Sharon Too Much For Foxborough Boys Basketball

It only took a few things for the Sharon High boys' basketball team to get past the Foxborough Warriors. Among them were speed, threes, and free throws.

In their first league game at home, the Warriors fell to the Eagles 71-48.

Even with the Warriors trying to run a full court press against Sharon, it was the Eagles who found ways to beat it for easy buckets.

“It's good team speed. Even the forwards have good speed which can cause a lot of problems,” Sharon head coach Bruce Jackman said.

There were signs of trouble early on for Foxborough when Sharon was able to start the game with an 11-3 run that saw the Eagles outrun the Warriors and beat them on the boards. 

A couple of three pointers by Tim O’Halloran got the Warriors closer early in the second period, but the Eagles had no problem responding.

Nailing six three pointers in the first half, the Eagles had no problem shooting open jumpers against the Warriors. Responsible for nailing a third of them was Brian Mukasa who was a threat all night from all over the court.

Even with early foul trouble for the Eagles, the Warriors could not take advantage of the opportunities from the free throw line as the Warriors were a dreadful 12 for 21 from the line while the Eagles were 16 for 20 from the charity stripe.

Under the basket for the Eagles was Sam D’Arcy who’s 12 points and 11 rebounds made life miserable for the Warriors as many of those boards led to second chance points for the Eagles

“He can give us a boost," said Jackman. "He gets a lot of easy buckets because he gets up and down the court pretty quickly."

The Warriors attempted to mount a comeback in the second half after they switched to a 3-2 zone defense took away the Eagles’ ability to shoot from the outside.

“I thought that our defense was much better in the second half. The zone helped us a little bit,” Foxborough head coach C.J. Neely said.

Getting the lead down from 10 from the initial 21 point lead at halftime, the Warriors had a chance to make it a game, but poor shooting form the free throw line continued to stall their momentum.

“We got it down to 10 or nine and that’s where those early free throws hurt you,”  Neely said.

The Eagles quickly got the lead back up during a messy fourth quarter that saw both teams have trouble keeping a hand on the ball.

Brian Mukasa led all scorers with 17 points including 9 points from behind the arch for the Eagles. Kevin Bartas also hit double digits with 11 points for Sharon. Tim O’Halloran led the Warriors with 13 points.

The Warriors are now 3-4 overall and 0-3 in Davenport Division play. The Eagles are 3-2 overall and 2-1 against the Davenport Division.

Both teams will be back to work on Jan. 10 when the Warriors host Attleboro in their first crossover game of the season while the Eagles will be home against King Philip.