BYFIELD — The Pentucket boys had their chances over the past few weeks.
Against both Lynnfield and Amesbury — on the road, no less — the Panthers had late leads that they just couldn’t close out. Something you would expect from a young team just trying to learn how to win. But as the season draws nearer to an end and the playoffs a longshot for the Panthers, you would like to see them finish a couple of games for momentum heading into next year.
Friday night, they took that positive next step.
Going on the road to face an inspired Triton team celebrating its Senior Night, Pentucket flipped the script of its past woes, erasing a late deficit to pull out a gritty 50-46 win. Junior point guard Michael Torrisi was immense with 21 points for the young Panthers, who continue to build positive habits heading into next year.
“It was awesome to get this one,” said first-year Pentucket coach Tim Kelly, his team now 4-13. “We’ve had a couple of games recently where we’ve lost a lead late, and we were just trying to learn how to win. But a game like tonight is a step in the right direction, especially with how many younger guys we have. It’s exciting stuff.”
And it took a lot of heart.
Trailing by as much as four in the fourth quarter, Pentucket made sure to feed Chase Dowling in the post. The sophomore finished the night with 11 points and 13 rebounds, dominating the glass and getting to the free throw line to get the run started. Junior guard Will Cacciapuoti (6 pts) hit his free throws along with a big pull-up, midrange jumper, and freshman Braylon Leonard (6 pts) converted a transition layup.
But it was mostly about Torrisi.
The junior flipped a switch after halftime, scoring 15 of his 21 points after the break. He constantly blew by his defender to get to the rim, nailed two 3s to ultimately give his Panthers the lead, and also acted as the team’s floor general in setting up the offense.
“He’s been our leader for the entire year,” said Kelly. “And I challenged him about 3-or-4 weeks ago, I said, ‘We need leaders on the court.’ We talked about what that would look like, and he stepped up huge tonight. He was under control the whole game. He’s just so poised, such a mature kid, and such a great teammate.”
Meanwhile for Triton (1-16), it was another good effort and near miss.
Trailing by six with just under 30 seconds left, Bryan Dos Santos (10 pts) came up with an offensive rebound and putback, followed by a steal. The Vikings had a couple of open chances from beyond the arc to get it back to a one-possession game, but the looks just wouldn’t fall.
Still, it was a memorable night for the program’s two seniors, Cam McDonald and Mateus Pinto. In particular, the highly-athletic Pinto was everywhere and did everything for the Vikings, finishing with a team-high 15 points to go along with an impressive 16 rebounds.
“I spent a lot of time in the gym with Mateus last year at 7 a.m. before an 8 a.m. practice, he had me running wind sprints with him,” laughed first-year Triton coach Danielle Perkins. “He’s just as good a kid off the court as he is on the court. I’m glad that he had a night for himself on Senior Night.”
It obviously hasn’t been the season that Triton wanted.
But you couldn’t tell from watching the team play, from the constant “defense” chants from the bench, to young athletes like sophomore Camden Moriarty and freshmen Jack Roy and Sebastian Garcia celebrating after a made 3-pointer. The Vikings have a young core with those three, along with Dos Santos and fellow juniors James Tanona, Noah Bernier and Caleb Murray.
“I demand a lot of them, and it’s hard for them to mentally hear that all of the time, especially when we haven’t been getting the outcomes we’re looking for,” said Perkins of her young athletes. “But they’ve really come a long way. We hold a standard, and that standard is we’re all going to go out there and give everything we have all the time.”
Pentucket 50, Triton 46
Pentucket (50): Quinn Vuylsteke 1-0-3, Gavin Jalbert 1-0-2, Michael Torrisi 8-3-21, Chase Dowling 4-3-11, Braylon Leonard 2-2-6, Will Cacciapuoti 1-4-6, Nate Stys 0-1-1. Totals 17-13-50
Triton (46): Noah Bernier 2-0-4, Caleb Murray 0-0-0, James Tanona 3-0-6, Cam McDonald 0-0-0, Mateus Pinto 5-5-15, Camden Moriarty 2-0-5, Bryan Dos Santos 4-2-10, Jack Roy 1-0-3, Sebastian Garcia 1-0-3. Totals 18-7-46
3-pointers: P — Torrisi 2, Vuylsteke; T — Moriarty, Roy, Garcia
Pentucket (4-13): 10 6 18 16 — 50
Triton (1-16): 2 15 19 10 — 46