A huge second-half comeback fell just short for the Watertown boys basketball team, and the Raiders lost at home to Hamilton-Wenham, 45-41, Sunday afternoon.
The fourth-seeded Watertown (16-6) faced a 12 point halftime deficit in the MIAA Div. 3 North Section Quarterfinal against the fifth-seeded Generals.
The Raiders came out in the second half flying on defense, leading to some easy baskets to slice the lead to just three points in the first 3:15 of the third quarter. They even had a chance the tie the score with under a minute remaining, but fell just short.
Senior co-captain Gevork Karapetyan said the Raiders didn’t want their season to end and gave it everything they could.
“We just came out and played with energy,” Karapetyan said. “Our defense was there and we kept making stop after stop, but we couldn’t put the ball in the basket.”
The Generals hit some shots and were able to build the lead to seven (32-25) going into the final quarter. Again, the Raiders’ defense went into top gear, and they made steals, caused Hamilton-Wenham players to travel, and forced them into 10 second backcourt violations.
Watertown hit four three-pointers and limited the Generals to two field goals in the fourth quarter. Twice, the Raiders narrowed the lead to just one (36-35 with 3:42 left and 39-38 with 2:17 left). They even had chances to take the lead, but the shots would not fall.
With 22.3 seconds left, Watertown had the ball with the chance to tie the game with a three-pointer. After an unsuccessful attempt, Hamilton-Wenham grabbed the rebound and was fouled.
Generals’ sophomore Markus Nordin had a game high 20 points, including eight fourth-quarter free throws, the last two coming with 1.9 seconds left. Those came after Watertown closed the gap to two on a three-pointer by junior guard Matthew Oliveira.
“(Nordin) was a good players, he got to the line a few times, (and) he’s a good pull up shooter,” Karapetyan said. “He’s a good player. Respect to him.”
Hamilton-Wenham ended a close first quarter with a three point lead (12-9) but in the second quarter they went on a 12-2 run to take a 13 point lead. Watertown senior guard Devon Breen stopped the run with an old-fashioned three-pointer — a basket and a free throw after being fouled. Hamilton-Wenham took a 26-14 lead into halftime.
Cook, the only Raider in double figures, scored 10 points. Oliveira scored 8, Karapetyan and Breen each had 7, and sophomore forward Adam Patterson added 4. Cook and Oliveira both hit two shots from behind the arc, and senior Joseph Griffin hit one three-pointer and scored 5 points.
The Raiders could not close the gap, and their season ended in the North quarterfinal for the second straight year. The team came into the game after defeating Saugus in the first round. Karapetyan said the team had higher goals, but said he enjoyed his career at WHS, which included a Div. 3 State Championship in 2018.
“I saw what it took. Unfortunately I couldn’t do that for the team this year,” Karapetyan said. “I love the boys. I couldn’t ask for a better coach, a better team. I’m proud of the boys. I want to say thank you to Coach (Steve) Harrington — the best coach I ever had.”