Red Raiders roll over Pats, 82-54

Morales nets 32 in easy victory

By Bill Gillman

TOWNSEND - The Fitchburg High boys' basketball team has the unique ability to make a pretty good team look very bad.

The Red Raiders remained unbeaten with a frighteningly easy 82-54 win over North Middlesex, Tuesday night. Fitchburg took a 41-18 lead into the locker room at halftime and led by as many as 32 midway through the second half.

"I was very pleased with our intensity right from the start," said Fitchburg High coach Doug Grutchfield. "Our defense really played well, especially holding them to 18 points."

Morales keys win

Ricky Morales turned in another outstanding all-around game for Fitchburg (6-0) pouring in 32 points (including five three-pointers) to go with 10 rebounds, eight steals and four assists. The junior guard had 20 by halftime, including one stretch of nine in a row.

Morales is a good player - right up there with Bradley (of Burncoat), Robbins (of Marlboro), Hochstein (of Shrewsbury) and Mike Culley," said Noth Middlesex coach Steve Dubzinski, whose team dipped to 6-4 with the loss. "This area is blessed with several excellent players. I think the other players he has around him in the Fitchburg lineup accentuate his positives."

Morales was simply unstoppable over the final eight minutes of the first half, as Fithcubrg outscored North Middlesex 28-8 to blow the game open. He started the run by feeding Kevin Keenan (13 points and six assists) for a driving layup. Later he put back an offensive rebound and scored off a steal to stretch the lead to 21-10.

Stayed on fire

But Morales was just getting warmed up. Another assist on a Keenan hoop was followed by a three-pointer to make it 26-10. North Middlesex' Mike Culley tried to stop the bleeding with a three- pointer of his own with 4:07 remaining.

Morales merely shrugged it off and fired back with a long distance barrage of his own. Back to back three pointers from the wing made it 32-13. Morales then snagged another offensive rebound and scored while being fouled. He completed the old-fashioned three point play to put the Red Raiders on top, 35-13.

Over on the other side of the ball, Culley was struggling. The 6-2 senior couldn't find the range on several three point tries, finally hitting his first shot of the game with 4:39. The Red Raiders kept switching back and forth between a man-to-man and a zone, between full court pressure and half-court traps. The constant switching kept Culley and the Patriots guessing.

Culley finished with just 13 points, while Zack Bourque pumped in 18 to lead the Patriots.

Brief comeback attempt

North Middlesex made a brief attenpt at a comeback in the second half, scoring the first six points after intermission to pull to within 41-24 with 15:09 left. Dubzinski tried to stop Morales by assigning Culley to guard him 1-on-1. It did not work.

Morales just went over, around and through Culley for a dozen more after intermission. Two more three pointers provided the bookends to a 12-3 run which pushed Fitchburg's lead to 53-26 with 12:05 left, effectively putting the game away.

Tito Morales and Dan Schneider added eight points each for Fitchburg. Ray Gonzales chipped in with seven.