Belmont Defeats the Tanners

The Belmont Marauders defeated the Woburn Tanners in a balanced game in which they controlled the Tanners defensively throughout the game. The game was low-scoring and close until the half. In the third quarter, the Marauders played tenacious defense and fed the front court in a timely fashion. Goodwin and Paolillo finished most of the feeds to lead the Marauders in scoring.

Belmont has all the reasons to believe that this will be a winning season, especially if they continue displaying consistent defensive effort. The team seems to be well synced on that end of the court. The guards play on a defensive string, expanding and collapsing as needed, and the center line is solid with a good amount of bulk added to length. These centers can push anybody out of the paint; if they maintain their focus and keep boxing out, there will be no easy points for the opposing offense from down low.

On the offensive side of the court, Belmont again relies on the strong game of the front court (Paolillo and Goodwin) with occasional penetration by Andrew Musler. Musler is hard to categorize as a player, he may be one of the few point forwards in the league, but his contribution is bigger than the stat sheet may tell. He can break the other team through the middle and either score or open the game up for others… and he gets on the line which is valuable since he is a dependable free throw shooter. He extends his game to either guard or power forward with solid ball handling and rebounding. Even when percentage of his conversion is not high, as will occasionally happen, it is not a concern because there is always a positive side effect of throwing the opposing defense out of their formation.

Not everything is cozy on offense, though. The lack of outside shooting is a concern. The guards are reluctant to take shots when open 10-15 feet away from the hoop. So far, they haven’t been successful in a penetrate-and-dish-out or find-the-big-guy kind of game either. This leads to my other concern, which is play-making. In the game against the Tanners, Belmont relied on Musler far too often to handle the ball and make plays. Luckily, in this game, it didn’t turn out to be a critical weakness.

So far, the strengths outweighed the weakness. That’s why Belmont has a 1-1 record against two tough opponents from two away games.

From Around the Web

• It’s early, but so far so good, Mark Goodman and Michael Liuzza, Belmont Citizen-Herald

On Tuesday night, the Belmont High boys basketball team defeated Woburn, a team that has been picked by many to do great things this season. But the Marauders went into Woburn High School with confidence and came away with a huge victory.

• Belmont gets the better of boys hoop, Mark Goodman, Woburn Advocate

The Woburn High boys basketball team never really got on track Tuesday night in a 48-36 defeat at the hands of Belmont. The visiting Marauders were down at the half, 20-18, but put on a remarkable defensive display after that. Woburn scored just two points in the third quarter, by the end of which Belmont led, 33-22.

Here’s the slideshow of pictures taken during the game: