Newton North boys' basketball erases halftime deficit to beat Brookline and capture Bay State Conference crown
'I'm really happy for my guys,' said Newton North coach Paul Connolly. 'It's one of those things that we talk about. That's one of the goals in the beginning of the year.'
FINAL: Newton North 63, Brookline 51
Senior captain Teagan Swint led the No. 2 Tigers (16-1) with 16 points.
Newton North moves to 13-0 in Bay State Conference play. Brookline falls to 14-5, 10-2.
— Henry Dinh-Price (@henrydinhprice)
Less than two minutes into the second half, Newton North junior forward Bryson Mercedes drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Tigers their first lead, 34-31, since the opening quarter.
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'I was ready, just catch and shoot. Automatic. I'm wide open,' said Mercedes, who finished with 10 points.
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Viola (15 points) responded with a floater and a free throw to tie it back up, but Tigers surged for an 8-0 run and never looked back.
Senior captain Teagan Swint, a McDonald's All-American nominee, drilled his first outside shot. Junior Mathaois Stamm (12 points) capped the run with a wide-open layup created by a series of quick passes.
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In the opening half, the Tigers were content too often to watch Swint try to create with the ball in his hands. After the break, they were able to establish more ball and player movement, which led to five second-half 3-pointers.
'The second half, we got a little bit more movement away from the ball,' said Connolly. 'That really helped free some things up for [Swint] and then for others.'
Swint had 11 of his 16 points after halftime.
The Tigers also held Shi (10 points in the first half) to just 2, a thunderous putback slam, after halftime. Shi, who was primarily defended by Mercedes, fouled out with 2:27 to play.
'His defense was fantastic on the big kid,' Connolly said of Mercedes.
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Newton North grew its lead to as many as 14 to secure the league title.
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'You look at that banner up there, we've won a lot of league championships,' Connolly said, motioning to the Boys' Basketball banner hanging in the Newton North gymnasium.
'Those kids now, every time they come back, they know that they won the league championship.'
Henry Dinh-Price can be reached at
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