SOUTH HAMILTON — The Hamilton-Wenham and Rockport boys hoop teams connected on the exact same number of shots in Thursday’s night’s Cape Ann League clash.
In a nip and tuck game throughout, it all came down to free throws, and a few clutch ones from Caden Schrock in crunch time ultimately made the difference.
Forced to play the foul game late, Rockport sent Schrock to the charity stripe three times in the final minutes and the senior captain delivered by going 4-for-6 and allowing his Generals to walk away with a hard-earned 54-52 victory.
“Schrock hit his free throws which they definitely needed because we very well could’ve snuck right in there and stole it,” said Rockport head coach Phil Whitley, his team finishing the regular season at 7-13.
While Schrock’s clutch freebies certainly stood out, the Generals wouldn’t have even been in position to win without the play from junior guard Charlie Byers down the stretch.
On a night where neither team could really separate itself in the second half, Byers took it upon himself to put the ball in the basket when it mattered most. He hit a huge wing 3-pointer to stretch a one-point lead to four, and then swished a textbook floater in the lane for a six-point edge on the very next possession.
Rockport didn’t go away, as Josiah Whitley (game-high 22 points, 4 rebounds) pulled up and drilled one of his five threes on the game to cut the deficit in half with 22 seconds remaining, but Schrock’s free throws officially sealed the deal after that. Rockport’s Pat Reardon would hit yet another triple for his team in the final seconds, but the clock ran out and that was all she wrote.
“Charlie was awesome,” said H-W coach Nick DiMarino. “My one thing with Charlie is he’s not aggressive enough, so it was awesome to see him finally be a little aggressive and it paid off for him.”
Byers finished with eight points, five rebounds and a steal in the win, and his late game heroics put the stamp on a well balanced team effort overall for Hamilton.
In total, eight different players found the scoresheet, with Schrock leading the way with 10 (to go with 8 rebounds, 7 assists, a steal and 2 blocks). Ben Filipov added nine points while AB Labell and Alex Menegoni chipped in eight.
Both teams displayed hard nosed, team defense throughout, with Rockport making it difficult on the hosts thanks to a dedicated zone look. It went down as an L in the win/loss column, but coach Whitley feels his team could take a lot from the performance, especially with the Division 5 state tournament on the horizon.
“I thought our zone rotations were just awesome tonight,” said Whitley, whose team held a slight 26-25 advantage at halftime. “We really got them out of their rhythm.
“Kudos to them,” added Whitley. “They made plays when they needed to. But to walk in here in their gym, which is a really tough place to play, and to do what we did and lose by two, I’ll take it. I felt we really took a good step forward as a team so I’m pleased with it regardless of the result.”
Rockport started slow, falling behind 10-2 early, but swiftly rallied back in a low-scoring first quarter thanks to an 11-2 run. It remained a one or two possession game throughout from there, with Whitley keeping his team in it with his sharpshooting from beyond the arc.
Chase Wheat (18 points, 6 rebounds) also did a great job weaving his way through traffic and getting to the rim, showing a nice touch with his floater as well. And Pat Reardon (game-high 11 rebounds) did a great job cleaning up the glass alongside big man Elliott Lyman (2 blocks).
On the other side, Hamilton played unselfish and stuck to the game plan as far as breaking Rockport’s zone. They had success at times, generating a number of good looks in the first half that simply wouldn’t fall.
But over the final two frames, they had more luck scoring the ball by forcing it into the middle of the zone — primarily to Schrock — and letting the do-it-all senior find the open teammate. Whether it was a kick-out for a three (Hamilton hit six triples on the evening), or a timely look to a cutter baseline, Schrock seemed to make the right play.
Now it’s on to the annual Patton Tournament for the Generals, who will open things up against Revere on Monday as part of a two-game event before the playoffs.
“We still have a few things to work on, but if we execute how we did tonight I think we’ll be fine,” said DiMarino. “It’s just an off shooting night for us but I do like the level of intensity we played with, especially because we had zero (intensity) on Monday and Tuesday. So it was good to see that back tonight.”
Hamilton-Wenham 54, Rockport 52
at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School
Rockport (7-13) 8 18 9 17 52
Hamilton-Wen. (13-5) 10 15 12 15 54
Individual statistics Rockport — Josiah Whitley 8-1-22, Chase Wheat 7-4-18, Flynn Blanchard 1-1-3, Elliott Lyman 1-0-2, Pat Reardon 3-0-7. Totals: 20-6-52.
Hamilton-Wenham — Alex Menegoni 2-2-8, Charlie Byers 3-1-8, Luke Molitano 2-0-5, Ben Filipov 4-1-9, Cole Scanlon 1-0-2, Caden Schrock 3-4-10, AB Labell 3-0-8, Liam O’Bannon 2-0-4. Totals: 20-8-54.
Halftime: 26-25, Rockport
3-Pointers: HW — Menegoni 2, Byers, Molitano, Labell 2; R — Whitley 5, Reardon.
Sports Editor Nick Giannino may be contacted at 978-675-2712 or ngiannino@northofboston.com.