It ain’t over until it’s over.
That cliché yet accurate sentiment rang true multiple times down the stretch of Monday night’s BankGloucester Holiday hoops tournament clash between Danvers and the host Fishermen.
With just six minutes to play, Gloucester held a double-digit advantage and appeared to be well on its way to a marquee early season victory. But the Falcons completely flipped the script to regain a multiple possession lead of their own, and although GHS clawed back to within two in the final minute, the visitors were able to hold on for a thrilling 72-70 victory.
“I think we just had to stay composed,” said Danvers’ head coach Jabari Clarke, his team now 3-2 after their third straight win.
“I felt like we played no defense the first three quarters to be honest; we were allowing a lot of easy passing lanes. We’re a team that should be scraping or denying passing lanes and so once we started doing that and doing what we actually do, that’s when it came together.”
Monday’s matchup was about as unpredictable a game as they come. Both sides looked great in spurts, but completely out of rhythm at other times.
Early on it was Danvers that set the tone. The Falcons erupted for 25 first quarter points — including a buzzer-beating fadeaway jumper from Luca Tirella (19 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists) — to build a seven-point lead after eight minutes.
But Gloucester found its groove in the second and third frames, tightening up its defense and generating some easy buckets in transition.
Fishermen freshman Kyle Ewans scored nine of his 12 points in the first three quarters while Cole Mosley-Wynn (18 points) got downhill and knocked down some outside shots as well to help spark runs. Sophomore Joe Gauvain added two of his game-high five made threes in the third, helping Gloucester turn a double-digit second-quarter deficit into a one-point lead at the break (37-36) and a 59-50 advantage after three.
“It kind of reminded me of the Swampscott game a little bit where we got ourselves in a hole in the first half and we crawled back, started making some shots, and carried some momentum into the locker room,” said GHS coach Adam Philpott. “And then the third quarter we continued that, had the hot hand, but then they put some pressure on us and that’s kind of been our Achilles heel.”
Pressure they did.
After an inconsistent effort defensively for the better part of three frames, the Falcons committed to a full court press in crunch time and immediately reaped the benefits. Thanks in large part to that uptick defensively, they ripped off 17 unanswered points to turn a 61-51 deficit into a 68-61 lead. At one point, Gloucester turned it over on four straight possessions.
Danvers got key shots from Kyle Sillars (19 points, 6 assists), Anthony Gaudino (14 points, 5 rebounds) and sophomore Matt McCrea during the decisive spree, the latter of whom hit the go-ahead triple with 2:39 left.
“When teams start to pressure us like that the ball gets thrown around all over the place and then we’re taking bad shots off of that,” admitted Philpott. “I think it just stems from our practice habits; we gotta start bringing a little more energy and physicality to what we do in practice because we’re not simulating what we’re starting to see in games. And a lot of that falls on me as a coach, too.”
Gloucester didn’t quit, regaining some composure, breaking the press and making things interesting over the final minute. Ewans hit a pair of free throws to cut it to six with 23 seconds left; Gauvain then splashed a contested triple to make it a 70-67 game with 15 seconds to go, and after a pair of Danvers free throws, Gauvain was fouled on another trifecta and canned all three freebies to cut it back to two.
But the Fishermen ultimately ran out of time.
Philpott praised the play of Gauvain in the setback — “that was the most comfortable I’ve seen him look in the first four games of the season,” said Philpott — while Clarke was pleased with the efforts from Tirella, Sillars and McCrea.
Only a sophomore, McCrea finished with just five points, but all five of those came in the fourth quarter at key times.
“We weren’t really looking at him until the year started, but he showed up in the offseason and in tryouts and now he’s a huge contributor in games,” said Clarke.
Danvers will play Salem Academy on Tuesday (6 p.m.) to wrap up the tournament while Gloucester plays the same opponent on New Year’s Eve at 12:30.
Danvers 72, Gloucester 70
at Gloucester High School
Danvers;25;11;14;22;72
Gloucester;18;19;22;11;70
Individual statistics
Danvers — Luca Tirella 7-5-19, Kyle Sillars 6-3-18, Connor DiTomaso 4-4-15, Anthony Guadino 5-1-13, Matt McCrea 2-0-5, Randall Martin 1-0-2. Totals: 25-13-72.
Gloucester — Cole Mosely-Wynn 6-4-18, Joe Gauvain 5-3-18, Kyle Ewans 4-4-12, Elijah Brooks 3-2-8, Carlos Velazquez 2-2-6, Cam Olsen 1-0-3, Jude Szuter 1-1-3, Thomas Cribbs 1-0-2. Totals: 23-16-70.
Halftime: 37-36, Gloucester
3-Pointers: D, DiTomaso 3, Sillars 3, Gaudino 2, McCrea; G, Gauvain 5, Mosely-Wynn 2, Olsen
Records: D, 3-2; G, 1-3.