NEW BEDFORD – Greater New Bedford Voke snapped a two-game boys basketball skid on Friday night with a 55-42 victory against Dighton-Rehoboth thanks to strong defense and great ball movement.
The Bears (7-3) kept their lead the entire game, starting off when they scored four straight points at the start of the game. However, the Falcons (6-4) kept threatening as they had cut the leads of the Bears throughout different points of the game. The Bears were able to keep the Falcons at bay with a strong defensive fourth quarter.
“The thing I’ve been focusing on is trying to get us to stay the course. Other teams are going to make runs, things are not going to happen in your favor,” said Bears coach Robert Delaleu, “We turned the ball over four times in five possessions when we were up 14 at the time, and all of a sudden they went on an 8-0 run.”
In the first quarter, the Bears scored the first four points of the game, with Brayden Pires and Jayce James each getting a layup. Josh Reidy scored the first four points of the game for the Falcons. Near the end of the quarter, Falcons senior captain Kensley Macean knocked down a three from the right corner and cut Voke’s lead to 13-11 at the end of the opening quarter.
The Bears started the second on a 6-0 run, which included point guard Chris Rivera getting his first points of the game, as he made both free throws, and then Jackson Duclos finishing it with two points off an offensive rebound. The Falcons only scored seven in the quarter, in which Reidy scored five of those points.
Greater New Bedford started to pull away in the third, beginning with an 11-4 run. After a pair of technical free throws by Rivera, the Falcons scored eight consecutive points, which included back-to-back layups by Reidy. The Falcons ended the quarter on a 10-2 run as junior Maddex Mendoza scored the final points of the quarter.
The Bears never let up in the fourth quarter, especially near the end, where multiple turnovers by the Falcons’ offense led to points for Pires and James, and then put the Bears back in the win column.
Greater New Bedford spread the ball around as eight different players had at least three points in the contest, while the Falcons had just four players score.
Rivera and James each led with 11 for the Bears, with Pires not far behind with 10. Rivera, Jordan Correia, and Jacoby Yarro were responsible for three three-pointers on the night, and the team was 10-for-12 from the line.
The senior duo of Reidy and Macean led the Falcons, with 17 and 12, respectively. Cole Vivieros had nine, and Mendoza had six. Macean had two, and Vivieros had one each from beyond the arc, and the Falcons were 9/11 from the free-throw line.
