Their dreams of a perfect regular season may have vanished with last night’s hard-fought 74-66 loss to Brighton in the semnifinals of the Comcast Classic at Babson College, but the Danvers High Basketball Falcons have a great deal to play for in this afternoon’s consolation game against former Division 1 state champion Newton North. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:30.
After playing late into last night because of the storm delay (there were three games played before theirs), the 18-1 Falcons could do a lot for their mental outlook heading into the defense of their Division 3 state championship with a victory; not an easy task less than 24 hours after suffering their first loss of the season.
But as coach John Walsh has reitereated, most important, these two games against higher division opponents should serve as an excellent preparation for the state tournament, which in Danvers’ case may not start up for another seven to 10 days, depending on how the Division 3 North bracket breaks down. Onew good thing: that first tourney game should be in the friendly confines of the DHS fieldhouse.
Leading Brighton 35-28 at halftime last night is a definite positive to reflect upon, but a sluggish second half, in which the Falcons had a poor rebounding effort, according to Walsh, is an area he hopes his players improve upon against Newton North.
No matter what happens today, the Falcons will close out their regular season with the best record in Danvers High basketball annals, a nice feather for their caps as they gear up for a run at a second straight Division 3 state title. These two games should make them tournament tough. They will enter the tournament favored to capture another title.