BOSTON, Mass. — For Newton North, it’s on to the state tournament.
The No. 2 Tigers wrapped up their regular season with a 58-48 victory over No. 9 Winchester on Monday night in the Board 27 Comcast Tournament held at Emmanuel College, and now they’ll have a long break before they begin state tournament play next week. Safe to say, they’re feeling good.
Newton North is 20-1 – with its lone loss coming to Albany (Calif.) at Hoophall in January – and have won its last nine games by an average of 19.7 points. The Tigers – who won the Bay State Conference – will almost certainly have a top-four seed in the Division 1 state tournament and are among the favorites to win it all.
“We’re feeling pretty good,” said Newton North star Teagan Swint, who had 29 points in Monday’s win. “We haven’t lost to anyone in MIAA yet, so we’re confident in what we can do as a team. We’ve shown it all year and we’re just ready to keep getting better for the next week or two and get ready to make a run in the playoffs.”
The Comcast Tournament offered the Tigers some strong tune-up opportunities and chances to learn about themselves after a pair of slow starts. On Sunday, they trailed North Andover by 10 early before they responded to win by 15. On Monday, they were pushed in a back-and-forth game with Winchester before pulling away late. Both are good, state tournament-quality teams.
“It’s good preparation,” Swint said. “It's good to get some competitive games, work on time and score and kind of see who we are as a team right before the tournament.”
Winchester (16-4), the champion of the Middlesex League, learned some valuable lessons this weekend in two losses to North Andover and Newton North. On Saturday, the Red & Black got off to a brutal start – trailing 23-11 at halftime – before clawing back to make it a one-possession game in the closing moments. For head coach John Fleming, it was an important teaching point that they can’t afford to dig themselves a deep hole when the lights come on in the state tournament.
On Monday, Winchester put up a strong fight. They led by five at one point in the first half, and hung around for most of the game before letting Newton North slip away. The game taught them the value of possessions, where some turnovers and bad shots added up over the course of 32 minutes to be the difference; but they still left with some added confidence heading into the state tournament.
“I thought we gave ourselves an opportunity, and that’s what we were looking for. Let’s give ourselves a chance, and we did in the first half,” Fleming said. “We just needed to make a couple more plays. The good news is we know we can hang with potentially the best team in the state.”
Here are five standouts from Monday’s game.
Bryson Mercedes, Newton North
Class of 2027, 6-3 forward
Mercedes went scoreless in the first half as Swint took over, but he came up huge with 10 points in the third quarter to help Newton North gain separation. The Tigers led by three midway through the third when Mercedes hit a corner triple, and moments later, after grabbing an offensive rebound, the ball found him again at the right wing, where he splashed another 3-pointer that gave them a nine-point lead.
Nick Spinelli, Newton North
Class of 2025, 6-1 guard
Spinelli only scored four points, but that didn’t tell the full story of his impact, which was mostly made defensively. He was active and disruptive; his steal and breakaway layup in the closing seconds of the first half gave Newton North a one-point lead at halftime, and seemed to be a momentum booster on that end. The Tigers only allowed 21 points in the second half, including just eight in the final period.
Teagan Swint, Newton North
Class of 2025, 6-4 guard
NCAA: Johns Hopkins
Swint is on the short list of best players in MIAA, and he continued to show why Monday night. After a couple of slow starts, Swint said he took some initiative to get his team going; it showed as he scored 21 of Newton North’s 28 first-half points, which included a variety of buckets. He scored a few buckets in transition, using his skill and size to weave through defenders and get to the cup, and made some tough shots through contact. Swint said one of his biggest growth areas this winter has been his off-ball movement – an effort to free himself from defenders who are face-guarding him or playing him tight – and he showed that a few times on designed plays where he curled around screens for open 3-pointers. Swint may be the best pure scorer in MIAA; he’s dangerous from all three levels and has a lethal pull-up and outside shot. The Tigers will ride him in their championship pursuit.
Alex Casey, Winchester
Class of 2025, 6-1 wing
Though Swint filled it up, Casey did an admirable job as his primary defender, even drawing an offensive foul on him. The senior captain continued to be effective as one of Winchester’s primary ball-handlers, and he drilled a couple of open corner 3-pointers, which seems to be his favorite spot to shoot from. He’s a confident shot-maker who I’d expect will make some big ones in the state tournament. He finished with 12 points on Monday night.
Jack Charchaflian, Winchester
Class of 2027, 6-0 guard
Charchaflian (13 points) was responsible for giving Winchester its early lead with his combination of scoring and playmaking. The point guard’s high IQ was apparent again as he stayed in control with the ball in his hands, never forced anything and made the right plays; he’s always willing to make the extra pass for an easier bucket. He found teammate Dawson English wide open on a couple of cuts to the rim, and connected with Casey on both of his 3-pointers. He also demonstrated a quick first step and found driving lanes with both hands; he drew a foul on a take with his left hand, and he made a tough bucket through on another as he stepped through a crowd of defenders. Charchaflian was also very active on the offensive glass; I counted three of his buckets coming on putbacks.
