20 at the half, the only consistent scoring threat for Belmont was Kleckner, who finished with 17 points and double digits in rebounds. In the four quarters, only junior forward Justin Wagner (8 points) and senior co-captain Tim Martin (5 points including a three) scored more than one basket in any one quarter while no other Belmont player scored in double figures.

Led by Kleckner’s scoring and Wagner’s defense – including two blocks and grabbing several rebounds – Belmont took its biggest lead with Martin’s three upping the Marauders’ lead to 10 at 37-27 with 2:48 left in the quarter.

But a three point shot by Deion Williams (who finished with 16 points) followed by a three from Jimmy McRae quickly cut the lead to five at the end of three (40-35). 

Despite running at Woburn, Belmont saw its lead shrivel to one at 43-42 with six minutes to play. But a Kleckner driving layup, a Kerans steal, a three point shot from Lazenby and then by Kerans (from more than 18 feet from the basket) and  finally a Wagner easy put-in after Kleckner dove and stripped the ball away from a Tanner player saw the Marauders lead grow to eight with 150 seconds left.

But that was enough time for Woburn to use the time to apply double teams up and down the court and win the ball as the game got a bit chippy with Wagner ripping out the ball from McRae sending Woburn senior Matt Catizone (8 points) to the court with a thump.

A two point jumper, another three from Williams, a Belmont turnover and a bucket by Woburn reduced the lead to a single point with 40 second remaining. Pressure on Belmont resulted in the turnover to the Tanners and guard Daniel Muscot (who scored 10 of his 12 points in the final stanza) buried the layup with 23 seconds to play.

A quick miss by Belmont forced the team to foul Woburn three times in the backcourt – Woburn had only collected four fouls that point in the game – wasting valuable seconds on the clock. Catizone missed the one-and-one free throw with less than six seconds to play but Lazenby’s shot from the top of the key at the buzzer hit high off the backboard.

“We need to play smarter and better in this league to win,” said Pritchard.