By DAN NUNN
JUNIOR JUSTIN DOROSH was fouled on the arm by his Lynnfield opponent. He then hit one of two foul shots to tie the game at 52-52 with 5 minutes remaining. (John Friberg Photo)
Stymie Amesbury 56-42
AMESBURY — With what Coach Joe Casey referred to as their best defensive effort of the season the Hornets secured their first road win of the year, defeating the Amesbury Indians 56-42 on Jan. 19.
Junior captain Justin Dorosh was the leading scorer for the third consecutive game with 20 points and according to Casey, “continues to establish himself as an all-star caliber player.”
It was a tightly contested first quarter with North Reading clinging to a slim 14-12 lead after one. But in the second quarter everything changed. The Hornets turned up their full court press and zone defense and stymied the Indians’ offense. They held Amesbury to just two points in the quarter and outscored the Indians 17-2. North Reading took a commanding 31-14 lead into the half.
Halfway through the third, Dorosh sunk back-to-back buckets to extend the lead to 20, a lead the Hornets would maintain for much of the remainder of the contest.
North Reading coasted in the fourth quarter to the 14-point victory.
Lose close one to Pioneers, 64-61
Despite an astonishing 31 points scored by senior Derek Hogan, the Hornets fell to the rival Lynnfield Pioneers at home on Friday night.
Justin Dorosh posted his sixth straight game in double figures with 13 points.
Lynnfield came out of the gates on fire, racing out to a 13-4 lead halfway through the first quarter. It looked like the Pioneers would take a 10-point lead into the second quarter. But Hogan had a huge 3-point play with 2.6 seconds left to cut the lead to 21-14.
The Pioneers caught fire from beyond the arc and expanded the lead to 10 with 1:49 remaining in the half. But Hogan and junior Adam Goldstein hit back-to-back 3’s to cut it to 34-30.
Unfortunately Lynnfield had a wild four-point play in the final seconds. They scored with a foul and missed the foul shot, but junior Billy Brandano committed a lane violation giving the Pioneers another free throw. They missed, but secured the rebound and scored, increasing the spread to 38-30 at the half.
Buzzer beater for Walsh
Lynnfield’s lead ballooned to 14 points early in the third quarter and it looked they would run away with the game. But the Hornets didn’t falter and they caught fire. They closed the quarter on a 19-3 run and senior Gerard Walsh nailed a shot at the buzzer to give North Reading a 49-47 lead.
The Hornets couldn’t hold the lead in the fourth. After the Pioneers retook the lead Goldstein hit a three to give the Hornets a 55-54 lead.
But Lynnfield responded with a 9-0 run to go up 63-55 at the 1:48 mark. North Reading got back to within three, but ran out of time and lost 64-61.
Upcoming games
The Hornets will host the Newburyport Clippers on Friday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. before traveling to Triton Tuesday, Feb. 3 for a 6:30 p.m. tip-off.
