Even though the boys’ basketball season is over, the seniors’ effort on their senior night couldn’t go unnoticed. 

  With playoffs on the line, their senior night game against Danvers was a key moment in their season, an indicator of whether or not Masco would continue playing basketball in March, or go home disappointed. The Chieftains rose to the task during this game and clinched a spot in the Division 2 MIAA state tournament.

  Both teams’ seniors shined in this game, but it was Masco’s seniors who really capitalized on their last home game in their high school career. Senior guards Joe Vella and Ryan Corcoran both had one of their best games of the year, thriving with the ball in their hands. 

  Corcoran has had success in his varsity career against the Falcons, dropping 15 points in his junior year game and 13 in his senior year game. Corcoran has been in the program all four years and is considered a great player, a great teammate, and a leader. 

  “My time here has been great. It has shown me a lot of determination and if I didn’t play basketball I’d be lost in the winter,” said Corcoran.

 Corcoran had his season-high of 13 points on the night and was able to score in many different ways.

 “I found a lot of success in the mid-range and also was able to get a bunch of layups,” said Corcoran.

  Even with it being Vella’s first season in the Masconomet Basketball program, he has made it home and created a lifelong connection with all of his teammates. 

  “We got a good group of guys here, and I’ve built relationships with all of them and they’ve just grown bigger over the season,” said Vella. 

  Vella also had one of his best games, logging 12 points and contributing in a magnitude of ways. 

  “We played hard…we played solid. I had a lot of cuts and crashed the offensive glass as well as just finding the open space to help me score,” he said. 

  The big third quarter surge could be credited to sophomore point guard Jimmy Farrell, who was controlling the game with his scoring and facilitating. Farrell had a nice game with 15 points and hit a huge three late in the fourth quarter for Masco. 

  “I think our ball movement was slow in the beginning, but it really picked up in the second half, and we just need to keep working on our fundamentals and keep knocking down the open shots that were there tonight,” said Farrell. “They ran a 2-3 [defensive zone] pretty much the entire game and I like to penetrate into seems, kick out, and my teammates were also penetrating and kicking out to me which led to some open threes. I also got on the offensive glass and had a few put-backs which was really working for us.” 

 The Chieftains battled through adversity this entire season, eventually winning the first round of the playoffs, beating Agawam, and getting their first state tournament win in nearly a decade. 

  This senior night win, though, sent the seniors off with an awesome farewell, and this Masconomet basketball season will definitely go down in the books.