Boys hoopsters fall to the Wildcats 64-43

High energy on senior day not enough to top Weston

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The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School boys basketball team hosted the Weston High School Wildcats for their last home game and Senior Day. The Vineyarders fell 64-43 to Weston (7-12), making the MVRHS record 2-17.

MVRHS had a full crowd cheering them on Saturday on their home court, and both the team and the fans kept up their energy through to the final buzzer.

Before the game, they honored the sole senior on the team, John Morris, for Senior Day. “John has been great,” Coach Mike Joyce said after the game. “He’s been such a great leader for the rest of the kids and [he has] set an example for how hard he plays.” Morris plays basketball, football and lacrosse for MVRHS, so Coach Joyce said it would have been easy for Morris to have taken the easy road and not played for the young team this year. “He sticks to his commitments.”

The Vineyarders held the deficit to within ten points during the first half, but double digit turnovers forced them into a catch up style play.

Wildcat Junior Ooga went down with an ankle injury after scoring two, and didn’t return to the game. The injury, that didn’t lead to any penalties, lead to the Weston coach and referees arguing on the sidelines.

The score was 37-27 at the half, and Coach Joyce was frustrated with the team’s offense and the amount of turnovers. “Defensively we’re playing well though,” Joyce said.

The Vineyarders let the score slip to a wider margin in the second half, and instead of keeping it within ten, it hovered around twenty. The crowd’s energy continued though, and the team exuded a relentless spirit until the end.

With 40 seconds left in the game, Matt Morris knocked heads with a Wildcat, and went down with a head injury. Morris ended the game on the sideline.

The Vineyarders leading scorers were Jared Regan with ten points, Matt Morris with eight points, and Sam Wallace with seven points. Freshman Rammon Dos Santos had six points, and senior John Morris had five points.  

Noah Cate lead Weston with 22 points, and Will Von Houten had 13.

After the game, Coach Joyce said bad execution and turnovers lead to the loss, and after playing so well the past three of four games, which was a big step forward with the young team, he said they didn’t play with focus. “At the beginning of the year they were very hesitant a lot of the time, partly because they’re young… and I feel we went back to that point today,” Coach Joyce said.

The young team is rebuilding, and will continue to learn and grow in the next couple games away in the Apponequet tournament on Feb. 19 and Feb. 21.