Charlie Breitrose
Watertown senior center John Korte hopes to end his career with a State Title. Saturday the Raiders face Easthampton in Springfield.
Few people believed Watertown would be in the MIAA Div. 3 boys basketballs state final, but the members of the team knew they were better than their 14-6 regular season record. Watertown proved it deserved to be there by beating some of the toughest teams in Eastern Massachusetts and Saturday the Raiders will play Easthampton for the state crown in Springfield.
The state final tips off at 3:30 p.m. at Springfield College. Follow the action live here (latest update on top) and read the preview below.
Updates
Watertown wins! State Champs! Final 72-53
Raiders up 72-52, 106 left.
Watertown 68, Easthampton 47, 210 left
3 mins left 4th, Watertown 63, Easthampton 48
Watertown 60, Easthampton 45, 410 left
Watertown 58, Easthampton 43, 5:42 left 4th
Easthampton closes on 6-0 run, but Raiders lead 56-38 after 3rd quarter
Watertown 56, Easthampton 32, 130 left
3:32 left 3rd, Watertown leads 49-29.
Watertown 41, Easthampton 27, 523 left 3rd
Start of 3rd, Watertown 40, Easthampton 22, 6:49 left.
John Korte and Julio Fulcar each have 15. Korte had 13 in the 2nd.
Halftime, Watertown 40, Easthampton 19. Raiders finish on a flurry to lead by 21.
2:56 left, Watertown 31, Easthampton 15
Yoseph Hamad hits a 3 to put Watertown up 27-15, 4:16 left 2nd
Watertown 24, Easthampton 15, 6 left 2nd
End of first, Watertown 18, Easthampton 10. Julio Fulcar has 9 for the Raiders
Watertown 14, Easthampton 10, 130 left
Watertown 9, Easthampton 4, 459 left.
7 mins left 1st, Watertown up 5-0
3:35 pm Watertown and Easthampton about to tip off.
3:18 pm – Raiders warming up before the big gane at Springfield College.
Preview
Coming into the 2017-18 season the Raiders had plenty of State Tournament experience, and Head Coach Steve Harrington has a long history of deep tournament runs, including winning two State Championships.
Last year, Watertown made it to the Garden for the State Semifinal in 2017 but fell to eventual State Champs Hanover, 46-40. This year, the team struggled early in the season and the Raiders’ record was only good enough for the seventh seed in the North Section bracket.
After losing three of their first five games this year, the Raiders found their stride and came into the tournament winning six of its last seven games in the regular season.
After the North Section Final victory over St. Mary’s Korte said he was not satisfied with getting to the State Semis again – he will be happy when the Raiders are State Champs.
Watertown lost three starters from last year’s squad, but returned two seniors– center John Korte and guard Julio Fulcar – who played a big part in last year’s tourney run.
Charlie Breitrose
Watertown senior guard Julio Fulcar has provided some big scoring in some games, and always is a key defensive player for the Raiders.
Joining Korte and Fulcar in the starting lineup were junior forward Yoseph Hamad – a defensive specialist who can also hit three pointers – and senior guard Wenston Rodriguez, who has some big offensive games in the tourney and has grabbed many rebounds.
One of the keys, however, was the addition of a freshman at point guard. Last year Fulcar had the ball-handling responsibilities, but this year Watertown Head Coach Steve Harrington gave the ball to freshman Gabe Spinelli.
“We figured out after a few games we are better of with (Fulcar) scoring, playing off the ball,” Harrington said.
Spinelli’s success at a young age should not come as a surprise because he has a basketball pedigree. His father Scott serves as an assistant coach for the Boston College basketball team, and the younger Spinelli said he follows the Eagles closely and looks up to BC guard Ky Bowman.
The Raiders have also gotten some key minutes off the bench from junior forward Henry Papadopoulos and senior forward Robert Danielian.
Looking back at the Raiders’ six loses, five came against tournament teams and some came against top teams in the Boston area. Bishop Stang was 19-1 in the regular season and fell to Burke in the Div. 3 South Semifinal, 69-64. Arlington was second seed in Div. 2 North, Belmont made it to the North Section semifinal in Div. 2, and Burlington and Melrose also played in the D2 North bracket.
The Run
If anything, the No. 7 seed inspired the Raiders. The team made T-shirts that say “#SLEEPER” for their first round game, and Watertown ripped Essex Tech 77-32. Rodriguez led Watertown with 19 points and Korte had 18.
The low seed meant Watertown had to travel to face the No. 2 seed, Lynnfield. Despite being on the road, the Raiders won by 20 points, with Fulcar scoring 32.
Pentucket posed little more resistance in the North Semi in Wakefield, which Watertown won 55-33. Korte scored a team-high 25 points.
Highly touted St. Mary’s, the North’s top seed, awaited the Raiders at Tsongas Arena in Lowell for the North Section Final. The teams battled for three quarters, but the Raiders pulled away for a 44-36 victory, led by Fulcar’s 19.
The State Semifinal was a matchup of teams with swarming defenses and like to shoot from behind the three-point arc. The game moved from the Garden to Burlington High School due to a snow storm. Burke came out firing on all cylinders in the first quarter and lead big early, but the Raiders fought back to trail by just one at the half. Watertown got a balanced attack in the second half. Hamad hit two big three pointers, Spinelli came to life in the fourth quarter and Fulcar made three late free throws to ice the 66-61 win. Three players finished the game in double figures led by Korte’s 28.
Saturday, the 2017-18 Watertown High School’s boys basketball team seeks to win the school’s the third state championship. The Raiders won the State Championship in 2007 and 2009, both under Harrington. The last time Watertown made the final was in 2011, when they team lost to Whitinsville Christian.
The Opponent
West Champ Easthampton (19-5) is appearing in its first ever State Final. The Eagles won a back and fourth affair with Sutton, 75-72, in the State Semi in Springfield on Wednesday.
Like Watertown, Easthampton has used a short bench in tournament play. In each of the last two games the Eagles used just six players.
The Eagles have a balanced scoring attack. Ant Moynihan has been Easthampton’s top scorer in the tournament, but in the State Semi Sopie Pek scored 24 in the State Semi, while Moynihan added 15 and Darnel Whitley added 14.
In the West Section final, an 81-74 win over Monument Mountain, Moynihan scored 27 points, Ronan Mottor added 19 and Whitley had 18. Moynihan added 24 in the team’s 85-52 West Semi win over Sabis, and had a team-high 17 against Southwick (a 71-57 win) in the West Quarterfinal.
Watertown’s Tourney Scores
See reports from Watertown’s previous State Tournament games (click on the score):
State Semifinal (at Burlington): Watertown 66, Burke 61
North Section Final (Tsongas Arena): Watertown 44, St. Mary’s 36
North Section Semifinal (at Wakefield): Watertown 55, Pentucket 33
North Section Quarterfinal (at Lynnfield): Watertown 62, Lynnfield 42
North Section First Round (at Watertown): Watertown 77, Essex Tech 32
Watertown Earns Trip to State Final with Comeback Win over Burke