The boys varsity basketball team is on a tear this season and dialing their sights in on the Cape and Islands League Championship after tacking two more victories onto their eight-game winning streak this past weekend.
The Vineyarders defeated the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School Dolphins on Friday, 57-47, and the Dover-Sherborn High School Raiders on Saturday, 58-36. Both games took place at the Vineyard’s Pachico Gymnasium.
With a record of 14-2, the boys basketball team is currently ranked 12th out of 79 Division 3 teams in the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) power rankings and is preparing for a post-season run with only two more league games on the regular season schedule. They need to win both in order to safely secure the Cape and Islands League title.
The Vineyarders are scheduled to play Sandwich on Tuesday at 5 pm in an away game and battle Falmouth on Friday at 6 pm in the Pachico Gymnasium.
“If we win them both, we win the league,” said Head Coach Mike Joyce after the game on Friday. ”We have two league losses, Falmouth has one, but we’ve beat them. They haven’t lost any others [games], so regardless of what they do, we’ve got to beat them next Friday.”
This past Friday at the Pachico Gymnasium, the Vineyarders opened the game against Dennis-Yarmouth with high energy, taking the lead early. Families, fans, and a student section adorned in their best ski costumes filled the gymnasium’s stands.
The Vineyarders held onto a 34-29 point lead at halftime. After some missed layups, and untimely fouls, Dennis-Yarmouth clawed back in the third. The score deficit was reduced to just one point at 43-42 going into the fourth quarter. In the fourth, the Vineyard’s defense stayed disciplined, and the offense came back to life, putting Dennis-Yarmouth away with a final score of 57-47.
Joyce said despite Dennis-Yarmouth playing a hard and physically tough game — a play style the Vineyard team has struggled with this season — the Vineyarders rose to the challenge.
“Sometimes that’s a problem because we don’t like to meet the physicality. I thought today we did a better job of that,” said Joyce. “Overall, I was pretty happy. They executed what we wanted to do in the game plan.”
On Friday after beating Dennis-Yarmouth, Joyce said if the Vineyarders want to make a strong postseason push, they need to be more consistent on offense.
“Defensively, we play so hard, we do what we want to do, we’re talking,” said Joyce. “But the problem is, we play offense at that same energy, with almost too much speed. We need to slow down on offense and kind of make the defense play us. Too many times we’re trying to go fast and get something, and we make silly turnovers.”
Joyce is hoping to have a large turnout at the game on Friday against Falmouth at the Island’s high school, where the fate of the league title will be decided.
In January, the Vineyard basketball team defeated Falmouth 55-36 and Sandwich 53-45.
“We also have to not overlook Sandwich because we’re playing in their place,” said Joyce.
Regardless of the postseason outcome, Joyce is proud of the team’s development.
“I’m really happy with the progress we’ve made, from the beginning until now, it’s pretty exciting,” he said.