By Bill Gilman
WORCESTER -- The Fitchburg High boys' basketball team was forced to digest a heaping helping of humble pie Tuesday night. The Red Raiders saw their dream of an unbeaten regular season come to a crashing halt with a 62-45 loss to Holy Name. Frustrated by the Naps patient offense and dogged defense, Fitchburg managed its two lowest point-scoring halves of the season (23 and 22).
"They played a great game," said Fitchburg coach Doug Grutchfield. "Their coach did a great job, having them hold the ball and then attacking when we over committed."
Holy Name (10-5) outplayed Fitchburg in every facet of the game. They held a 32-23 edge on the boards, hustled for every loose ball and consistently beat the Red Raiders up and down the floor. And in the battle of top stars, Kareem Tatum, (27 points, eight rebounds) easily got the better of Fitchburg's Rick Morales (eight points), who was playing his first game after sitting out a week on academic suspension.
The grand effort of his team came as a pleasant surprise to Holy Name coach JP Riccardi, who ended Monday's practice early out of frustration. "They just weren't taking practice seriously and were just going through the motions, so I just threw them out of the gym," said Riccardi. "I wasn't sure what to expect tonight. But the guys answered the bell. Matty Matunas was outstanding and Kareem was immense."
Fitchburg (13-1) led for much of the first half, but weren't able to open up any kind of comfortable lead. The Red Raiders were woeful from the field, thanks in large part to the Naps harassing defense. Eddie Brown and Matunas challenged every pass and every shot by the FHS guards. As a result, Morales and Kevin Keenan (four points) had their worst games of the year.
On the offensive end, Holy Name's patience resulted in few turnovers, which hamstrung the Fitchburg fast break attack. "They took away our aggressiveness," said Grutchfield. "They dictated the tempo and we didn't do anything to change it."
Holy Name took a 24-23 at halftime and opened the second half with a 7-0 run to open an eight point lead. Fitchburg chipped away, closing to within a point, as Keenan set up Ray Gozales and Tito Morales for consecutive fast break hoops. But that was as close as the red Raiders would get. On this night, they simply did not have the emotion needed to get the job done.
Instead, Tatum began taking over the game, scoring 17 of his 27 points in the second half. He had seven during a 13-0 run midway throught the second half, which allowed the Naps to open a 53-39 edge. With 4:00 left and the Holy Name up 57-43 Grutchbield decided he had seen enough and replaced his regulars with his bench seniors. "I was disgusted with our performance and wanted to give the other kids a chance to play," he said.
Look for Fitchburg to take out its frustrations tonight in Bolton in a make up game aginst Nashoba Regional.