NEWTON — As the season enters the final stretch, Newton North is making its case as the team to beat in Division 1.
Led by senior captain Teagan Swint’s 18 points, No. 1 Newton North completed a season sweep of Bay State Conference foe Brookline with a 63-51 boys basketball win on Friday night at Newton North.
The other win against the Warriors came on Jan. 3 for the Tigers.
Newton North (16-1) remains undefeated in Massachusetts play, with its only loss coming at the hands of Albany (Calif.).
“We have two senior captains in Nicky Spinelli and Teagan Swint who have been through it all,” Newton North coach Paul Connolly said. “They were with us in the state finals when we lost as a freshman. Now as seniors they’re seasoned and leading us back.”
Courtesy of a tip-in at the buzzer by Alan Shi, Brookline had a 29-26 lead at the half. The Tigers, however, took control in the game’s decisive third quarter. A triple by Bryson Mercedes (10 points) gave the hosts a 34-31 lead. Then, later in the frame, Swint drilled a three-pointer of his own off a broken play to push Newton North’s lead to 38-34 midway through the frame.
In the fourth, the Tigers continued their push. Nicky Spinelli hit a three pointer and Swint cashed in five points to stretch the lead to 57-47. At the other end of the floor, Mercedes swarmed the 6-foot-10 Shi. All told the Tigers held Brookline to four points over the final five minutes to seal the win.
“We stepped our energy up defensively, started getting stops and using that to run in transition,” Swint said. “Our three sophomores Julian Zakak, Bryson Mercedes, and Jake Lyons all stepped up.”
On the heels of six points from Barry Golden, Brookline led 10-9 after one. In the second, Shi started to assert himself in the paint finishing four times around the basket. Mathios Stamm scored seven points, however, to keep Newton North within three going into the half.
Newton North still has a trio of difficult non-league contests on its schedule. A trip to BC High is scheduled for Feb. 13 before they take on North Andover and No. 10 Winchester in the IAABO Board 27 Tournament to finish the regular season.