MATTAPOISETT — He's not the kind of basketball player who grabs headlines, but Robert Spenard has played a key role for Old Rochester Regional in the team's state tournament run to the Div. 3 Final Four.
"I'm out there to rebound the ball and give us some inside scoring," said Spenard, a 6-foot-4 junior center from Rochester. "It's my job to work hard on defense and keep our opponents from getting second shots."
Spenard has given the Bulldogs a lift all season with his offensive rebounding, and his work on the defensive boards has helped set the team's fast break in motion.
"We have great guards who can shoot the ball and take it to the basket, so we want the ball in their hands as much as possible," Spenard said. "We're a team that likes to play fast and that all starts with how well you rebound the ball on defense. There's no better feeling than grabbing a rebound and making a quick outlet pass that leads to a fast-break layup. Pushing the ball and making three-pointers have been our bread and butter all season."
That's a formula that has been spectacularly successful for the No. 3 Bulldogs (21-3), who will take a 15-game winning streak into Tuesday's 7 p.m. state semifinal matchup against No. 2 St. Mary's Lynn (18-7) at Quincy High School.
"Both teams have athletic guards and good size up front," said Spenard, who scored nine points and pulled down six rebounds in the Bulldogs' 73-35 Elite Eight win over No. 22 Boston English on Friday. "It's going to be a great matchup. Both teams like to run with the ball and shoot it on the perimeter, so it's going to be strength against strength. The deciding factor could be who plays harder on defense."
Including Spenard, who has a good shooting touch and is capable of making three-pointers, the Bulldogs have four other players who have been inside-outside scoring threats this season — 6-5 senior swingman Sawyer Fox, 6-2 senior guard Liam Geraghty, 5-10 senior guard Jacob Smith and 5-11 junior point guard Braden Yeomans.
John Butler, a 6-2 junior forward who grabbed a team-high seven rebounds against Boston English, has been a nice complement to Spenard on the boards.
"We're at our best when we're playing up-tempo, with our guards shooting on the perimeter or taking the ball to the basket and getting to the free-throw line," said ORR head coach Steve Carvalho, who's in his 18th season at the helm. "Spenard has helped us with his rebounding at both ends of the court and he's also in there to finish around the basket on second shots."
The defending Div. 3 state champion Spartans have rebounded to win three straight tournament games after ending their regular season with back-to-back losses to Malden Catholic (71-64) and Lynn English (71-68). They finished second in the Catholic Central League behind Archbishop Williams (22-1), the top seed in Div. 3, which will take on No. 4 Cardinal Spellman (18-4) in the other state semifinal scheduled for 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Bridgewater-Raynham.
Cardinal Spellman, which also plays in the CCL, dropped a pair of regular-season games to Archbishop Williams by scores of 70-40 and 80-62.
BASKETBALL PLAYOFFSOld Rochester returns to the Div. 3 Final Four for the first time in eight years
St. Mary's has been led by senior point guard David Brown Jr., 6-5 senior forward Omri Merriman, 6-4 senior forward Nick Sacco, 6-5 junior forward Chibuikem Onwuogo, and freshman shooting guard JJ Martinez. The versatile Spartans, who have had six different players score 20 points in a game this season, notched a 71-40 win over Watertown in last year's state final at the Tsongas Center in Lowell.
A football star who's heading to Bentley University in the fall, Brown ran for 101 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns to help lead the Spartans to a 48-6 CCL win at Bishop Stang in October.
"He's a great athlete and they like to run the ball, but they're also comfortable in their halfcourt offense," Carvalho said. "They protect the rim, their guards can penetrate, and they can shoot on the perimeter. They're a very well-balanced team."
Brown scored a game-high 27 points in the Spartans' 83-71 Elite Eight win over No. 7 Tech Boston at Salem State on Saturday, and it will be important for the Bulldogs to put some pressure on him,
"We're up against a very quick, athletic team, but our defense has been solid all season and we're going to need that to continue," Carvalho said. "We're going to have to have a good shooting night, especially behind the three-point line."
A key for the Bulldogs will be remaining true to their strengths and sticking to a game plan that's put them in striking distance of adding another state title to the one the school's 2015 team won.
"We have to do what got us here — play fast and create good shots on offense while forcing tough ones on defense," Carvalho said. "We're going to have our hands full, but we're going to play hard and leave everything on the court. We're going up there to compete."
PRE-GAME NOTES
ORR is averaging 66.7 points a game in the tournament. ... St. Mary's is scoring at a 79.0 clip. ... The Spartans dropped a 73-62 decision to No. 4 Cardinal Spellman in their season opener. They notched a 66-30 win over Bishop Stang, fell short in a 78-77 loss to No. 1 Archbishop Williams, and swept Bishop Feehan by regular-season scores of 63-62 and 77-48. ... The Spartans' biggest offensive output of the season came in a 103-67 victory over Arlington Catholic. ... The Bulldogs, who recorded a season-high for points in a 83-61 win over Somerset Berkley, haven't lost since dropping a 55-41 decision to Apponequet on Jan. 13. ... The Bulldogs are 12-2 at home and 9-1 on the road. ... The Spartans are 12-4 at home and 6-3 on the road. ... Tuesday night's game will be the first neutral-site matchup for both teams this season.
IF YOU GO
What: Div. 3 State Semifinal
Who: No. 2 St. Mary's Lynn (18-7) vs. No. 3 Old Rochester (21-3)
When: 7 p.m. on Tuesday
Where: Quincy High School
