Martha’s Vineyard punched a ticket to the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) State Division 3 basketball tournament with a 78-60 win over the Dennis-Yarmouth Dolphins, Tuesday at the Sancy Pachico gym in Oak Bluffs.
Nick Bond rang up 33 points and Ricardo Andrade added 25 more for the Vineyarders, who improved to 10-2 with eight games left in the regular season.
The final score aside, the Dolphins made the Vineyarders work hard to clinch their playoff berth.
D-Y’s big man, forward Dillon Grant, was a handful and led the Dolphins with 16 points. Travis Coppinger chipped in 15.
“The big kid definitely gave us trouble,” said Coach Mike Joyce after the win. “He’s good, and they got the ball to him. We made a little adjustment to keep the ball out of the high post in the second half, and that made a big difference.”
The Dolphins held MV in check for a good part of the first quarter, thanks to a stingy defense that shut the door inside. The Vineyarders compensated by scoring from the outside. Nick Bond sank one trey and Ricardo Andrade added two more as MV led 18-13 after one.
“They ran a nice match-up zone and gave us trouble for awhile, and we tried to find how to attack it,” Coach Joyce said.
The Vineyarders slowed down the pace a bit in quarter two, passing the ball around the perimeter to find open looks. Nick Bond had 10 of the 12 Vineyard points as the hosts built a 10-point lead. Dennis-Yarmouth continued to fight back, and closed the gap to 30-24 by halftime.
Dillon Grant and Joey Tierney combined for 12 points and Mike Julien added two treys in the third period to keep the Dolphins in the game, but once the Vineyarders shut down the high post, they were able to pull away and seal the win.
Jordan Tate got on the Vineyard scoresheet with a pair of three-pointers, Dylan Araujo and Mike Power notched five points apiece, and Dylan Dyke had four.
With a playoff berth clinched, the Vineyard focus shifts to winning back the Eastern Athletic Conference (EAC) title lost last year to Bishop Feehan. MV is 4-0 in the EAC with four league games remaining, including a big tussle on Friday in Taunton versus Coyle and Cassidy.
The Vineyarders next play on the home floor at the Sancy Jan. 31, at 4:30 pm against EAC rival Bishop Stang.