RallyNorth.net

Sat, Dec 29, 2007 07:00 PM @ Gloucester

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Manchester Essex	12	15	18	24	69
Gloucester	24	10	20	10	64

Impressive fourth quarter leads Hornets to championship

Monday, December, 31 By Richard Slate
Staff writer

For three quarters, nothing seemed to go right for the Manchester Essex boys basketball team on Saturday at the Gloucester Holiday Tournament championship game.

Gloucester led 34-27 at the half after senior guard Brian Levie (game-high 19 points, four rebounds, three assists, three steals) hit a 3-pointer from beyond the half-court line. The Fishermen (1-5) lead increased to as much as 14 before the Hornets (3-3) offense clicked in in final quarter to take a hard-fought 69-64 win.

Manchester Essex freshman forward Joe Mussachia scored a team-high 17 points (including 13 in the fourth) and grabbed five rebounds, earning him tournament MVP honors.

"It was a close game but we were never out of it," said Manchester Essex head coach Bill Cahill. "We applied the pressure on defense, started running more and hit our shots. That was the difference, we got the momentum when we had to at the end."

Gloucester played great in the first quarter, outscoring Manchester Essex, 24-12. Seven different Gloucester players scored in the first quarter, a positive sign that quickly disappeared in the second half.

"Levie played well. He's always going to be our leading scorer," said Gloucester head coach Todd Simendinger. "We really go as he goes."

The Hornets held Gloucester to 10 points in the second quarter while scoring 15 of their own. Levie's unlikely shot at the buzzer seemed to give the Fishermen some momentum going into the break.

Both teams seemed to find some offensive rhythm in the third quarter. Manchester Essex junior guard Zeke Gillette (14 points) hit a pair of 3-pointers, while senior guard Marty Nally (16 points, four rebounds, three steals) added six points. Mussachia was held scoreless in the first half but he heated up in the third quarter, a precursor of his monster final frame. Gloucester junior forward Brian Chianciola (15 points, seven rebounds) had seven points in the third quarter while freshman center Chris Unis (eight points, eight rebounds) was a force on the glass.

Early in the fourth, a Gillette 3-pointer trimmed the Gloucester lead to six. That shot began an inspired 9-2 Hornets run. Manchester Essex completed its comeback when Nally hit a 3-pointer with 2:29 left, putting his team up two.

Fittingly, the biggest shot of the game was provided by Mussachia. With the game tied at 64 with 20 seconds left, he nailed his only three of the game. From there, Hornets senior forward Andrew Willwerth blocked Gloucester sophomore guard Chris Peritore's 3-point attempt and then Mussachia made two more free throws to ice it.

"He just stepped it up," said Cahill of his outstanding freshman. "He played like an upperclassmen even though he's a freshman. He's a good player."

"He kills you in the high post," said Simendinger. Manchester Essex thrived from the outside, hitting eight 3-pointers for the game. When the Hornets long-range game is on, they can play with anybody.

"It came down to the last two or three minutes: which team was going to be able to execute and make plays," said Simendinger. "A lot of credit to Manchester, they shot the ball well over the last three or four minutes. We missed some easy shots in the lane which really hurt us. In the first half, we were very unselfish. We passed the ball and got some good looks. In the second half we were taking bad shots in transition and guys started doing things outside of their game."

Earlier on Saturday night in the consolation game, Hamilton-Wenham topped Amesbury, 70-60.