Saturday, February 14, 1998
By John McGuirk
Correspondent
Fitchburg 72 Milford 68
FITCHBURG -- The thought had lingered in their minds for
weeks and last night became redemption time for the Fitchburg High Red
Raiders.
On Jan. 20, Fitchburg suffered its only loss, falling to Mid-Wach
A rival Milford.
Revenge was the motive in last night's rematch and it worked to near perfection
as the Red Raiders came away with a hard-fought, 72-68 victory before a
packed house.
“This was an excellent win for us,” Fitchburg
coach Doug Grutchfield said. “They really completely outplayed us down
in Milford. We learned a lot from it and I was very proud with the way
our kids responded. We hung tough against a very good team.”
The win improved Fitchburg's overall
record to 16-1. Milford, loser of three straight, dropped to 13-4. More
importantly, Fitchburg earned a share of the division crown, finishing
9-1 in the league along with the Scarlet Hawks.
“We're co-champs and I'm very proud of
this group of kids,” Grutchfield said. “Now we've either won or shared
the (league title) 10 of the last 12 years. We're a little spoiled, but
it's something that you shoot for.”
Junior guard Gio Graciano led the Red
Raiders with 21 points. Junior center Keith Leavitt and senior forward
Jon Gauvin followed with 19 and 16 points, respectively. Leavitt, at 6-foot-8,
also hauled down a game-high 14 rebounds.
The Scarlet Hawks played without Mike
Laramee, who was ill. Laramee burned Fitchburg for 30 points in their first
meeting. However, sophomore Trevor Walker took over the reins for Milford
and came away with a game-high 30 points, including six 3-pointers. Mo
Briscoe added 13 points.
Leading 41-30 at the break, the Red Raiders
never fell behind in the second half. Baskets by Leavitt and Mark Gabriel
put Fitchburg on top, 58-46, with seven minutes left. With 4:29 showing,
Graciano buried a 3-pointer to pad the Red Raiders' lead to 67-54.
Milford stormed back with an 8-0 run,
keyed by Walker's six points, to close to within 67-63 with 2:24 to go.Leavitt
answered for Fitchburg at the other end before Walker nailed a trey to
close the gap to 69-66 with just under a minute remaining. After Graciano
sank one of two free throws, Briscoe scored inside to put Milford within
70-68 with 21 seconds left. After the basket, Fitchburg quickly got the
ball upcourt and Tom Berjoan scored on a layup to put the game away.
“We don't lose many games at home, so
(Milford) would've truly been the champs if they had beat us at home,”
Grutchfield said. “The homecourt advantage is obviously a huge factor.”
As expected, the teams exchanged leads
throughout the first half. Milford quickly gained the upper hand with a
Walker trey and two free throws by Joe Colelli to grab a 14-7 lead. The
Scarlet Hawks led, 22-18, midway through the half before the Red Raiders
went on a 9-0 run, six of the points coming off Milford turnovers, to lead,
27-22, with 4:50 before intermission.
Fitchburg got baskets by Gauvin, Gabriel,
Graciano and Leavitt to give the Red Raiders a nine-point halftime lead.
“We know that we're going to be seeded either second or third (in the Central
Mass. Tournament),” Grutchfield said. “We don't have to worry about wins
or losses now. We can try to play two good quality opponents (St. Bernard's
and Holy Name) next week and it's a good way to get ready for the postseason.”