The Raiders warm up before the State Semifinal against Burke in Burlington.
BURLINGTON – The Watertown High Schools boys basketball team returns to the State Semifinals for the second straight year but this time the Raiders have their sights set on something bigger – the State Title.
Wednesday evening at 5:30 p.m. Watertown (18-6) tips off against Burke High School (24-2) out of Dorchester.
Live Updates
Raiders win 66-61
Fulcar makes 1. 64-61 Raiders 30 secs left
Watertown up 2 with ball 38 seconds left and shooting free throws.
63-61 Watertown 142 left
Hamad 3 makes it 61-58 Watertown with 3:50 left
Raiders led by 2 briefly. Down 2 with 431 left 4th
Spinelli hits 2, his 6 straight for Watertown , down 2
Burke hits 2 baskets late but Gabe Spinelli gets a layup to make it 52-48 Burke after the 3rd.
Yoseph Hamad hits a 3 to tie it at 44. Burke hits 2 to take the lead back. 2:25 left 3rd
Burke 42, Watertown 36, 510 left. TO Raiders
Burke 37, Watertown 34, 616 left 3rd
Halftime. Burke 32, Watertown 31. John Korte had 16 points, including 9 in the second. Wenston Rodriguez had 10. Julio Fulcar had 3 and Henry Papadopoulos had 2
Watertown on 14-7 run. 32-31 Burke with 16 secs left 2nd
Korte 3 brings the Raiders within 32-27 1 min left
Burke 28, Watertown 24, 300 left
Burke 23, Watertown 16, 522 left 2nd
A basket by Wenston Rodriguez and 2 baskets by John Korte plus a free throw made it 15-12 Burke. Bulldogs got a hoop at the end of the first to make it 17-12.
Lavar Williams hits a 3 to put Burke up 12-4. Watertown TO with 2:30 left first
9-4 Burke, 336 left. Raiders struggling with Bulldogs full court press
Burke 8, Watertown 4, 4:01 left
Burke 6, Watertown 2, 519 left 1st
Watertown 2, Burke 2
5:15 pm, the team’s are warming up. Game should start around 5:30.
Preview
Tuesday’s snow meant a one-day delay and moving the semis out of their traditional home of the TD Garden. It will be played at Burlington High School. Return here to see live updates from the game.
Raiders’ Run
Watertown’s senior center John Korte expressed the team’s desires after the Raiders beat St. Mary’s in the North Section final on Saturday.
“It feels great, but it doesn’t feel the same as last year,” Korte said. “Maybe because that was the first time (for me) winning it, and we want to win the state Championship. That’s when I will be at my most happiest – if we win that.”
Different players have stepped up to lead Watertown during the team’s tourney run. In the first round against Essex Tech senior guard Wenston Rodriguez lead the Raiders with 19 points. The next game, in the Section quarterfinal at Lynnfield, it was senior guard Julio Fulcar who erupted for 32 points. Korte scored a game high 25-points against Pentucket in the North semifinal. In the North Final win over St. Mary’s in Lowell it was Fulcar, again, who was Watertown’s top scorer with 19 points.
The Raiders’ hallmark, as it has been in seasons past, has been defense, said Head Coach Steve Harrington. The high-energy, pressing defense tries to deny the opposition’s best players the ball, looks to limit second chances and comes up with steals.
Scouting the Opponent
The North Section win was the eighth in 11 tries for Watertown under Harrington, so he is no stranger to the state semifinals. The Raiders have lost in their last three trips to the State Semis, but this team has experience playing in Massachusetts’ final four.
“Every year the team is different, but this team made it there last year so I think they know what the whole atmosphere is about,” Harrington said. “So maybe it will help a little, but once the game starts we will be playing a great team, Burke from Boston, they played a great schedule. (They are) a heck of a team.”
The Bulldogs were ranked 16th in the Boston Globe’s Top 20. That makes them the top Div. 3 team in the rankings and Burke was two spots ahead of Belmont (which beat Watertown by 3 points) and three above St. Mary’s. The Bulldogs have only lost twice, most recently to TechBoston (ranked third in the Globe Poll) in the Boston City semifinals.
When Burke beat previously undefeated Apponequet in the South Section final Burke got double-figure scoring from four players, led by Bryan Desir’s 19. McCarthy Akinhouye scored 15 points, Levar Williams added 12 and Devante Jamison had 10. Williams had 22 points against Bishop Stang in the South semifinal, including 11 straight for Burke.
The Bulldogs also play a pressing defense, so the game could be a high paced affair.