In the battle of the NEC beasts, Masco (8-1) was able to best Beverly (6-5)  this past Tuesday, 72-60, giving them a two-game lead in the conference. 

This was a date circled on both team’s calendars since the beginning of the season and my heart goes out to those who weren’t able to make it or watch Beverly’s wonderful broadcast, as this game lived up to the hype. 

Both teams came prepared and hungry, as Masco hasn’t beaten Beverly since joining the NEC and the Panthers needed to avoid losing two conference games in a row. 

The lead was constantly changing in this game and just when you thought one team would have all the momentum, it’d immediately swing. Masco got up early in the first but Beverly ended up leading 19-17 after one quarter due to excellent play from superstar junior guard Jacob Klass. 

Klass is one of the most talented players Masco is going to have to face, and knowing that, the Chieftains made sure to throw everything at him. 

Luckily for the Chieftains, junior Cal Weidman decided to have the best night of his high school career, dropping 18 points (4 triples) and playing great defense on Klass. 

“Klass is a great player and very hard to guard. Ryan [Richardson], and I had the chance to guard him and both of us worked. He was hot in the first half and struggled in the second before leaving the game with an injury but he didn’t affect us as much as he could’ve due to great overall team defense,” said Weidman.

Weidman is a sniper, no matter how deep he is behind the line, earning him a second spot on the Chieftains in three-pointers made with 12. Weidman hit an awesome shot as time expired in the first quarter when he pulled up from the volleyball line and banked it home. 

“We hit shots tonight and that’s simply what we needed to do to win this game,” he said. 

Masco went on a nice run to end the half up seven with their heads held high but knew the job was nowhere near finished. 

After Beverly opened the third on a 10-1 run, Masco’s star junior captain and point guard was awakened and knew it was time to answer the call. Jimmy Farrell seemed to be unguardable, hitting pull-up and fadeaway middies until the clock hit zeros. His ferocious takes to the cup also helped get Masco in the bonus quickly and he scored 12 second-half points, finishing the game with 17. 

Farrell was quiet in half one, but showed why he’s been Masco’s best player and leading scorer when it really mattered most. 

“Beverly is a great team. They know how to come out and play aggressively. I figured out my way to the basket in the second half and things started clicking offensively,” said Farrell. “The energy was huge in this game and in the second half we did a nice job crashing the glass getting a huge team win.” 

Every single one of Masco’s starters was over double-digit points and each played nearly the whole game, but occasionally there were some nice fresh legs and aggression from senior big man Hunter Rossi and junior guard Ryan Richardson off the bench. 

Masco senior captain Devin O’Brien had a nice night where he kept Masco in the game with an 11-point second quarter and 13 for the game. 

Chieftain stretch-forward sophomore Thomas Denton is only improving in each and every game as he is one of Masco’s most efficient scorers and can truly score the ball from anywhere on the floor whether it be from deep, vicious attacks to the basket, or punishing the rim on two-handed jams. He also played one of his most aggressive games, grabbing seven boards and having two clutch four-quarter steals with one leading to another transition dunk with two guys trailing him. 

Klass’s late third-quarter injury definitely contributed to Masco’s scoring by double digits in the fourth, but it should not be used as an excuse to discredit this team’s phenomenal game.

“It was a total team effort tonight, that was a great team,” said head coach Jaycob Morales. “Their coach does a great job making sure his players are working hard, but I’m proud of my guys for coming into the game mentally and physically locked in and staying as a group, winning as a total team effort in every aspect of the game.” 

With the win, Masco now holds a comfortable lead in the NEC Dunn division. However, on Friday, it faces a conference foe who gave them a battle the last time these two faced off. The Gloucester Fishermen are no pushovers and will be hungry for a get-back Friday night at seven in the Masco gym.