BRIDGEWATER — Elijah Baptiste’s career-high 30 points may have been more than enough, but it was his defensive effort that shut down Bridgewater-Raynham’s most prolific scorer last night when it counted the most.
Elijah Baptiste scored a career-high 30 points in double-overtime last night to lead Barnstable over OCL-rival Bridgewater-Raynham.
Sean Walsh/capecod.com sports
In a nailbiting, double-overtime thriller on the road last night, Baptiste led the Barnstable Red Raiders to an 85-79 Old Colony League victory that will not soon be forgotten.
But he was not alone.
Granted, Baptiste held B-R top dog Tirell Williams (23 points in regulation) to zero points in both overtime sessions, but it was Keyshawn Eddy and point guard Nathan Balthazard who provided the added last-minute heroics to push the Red Raiders over the edge to win.
Here’s the breakdown:
Down 67-65 in regulation, Barnstable had an inbounds opportunity with 0:16 seconds to go. According to Barnstable head coach Chuck Kipnes, the plan was to have Baptiste run a curl pattern underneath on the weak side. The plan worked, Balthazard fed him the ball and Baptiste turned and took a sky-high “J” that went in and popped out. Following his own shot, Eddy snared the loose rebound and put it back in the bucket to tie the game at 67-67 and send it into overtime.
To open the extra frame, Baptiste came down court flying and buried a baseline corner three-pointer to make it 70-67, but B-R returned the favor to even it back again at 70-70. Barnstable’s Tavian Miranda then took a turn, putting back an offensive board and taking the foul. He perfected the three-point play on the charity stripe. Sophomore phenom Will O’Day stuck a 10-foot jumper and then down 76-75 with just seconds remaining in overtime, enter Balthazard.
Balthazard went for the downtown three-pointer for the win, but in the process was hacked, giving him three chances to seal up the victory on the line. He nailed the first free throw to make it 76-76 and then hit the second only to end up being the cause of much controversy. The referee whistled to disallow the basket because, Kipnes explained, “he said that Doen Bell’s foot went over the line and was a violation even though Nate had one more shot to go. Balthazard’s third free throw missed its target and the score remained 76-76 and headed into a second overtime period.
Barnstable’s Deon Bell (21), Nate Balthazard (1) and Will O’Day played critical roles in last night’s double-overtime win over B-R on the road.
Sean Walsh/capecod.com sports
In that second overtime period, Eddy scored half of his evening’s output (14 points on the night) to give the Red Raiders the final push they needed to win. Eddy’s seven second-overtime points included a long-range three-pointer and a 4-4 performance on the line.
“We got a much-needed victory with the entire season on the line,” Kipnes said, hearkening back to the heartbreak of last Friday’s 36-35 loss at home to archrival Falmouth. “We managed to pull it off.”
Kipnes said that the coaching staff noticed something effective in the full-court press Barnstable implemented last week for Falmouth and adjusted that press in what he called “an amoeba press” last night against host B-R.
“It definitely disrupted their offensive flow,” Kipnes said. “It gave them less time to run their offense.”
It also allowed Barnstable to set up its leading scorer, Baptiste, for an uncanny six three-pointers that all laced the twine. Balthazard was also a beneficiary of the disruption in B-R’s “flow.” The junior captain netted a season-high 14 points. Flying under the radar of late, however, was senior Deon Bell. Bell turned in an 11-point, 12 rebound performance and it very well could have been a game-changing effort.
“He’s been struggling lately, trying to find himself,” Kipnes said. “Deon did all the dirty work tonight.”
Bridgewater-Raynham’s Marcos Santos-Silva added 23 points for the Trojans in the losing effort.
Barnstable goes on a six-game homestand starting Friday (Jan. 16), and beginning with Old Colony League rival Dartmouth.
“This was a must win, a back-against-the-wall win,” Kipnes said. “Baptiste was hot. He was strong. He had some nice driving baskets. And our next game could be season-changing. Dartmouth is playing some really good ball right now.”
— Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm
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