The Norton high school 2015 boys freshman basketball team went an outstanding 13-5 which happened to be better than the junior varsity team and the varsity team. Their record happened to be tested against a good defensive team in the Hopkinton Hillers on February 14th, 2015 which happened to be valentines day. The boys were looking to bring home a win for their moms and for their town to end a nice first half of the season.  The boys were down early at the end of the first half by thirteen and it looked like their night wasn't going to end good.

     Initially, Rylie Coffey one of their freshman stars was in foul trouble early and was frustrated which was a big blow in the first half to their team. He was the second leading scorer on the team behind Tim Munger who only had six first half points along with Rylie Coffey who also had six. The boys had a terrible first half in general missing layups, throwing away passes , and doing a one pass shot game which all together equaled them not playing team basketball. " Terrible defense, very sloppy" says Mr Weber a spectator in the crowd who was describing the Lancers defense. The Hillers had the lead in the first half, Norton fought their way back into the game even though they were trailing, " We never gave up, we fought back but Hopkinton always answered back."says Tim Munger a player of the freshman team.

  Unfortunately the Hillers struck back making a statement that they were the better team in the first half. There was only so much coach Valenti could do , she even let her assistant coach , Coach Coffey coach and she ended up taking it back over because the team ended up doing worse. The boys had to come up with a plan to come back from this thirteen point deficit.

    As the Lancers were walking back to the locker room and everyone showed signs of frustration and anger and defeat and fatigue. The locker room was silent for few minutes and everyone had a look of starstruck on their face. The boys expected to come into Hopkinton expecting a victory not knowing that Hopkinton is the hardest place in the TVL to win a basketball game. It has been for years on end because of their tough crowd, lock down defense, and full court pressure. Its something only a few teams can handle.

The boys had no idea what they were walking into and it surprised them and left them at half time thinking about a game plan about how to come back from this thirteen point deficit, this made them argue at each other and even played the blame game. " Rylie was the anchor in the locker room. He got us fired up and ready to give it full force." said Joe Weber also a member of the freshman team. The bottom line was they needed to find an outlet or plan if you will so they could come back and show that The Lancers were the better team.


     The buzzer rang indicating that the second half was starting. Norton came out fired up like they were given a new chance , like the first half never happened. They came out in a full court press and started making the Hillers cough up the ball giving the lancer boys a quick and easy eight points off four quick turnovers. The Hillers continued to turnover the ball thanks to Joseph Weber and Tim Munger on the defensive end who created those turnovers. After they got many turnovers the lancers half court game stated flowing well. Matt Goodman scored 6 strait clutch points putting the Lancers up by 5. Then the Hillers started to go back on run at the end of the third bringing the Lancers lead to just two. Raising the question again about which time has more fight and will to come out victorious and ultimately to be the better team.


     As the fourth quarter began the Norton Lancers started out strong. Freshman Rylie Coffey came up big for his team. His passing spread the floor which allowed them to run their offense. Rylie scored 14 points in the second half doing most of the work on the offensive end and creating turnovers on the defensive side. Rylie led the offense and fed the ball to Tim Munger who had 6 big points in the fourth both coming off three's and to Joseph Weber who had four big points off two contested layups.


  The Hillers didn't just roll over without putting up a fight. The Hillers went on a run with two minutes left in the game while down by 9. They hit one 3- pointer and got two buckets off of turnovers. The Lancers again were on the spot on whether or not they would come through with the victory. Freshman Cam Gill got two big offensive rebounds that he put back for 4 clutch points. But then the brought it within two again but started fouling Tim Munger and Rylie Coffey who both hit all their free throws to put the Lancers up by 9 to put the game away. Norton over came a thirteen point deficit at half time to beat the Hopkinton Hillers in the toughest gym to win in the TVL.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMRxobeNoG4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1n78PTDh9g