WEYMOUTH — Braintree boys basketball is not the most experienced team, not by a long shot.
But suddenly, with under two minutes remaining in a tie game on the road against Weymouth, the Wamps — which only have one player with varsity experience — rose to the occasion.
Sophomore guard Mibsam Wiggins (14 points) ripped the ball free of a Wildcat, taking it coast-to-coast before getting sent to the free throw line. Wiggins split at the line, but senior forward Ethan Ellie put up a layup on the next possession to seal the comeback road win, 67-61.
“The one thing about this group is they compete,” Braintree coach David Wall said. “They’ve played a lot of basketball together. They just, they’re not varsity guys, quite yet… they showed flashes of it.”
The Wamps flashed when they needed to on Tuesday night, outscoring Weymouth by 13 points in the second half, much to the thanks of Ellie.
The defending Herget Division MVP is the lone returning member of last year’s team, and he put together another MVP performance, finishing with 24 points, 18 of those coming in the second half.
“He’s the dude,” Wall said. “He’s going to be the focal point of everything. And the fine line with him is he needs to look for his stuff, but he can’t rush and panic and force. What you see, that demeanor … everything he does is in his control. He’s just a good dude, and we’re gonna rely on him.”
Ellie understands the pressure that comes with being the leader of the Wamps, and although they’ve experienced some bumps in the road, the senior is starting to see it come together.
“It was awkward in the beginning, because everyone was trying to learn the pace,” Ellie said. “But throughout the season, like throughout the summer, they’re all getting it together. This is a pretty good team.”
While Braintree showed flashes of what it could become down the stretch, it was a different story in the first half.
The Wamps committed 14 first half turnovers, five of those being traveling violations. A sign of the game moving too fast for a young team.
Weymouth took advantage, jumping out to a 38-31 halftime lead. Sophomore guard Jack Ryan (17 points) set the tone early for the Wildcats, scoring 11 in the first quarter.
But during the break, Wall knew exactly what buttons he wanted to push with his young squad. He didn’t scream or chew someone out for a sloppy turnover. Instead he provided a solution, and it worked like a charm.
The Wamps came out of the break in a zone — mostly to protect their starters from foul trouble — and it caused chaos for the Wildcats offense. Braintree dominated the third, outsourcing Braintree by 10 and cutting the deficit to just two entering the fourth.
After a tough start to the game, Ellie — who only scored six points in the first half — finally got going, pouring in 11 points on the offensive end.
“I just know what I need to do during the crunch time,” Ellie said. “Knowing what spots (will) open up, you learn that throughout the game, and just learning it, towards the end, it comes simple for me.”
That young team who committed 14 first-half turnovers disappeared in the fourth quarter, in its place appeared a calm and poised team that executed down the stretch to stave off Weymouth.
“That’s huge, right, for a young team to understand and then not to just give back,” Wall said. “We held on to (the ball), we made them put us on the line.”
Although Wall still expects to find a lot to learn from the film, it’s better to learn with a win than with a loss.
“We’re building,” Wall said “We’re learning, learning how to win. Hopefully we learn from wins rather than losses.”
Braintree will be back in action to take on Needham on Thursday at 6:45 p.m. Weymouth will look to bounce back on Thursday when it travels to Milton for a 6:30 p.m. tip.
