One huge statement

Photo by Matthew Healey

Underdog New Mission routs Winthrop

By Bruce Lerch / Div. 4 North Boys Hoop | Sunday, March 7, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com |


The tiny school with 250 kids from Mission Hill is making a rather large statement behind its exceptionally talented boys basketball team.

Junior Samir McDaniels scored 19 points, including the 1,000th of his career, and grabbed nine rebounds as top seed New Mission completed its hurricane-like tour de force march through Division 4 North by overwhelming No. 2 Winthrop for a 70-38 victory yesterday at the Jean Yawkey Center.

“We always thought of ourselves as being one of the best teams in the state,” said Titans coach Cory McCarthy. “Winthrop is one of the best teams in the state and we definitely stepped up to that level today. We played state championship basketball today and I can’t ask for anything more than that.”

As if winning its first two postseason games by a combined 68 points wasn’t enough, New Mission (22-1) installed a new four-high offense in practice Wednesday. Despite having such little time to get acclimated to the scheme, the Titans took to it as though they had played it all their lives and took a 20-point lead into halftime (34-14).

The big and athletic Titans also worked together to frustrate All-Scholastic Dino Mallios, who was held to just 13 points and never could get any flow to his normally dynamic offensive game.

“I think Mallios got a little frustrated with how we denied him the ball,” McCarthy said. “He’s such a great player so denying him was the best thing for us because everywhere he went, he saw two or three defenders.”

In the final minute of the third quarter, Samir McDaniels collected a tipped pass from Osmel Odena (seven assists) and kissed it off the glass to break the 1,000-point mark. The game was halted as the junior received a standing ovation from the crowd.

“It meant a lot because I had a lot of family and friends here today,” McDaniels said. “More important though is that we got the win. We have bigger goals that we still haven’t accomplished yet and we’re not stopping until we get there.”

Ousamane Drame added 10 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks for the Titans, while Kachi Mzerem also contributed 10 points.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/high_school/general/view.bg?articleid=1237872