Rich GarvenWorcester Telegram & Gazette
WORCESTER — The North High boys’ basketball team steamrolled the opposition during the first 16 games of the season, winning by an average of 31.4 points.
The Polar Bear Express rolled to another double-digit victory, this one a 62-40 decision over Wellesley on Thursday night following a pregame celebration of the seniors, but it was an effort that was uncharacteristically sporadic rather than typically full throttle.
“It’s a win,” coach Al Pettway said. “It was Senior Night and (the introductions and recognition) took a long time. I think we had the energy and that took it away a little bit because then they had to warm up again.
“Then they found it on the court, but it seems like they got lax when we got up big. I just talked to them about finishing the game strong. We still won by 22, but … we’re getting closer to tournament time and you can’t just turn it on and off when you want.”
The Polar Bears, who never trailed, held a six-point lead afer the first quarter before putting up 22 points and limiting the Raiders (6-11) to five in the second to take a 36-13 lead into halftime.
Freshman Keyshon Joyner scored 9 of his 10 points in the first half, connecting on all three of his 3-point attempts, two of them with 3 seconds or less on the shot clock as the Raiders did a good job of gumming up the Polar Bears’ half-court offense.
“We tried to run our sets and I think we were taking too much time,” Pettway said. “They were breaking down and trying to restart it and at that point we’re working against the clock and we end up having to take quick shots.
“But Keyshon can shoot the ball. He’s actually one of our better shooters and he can hit those shots, so I’m pretty confident with him shooting the ball.”
Offensively, Joe Okla paced the Polar Bears with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting to go with 5 rebounds, an assist and a steal. Fellow big Teshaun Steele added 8 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals while junior guard Amir Jenkins collected 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.
All 13 players saw the court for the Polar Bears with 11 scoring. The starters pretty much sat out the fourth quarter.Defensively, North held the Raiders, who lost here last year in the first round of the Division 1 state tournament, to 23 points through three quarters while generating a multitude of turnovers.
“What impressed me last year and impresses me this year is how together they are, how hard they compete,” Wellesley coach Mike Reidy said. “They just play basketball the way you want a team to play basketball.
“They’re complete. They have talent and character at every position and they’re going to be a hard out.”
The Raiders are a member of the powerful Bay State Conference, which includes Newton North and Needham, whom the Polar Bears defeated in the state semifinals and final, respectively, while winning the D1 championship last March.
Asked how the Polar Bears stack up this year against stiff competition with the state tournament drawing near, Reidy was brief and to the point.
‘There is a short list of teams and they’re on it,” he said.
The Raiders got a game-high 19 points from Brady Stevens, whose dad, Brad, the general manager of the Boston Celtics, was on hand to watch.
The crowd also included a number of students, staff and supporters from Roosevelt Elementary School sporting black-and-orange T-shirts with Roosevelt, a heart and #12 on the front.
That’s the uniform number of Okla, who is interning at Roosevelt and conducted a basketball clinic with his teammates there a couple of weeks ago.
“This morning when I went to my internship, the kids surprised me in the auditorium,” Okla said. “They all the shirts with No. 12 on it and it just meant a lot because I used to go to Roosevelt.
“When I had an opportunity to intern there it was just a good opportunity to go give back to the kids, give back to where I came from. So it just felt good to see them in the crowd.”
Okla, Steele and fellow seniors Tyrese Asenso, David Baafi and Jaydon Sarkodie were, as previously mentioned honored before the game, as were the Polar Bears’ senior cheerleaders.
“Big night for them,” Pettway said. “The kids work hard and they’re good basketball players, but most importantly they’re great young men off the floor. I’m happy for them and hopefully we finish this out strong and they go on and do some big things with their lives.”
The Polar Bears return to the court here at 6:30 p.m. Monday to meet Shrewsbury in the nightcap of a CMADA Tournament Class A semifinal doubleheader that gets underway at 5 p.m. when the South girls face Shrewsbury.
—Contact Rich Garven at rgarven@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @RichGarvenTG.
