Duxbury's dancing: Jones' 3-point barrage locks in Dragons' first tourney berth since 2015
DUXBURY – After hoisting – and hitting – one long-distance shot after another, Trevor Jones didn't emote. He hardly even cracked a smile.
Head down, he simply hustled back on defense.
“I was just trying to win," the Duxbury High sophomore marksman said.
But as his teammate Tate Feidler stepped to the free-throw line in the closing seconds of a 51-47 win over Falmouth on Friday, Jones stood beside junior forward Alex Barlow at mid-court and couldn't help but share a smirk. Then a laugh.
It was official. In its final regular-season game, the Duxbury High boys basketball team (10-10) clinched its 10th win to qualify for the Division 2 state tournament for the first time since 2015.
“We were just talking about how fun that was," said Jones, who tallied a game-high 23 points (and seven 3-pointers) in the win.
Duxbury was the No. 35 team in the MIAA's latest update of the Division 2 power rankings entering play Friday night. Because the top 32 (plus teams with a .500 record or better) qualify for the tournament, a loss to Falmouth, the No. 66 team, would've bumped the Dragons out of contention for a seed.
It truly was a 'win and get in' – or sit the postseason out – scenario, as Duxbury built itself back up after a 3-15 campaign this time last year.
More:T.J. Byrne says switch to Hingham High football is about coaching 'where your heart is'
“We were 3-6 in the middle of January," head coach Gordon Cushing noted, as the team then proceeded to win five consecutive games from Jan. 17 and Jan. 30. "I said to the guys, if we could have nine wins the last game of the year, would we take it? The answer is yes. We thought we could win a couple more, but we weren’t fortunate enough.”
After the Dragons struggled through a woeful 1-for-11 3-point shooting stretch throughout a gritty, low-scoring first half, Jones ignited in the third quarter He knocked down five 3-pointers in the frame to not only snap the Falmouth zone, but also provide his team an eight-point (39-31) lead entering the fourth quarter.
“Trevor Jones got hot. I don’t even know how many (3-pointers he had),” Cushing said. “He started feeling it. Against the zone, you’ve gotta hit some shots and 1-for-11 isn’t getting it done. We said we couldn’t shoot any worse – we didn’t think – at halftime. We shot better (after).”
The past two seasons have been quite the booming start to Jones' career. The sophomore is the team's leading scorer at 16 points per game, and he debuted as a full-time starter in the backcourt, and the second-leading scorer (11 points per), on last year's team, his freshman season.
“He’s lights out, man,” Fiedler, a senior guard who finished with 9 points, raved of Jones. “When he hits one, he will hit five more. As you just saw, the kid just shoots from everywhere. So confident. Stoke is perfect. Great shooter. Overall, great player.”
Jones netted his only two-point bucket in the first three seconds as senior center Andrew Curley (7 points) slapped the opening tip-off forward, ahead of the Falmouth defense, and Jones cruised in for two.
Jones then drilled a 3-pointer from the left corner as Duxbury evened the score for the first time, 22-22, with 6:15 to play in the third quarter. Subsequent layups from Curley and Barlow (4 points) sealed a Duxbury 7-0 run in the opening minutes of the second half.
More:HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP: Brockton's Christensen Paul wins Division 1 title
“Coach gave us a speech about how we’ve been grinding since November," Jones said. "We’ve put in so much work just to give up all four quarters."
Fiedler then stepped up down the stretch, canning a pull-up midrange jumper from the right corner to give Duxbury a 46-44 edge with 2:15 to go. He hit 5-of-6 free throws at the end to finalize the win.
“(Jones) – and Tate, too – had ice water in his veins, hitting our free throws which we haven’t been shooting well all season," Cushing said. "We were in the mid-50s (percent) for the season, but we’ve been working at it hard in practice.”
“The kids were resilient," added Cushing. "We’re ecstatic to be in the tournament. It’s good – we’ll take it.”
Eight years ago, the last time Duxbury qualified for the tournament, the Dragons finished the regular season with a 12-8 record to earn the No. 13 seed. After a 61-60 upset win over No. 4 Dartmouth in the first round, the Dragons were ousted by No. 5 Bishop Feehan, the eventual champion, in the quarterfinals by a 62-57 final.
Said Fiedler, “My brother (Jake, a 2019 graduate) went through the program. He never got to make it. I got to watch Coach Cushing all my life, I’ve been around his program. It’s just great, getting into the tournament for the first time with a great group of guys.”
“It means the world,” agreed Jones, who also plays football. “We won the Super Bowl (in December, a 42-7 win over No. 2 Grafton to complete a perfect season), but this is pretty nice.”
“We’ve had a lot of hard luck with injuries over the last few years," Cushing said, acknowledging Curley missed last season due to a broken foot. "But that’s all in the past. Now it’s time to have some fun in the tournament.”
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Trevor Jones ignites the tourney dream for Duxbury High boys hoops
