SAM MORELLI made multiple hustle plays late in North Reading’s 53-48 win over Shawsheen on Jan. 5 at NRHS. (Eric Evans Photo)

 

NORTH READING — Two weeks ago, the NRHS boys’ basketball team traveled to Shawsheen and lost 73-51. Last Thursday, the Hornets turned tables and came away with a hard-fought 53-47 victory.

North Reading raced out of the gates behind terrific shooting from seniors Andrew Boulas and Matt Guidebeck, each whom had a pair of 3’s. The Hornets shot 63 percent from the floor in the quarter and sprinted to a 20-6 lead after one.

The Hornets cooled off a bit in the 2nd quarter but still did a good job defending and rebounding. Sophomore Parker Griffin nailed two 3’s helping send NR into the locker room up 33-22.

The 2nd half became more of a “rock fight” with each team not able to generate much on the offensive end. It was a stingy Hornet defense that allowed the home team to maintain their lead despite poor shooting at the end of the 3rd, 44-30.

Things got tight in the 4th quarter as Shawsheen chipped away at the lead. Continued poor shooting from NR coupled with numerous turnovers contributed to the Rams cutting the lead to 6 midway through the period. The Hornets could have put the game away but poor foul shooting (11-26 for the game) kept Shawsheen in the game.

It was two Sam Morelli hustle plays saving two loose balls from heading out of bounds leading to Hornet points late in the contest that sealed the game for North Reading.

“Morelli does a lot of little things for us that don’t necessarily show up in the final stats that contribute directly to our success,” said head coach Joe Casey.

Boulas led all scorers with 19 while classmate Guidebeck had 12 points and 10 rebounds. The Hornets, despite a significant size deficit managed to out-rebound Shawsheen in the game.

That victory came off of a win at Triton on Jan. 3, 60-37.

After a tight 25-18 lead at halftime, The Hornets broke open a close game sparked primarily through their efforts with their full court man-to man defense. Senior guard Alex Carucci led the way sparking a Hornet run. Carucci would end up with 8 steals in the game.

“Alex gave us an unbelievable effort on the defensive end that really sparked us,” said Casey. “It was encouraging to see us really get after people defensively. Our defense led to many easy hoops and trips to the foul line that opened up what was an extremely tight game.”

Carucci was also the game’s leading scorer with 19, while classmate Logan Scribner contributed 16 points. The Hornets shot an impressive 80 percent from the foul line.

North Reading moved to 5-2 with a 66-41 road win over Ipswich on Tuesday.

It was a close game at halftime with the Hornets up 21-15.

North Reading broke it open in 2nd half, finishing the game on a 15-0 run.

Logan Scribner had a career-high 22 points while Boulas had 19.

The Hornets travel to Newburyport (5-3) for a key, CAL Divisional game on Friday night at 7 p.m.