The Norton High School boys
basketball team ended their great season and amazing tournament run with a loss
to Old Rochester Regional on Saturday March 7 at Taunton High School. The team
finished their season with an overall record of 16 wins and 8 losses. At the
halfway point of the season, the team's record was 6-4, their goal for the
second half of the season was to improve on that record and also get a post
season berth into the MIAA State Tournament.
The Lancers were led by senior captains
and fellow guards, Jason O’Neil and Bret Murphy. They were the lancers main
scoring punch from the 1 and 2 positions, O’Neil averaged 13.1 points per game
and Murphy averaged 14.9. The three other starters that filled the frontcourt
are Keenan Coffey, Brandon Jenkins and Paul Caramanica. Coffey averaged just
about 9 points per game, while Caramanica and Jenkins finished the season just
behind him. Caramanica and Jenkins filled the paint on defense and even though
they were undersized they got the job done. O’Neil, Murphy and Coffey did a
great job helping the big men rebound this season as they each had multiple 5
plus rebound games. The Lancer’s defense is what carried them to the state
tournament and helped them get wins during the regular season. Norton held
their opponents to under 37 points or fewer 5 times this season which is quite
impressing. The Lancers post season run was something that had not been done since 1989 in Norton. All five starters will be gone next year, along with 5 players that came off the bench. Next year, five returning varsity players will be relied on next year. The five players are Sam Baker, Brett Gauvin, Joe Collamore, Matt Petersen, and Tyler Troiano and they are they will continue the tradition of getting into the tournament.
