Disappointing End of Season for Norton Basketball

Norton had high hopes for the boys' basketball team this year after winning the TVL Championship the past two years. The season was tough but they pushed through with a 10-10 record that qualified them for the MIAA Tournament. With Marc Liberatore as the coach and seniors James Loring and Paul Schleicher as the captains the boys played a tough season. They played a good season but fell short in their first MIAA Tournament game. 

The boys lost the first three games of the season against Medfield, Dover-Sherborn and Hopkinton, but won four games after that against Millis, Holliston, Westwood, and Bellingham. With a record of 9-10 and one game left against the undefeated Ashland, the boys' chances of making tournament didn't look very high. The boys were down 3 with a score of 14-11 after the first quarter and down again at half-time with the score being 21-18. After the third quarter things weren't looking good when the boys were down 35-33 but they kept playing and tied the game up with 1 minute and 57 seconds left in the game. The boys broke the tie with 28 seconds left and went up by 2 points. The Norton boys broke the Ashland winning streak and qualified for tournament with an ending score of 45-42.

It was a stressful few days of a lot of practice for the Norton boys as they prepared for their tournament game against Westport. The game was held on February 25, 2014 at Westport who finished their season 14-4. With a donated fan bus and supportive parents Norton had a lot of fans to cheer them on throughout the game. The boys played tough and stayed ahead throughout most of the game. With Bret Murphy leading in points the played a very close game. After senior captain Paul Schleicher fouled out of the game at the beginning of the fourth quarter things got tough. Westport went ahead and the offense couldn't make up the points lost. Westport came out champions when they won 56-50. It was a disappointing loss for both the team and the fans who came out to support the team.

The Norton boys' basketball team played a good season but ended up a disappointment with a loss in their first tournament game against Westport. Coach Liberatore and his team have won the TVL Championship the past two seasons but didn't do that this year with a 10-10 record. The team will lose a total of nine seniors this year. Current juniors Bret Murphy and Jason O'Neil are expected to be next years star players. Even though the boys failed to win a third consecutive TVL Championship or tournament game, they played a great season.