Island families packed into the Martha’s Vineyard regional High School on Tuesday night for the Island middle school basketball championships, an annual and highly anticipated faceoff between the Island’s middle school teams.
This year, the West Tisbury Hawks secured titles in both the boys and girls divisions, both back-and-forth intense matchups.
The Boys championship between the Edgartown Eagles and the West Tisbury Hawks saw the Hawks come away with a 73-52 final score. Immediately after, the girls took the court where the Hawks secured another victory over the Oak Bluffs Blazers in a nailbiter that came down to three points, with a final score of 36-33.
“This atmosphere really lets their athleticism shine through,” said head coach of the West Tisbury Hawks boys team, Matt Debo. “It’s an Island wide event, for boys and girls and it doesn’t matter what school you’re representing, you see the stands packed and it feels like a varsity game. It’s really fun and exciting.”
“It also lets the kids see something a little different than just the middle school gym after school.”
With the stands indeed packed, during the boys game Edgartown relied on quick ball movements, and mid-range, high-percentage shots, but West Tisbury’s size and athleticism proved difficult to overcome. The Hawks were led by Moses Thomoson (No. 50), a tall 8th grader who has the rare skill to dunk.
The Eagles struggled offensively in the first quarter, scoring their first points of the night on a free throw with four minutes remaining in the quarter. The Hawks took an 18-8 lead into the second quarter.
West Tisbury continued building on their lead with Thomson draining a three-pointer to open the scoring in the second. The Hawks disciplined and sizable defense limited Edgartown’s clean shot opportunities.
At half time, the score ended 35-15 in favor of the Hawks.
Edgartown came out strong in the third quarter, scoring first and finding much needed momentum. Dylan Beeson (No. 23) was a spark for the Eagles, draining three consecutive corner threes from the right side of the court. But the Hawks responded, upping the intensity and maintaining their lead at 61-40 to end the third quarter.
As the final quarter rolled around, the Eagles fought for every rebound with a newfound urgency, but the deficit proved too great. The game ended 73-52 in favor of the Hawks, securing the championship and the corvette golden basketball trophy.
Head Coach Matt Debo of the West Tisbury Hawks said they had an experienced team with many travel basketball players.
“We were undefeated this year, which shows the overall strength of the team. We really are like 10 guys deep and it’s an anomaly in this league to have that many guys with so much skill.”
On the girls side of the double-header, the margin of victory was much thinner as the Hawks got some revenge from earlier in the season.
The first quarter was defined by strong defense from both teams and quick changes in possession. West Tisbury struck first with five remaining in the first quarter and the Oak Bluffs responded shortly after. The first quarter ended 13-7 in favor of the Hawks.
In the second quarter, the Blazers took the lead for the first time of the night, going up 18-16 with 1:39 remaining in the quarter, but right before the half-time buzzer, the Hawks grabbed the lead once more and the score was 21-20 going into the second half.
The third quarter brought back and forth changes to the lead. After trading baskets and leads throughout the third, the two teams went into the fourth quarter, knotted at 26.
West Tisbury pulled ahead 30-26 early in the fourth but Oak Bluffs responded with baskets of their own and Laney Light (No. 34) hit two key free throws to bring the deficit to one point with a score of 34-33. After a missed three pointer by the Blazers with 10.2 seconds left, West Tisbury’s Lulu Hall (No. 5) sank two free throws to increase the lead to three with 6.1 seconds left. Sealing the fate of the night, the Blazers were unable to get one last opportunity off before the buzzer.
Fans and families rushed the court to celebrate the hard-fought championships with their children, hoisting the second golden basketball trophy of the night.
Coach Ena Thulan said she thought her team did exactly what they needed to do.
“I think they played so great. Our rebounding and our free throws held us in the game,” she said. “Oak Bluffs is a tough team. The last time we played them, we got killed.”
“We have two sixth graders, Bella Rosa (no. 20) and Harper Cash (no. 13). Harper had a hell of a game with a bunch of steals and made some baskets in the final moments to get us ahead,” Thulan said.
She was also grateful to the fans that came out.
“Thank you to everyone, we love having the boys and girls play together. It makes the girls feel appreciated and they are such a great team. They play hard and they fight hard and they are just such a solid group of girls,” said Thulan.
