After Dartmouth's basketball court named for Gaspar, boys team beats rival New Bedford
DARTMOUTH — It was a banner day for the Dartmouth High School basketball teams in a pair of Southeast Conference matchups against New Bedford played inside the Carlin Lynch Activity Center on Saturday.
Playing in front of a standing-room only crowd, the Dartmouth boys team beat the Whalers by a score of 67-62 to extend their winning streak to three games. They also emerged victorious in the first game played on the newly-named Steve Gaspar Court, which was dedicated to the school's long-time boys basketball coach, who retired in 2013, during a short ceremony after the girls game and before the start of the boys matchup.
Playing under the direction of first-year coach Brian Jalbert, who played for Gaspar, the Dartmouth girls team opened the day with a 58-52 win over the Whalers.
"It was a great day for Dartmouth High basketball," first-year boys coach Nick Simonetti said. "That was the biggest crowd I've seen here in a long time. It was great to see coach Gaspar recognized for the tremendous job he did here."
In the early going, both teams seemed to be caught up in the moment on the way to battling to a 13-13 tie after the first quarter.
"We were a little amped up by the crowd in the first half," Simonetti said. "It took us a little while to settle down and feel comfortable. We played hard and we did a good job limiting (New Bedford) in transition. It was a grind-it-out kind of game and we played with a lot of grit."
Junior center Hunter Matteson, who scored a game-high 30 points, said communication was a key for Dartmouth.
"We did a good job talking to each other and we played some good team defense," the 6-foot-5 Matteson said. "We talked about playing under control at halftime and we played well down the stretch to seal the win. We believe in each other and we're playing with a lot of confidence.
The Whalers answered with a 29-point effort from junior guard Damarius Roberts, who finished as the team's only double-digit scorer.
Both teams had their struggles at the free-throw line. Dartmouth ended up making 26 of 39 foul shots and New Bedford finished 14 for 31 at the line.
"Our free-throw shooting was the difference. We missed 12 free throws in our last game (a 69-60 conference win over Bridgewater-Raynham) so we have some more work to do at the foul line," New Bedford coach Matt Hill said. "We played hard, but we didn't execute at some key times in the game. We have to do a better job executing under pressure."
To their credit though, Dartmouth's players were able to hold off the Whalers by making six of their eight free throws in the final 1:36. Over that same span, the Whalers converted on three of six foul shots.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams battled to a 13-13 tie in the first quarter before the Whalers outscored Dartmouth 18-15 in the second to build a 31-28 halftime lead.
Matteson scored nine points in the third quarter to help give Dartmouth a 48-47 advantage heading into the final eight minutes of action. Dartmouth took a 51-47 lead on a three-pointer by senior guard Jake Chiquito and then went on a 8-5 run that extended its advantage to 59-52 with 4:12 left to play.
The Whalers pulled to within 63-60 with 56.5 seconds left, but Dartmouth took possession after a jump ball and they made four free throws the rest of the way to keep New Bedford at bay and ice the win.
WHAT IT MEANS: With the win, Dartmouth improved to 8-1 overall and 2-0 in the conference. ... New Bedford lost for the first time this season, dropping to 5-1 overall and evening their league record at 1-1. ... Dartmouth hosts conference-rival Durfee for a 6:30 p.m. matchup on Tuesday. ... New Bedford travels to Boston for a non-league game at O'Bryant on Wednesday.
TEAM STATS: New Bedford had 11 players score at least one point. ... Sophomore guard Dylan Gomes (11) and senior guard Aiden Smith (10) joined Matteson in double figures for Dartmouth. ... The Whalers committed 14 of their 20 turnovers in the first half. ... Dartmouth finished with 18 turnovers - 12 in the first half and six more after the halftime intermission.
NOTES: Ed Pereira and Mark Enwright, who were on hand to provide radio coverage of the game on Big 101.3, never got on the air because of technical issues involving the lack of a cellphone connection. The two are expected to return to the scene for another go at it on Tuesday when Dartmouth hosts league-rival Brockton for a 6:30 p.m. matchup.
DARTMOUTH 67, NEW BEDFORD 62
New Bedford
Damarius Roberts 12-3-29, Javion Lloyd 1-1-3, Dezmond Brunskill 1-2-5, Craig Baptista 2-1-5, Tyler Mills 1-0-3, Jerren Goodine 2-1-5, Joseph Anderson 0-1-1, Davon Shields 1-0-2, Jensen Farnworth 0-1-1, Anthony Diakite 2-0-4, Joseph Goodine 0-4-4. Totals: 22-14 -62
Dartmouth
Aiden Smith 2-7-11, Elijah Monteiro 1-1-3, Dylan Gomes 2-5-10, Jake Chiquito1-0-3, Adam Magawer 0-4-4, John Emile 3-0-6, Hunter Matteson 10-9-30. Totals: 19- 26-67
New Bedford 13 18 16 15 - 62
Dartmouth 13 15 20 19 - 67
Three-pointers: NB - Brunskill 1, Mills 1, Roberts 2; D - Monteiro 1, Chiquito 1, Matteson 1
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Dartmouth beats New Bedford in Southeast conference boys basketball
