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Sachems lose to Old Rochester in state semis at Garden

BOSTON — Set the defense and suffocate the opposition in the halfcourt.
Pentucket Regional rode that gritty personality on a sensational spin to the Division 3 North title.
The will to smother was again present here last night in the Eastern Mass. title game at TD Garden.
The opposition simply wasn’t cooperating.
In the end, Old Rochester Regional was simply too fast, running past Pentucket, 63-49, to end the Sachems’ season two wins shy of a state championship.
“We’re an athletic team, and we’re going to get out in the open floor and try to get the ball to our point guard,” said Old Rochester coach Steve Carvalho. “Athleticism, speed and some mental toughness got us home.”
Simply put, just when Pentucket was ready to pounce, the ball was up and gone. Freshman flash Noah Fernandes of Old Rochester feasted on the open floor, blazing up and down and setting a frenzied tone.
“They’re athletic, long, quick and got their hands on the ball, just players making plays,” said Sachems coach Ed Hickey. “In our playoff run, we shot the ball unbelievably, especially when we needed them. Tonight, it’s just wasn’t our night.”
The defeat covered up a Herculean effort out of Pentucket sophomore Patrick Freiermuth. The 6-foot-3 bruiser was all over the stat sheet, leading the Sachems with 18 points, 18 rebounds, three blocks and three assists.
About the only thing Freiermuth struggled with, like all his teammates (17 for 54 from the field) was his shooting. He was just 6 of 20.
The pace of the game clearly favored the South champs and it forced a slew of early, uncharacteristic, unforced errors out of Pentucket.
Down 12-2 after one quarter and 22-17 at the half, Pentucket hung around because of its defense.
Even into the fourth, they clawed and battled, slicing the margin down to six at 42-36 with six minutes to play.
Momentum was on their side, and the Sachems’ huge student section looked ready to erupt when Freiermuth leaped skyward on a steal attempt. But as he was soaring out of bounds near halfcourt, his desperation heave back into play found the wrong hands. A quick OR pass and bang, Ryan Beatty buried a three.
It could have been a four-point margin, instead it was nine, a hole that was simply too deep.
“They were fast, we didn’t get used to it as quick as we would have liked to,” said Freiermuth. “That hurt us. Our defense has kept us in a lot of games. We always thought we would get back in it.”
Added Hickey: “I thought we were going to make an exciting finish. We’ve had a lot of crazy comeback wins this year. I was hoping this could be one of them. Unfortunately, (Freiermuth) was trying to make a great effort. He just threw it to the wrong guy. We got caught out of position and they made a huge shot.
“It could have been four-point game, a two-possession game with a lot of time on the clock, and we were finally developing some confidence.”
Pentucket finishes out greatest boys hoop season in history at 17-6. Seniors Pat Beaton (7 points) and Brendan Sullivan (8 points) ended their careers on the Garden parquet by combining for 15 points.