Fitchburg toes the line to tip Wachusett

Saturday, January 17, 1998

By Craig Holt
Correspondent

Fitchburg 68 Wachusett 63
HOLDEN -- Fitchburg coach Doug Grutchfield admits having six teams and one gym eats into practice time at the foul line.
         Nevertheless, Grutchfield's Red Raiders converted from the charity stripe when they had to in last night's game with upset-minded Wachusett, draining 7 of 8 free throws in the final 1:03 to squash a gallant Mountaineer comeback and seal a hard-earned 68-63 triumph.
         Fitchburg retains a perfect slate with the win, improving its record to 10-0. Wachusett falls to 2-5.
         Forward Jon Gauvin topped the Red Raiders with a game-high 22 points. Center Keith Leavitt hit for 16 points while guard Giovanis Graciano netted 15.
         The Mountaineers, who connected on six 3-pointers, were paced by center-forward Dan Generelli's 11 points. Guard Mark Stukowski added 10 points, good defense and a pair of 3-pointers.
         “I'm pleased with the way we shot our free throws and I'm glad we got this win,” said Grutchfield, whose team shares a gym with the boys' junior varsity and freshman squads and the girls' varsity, junior varsity and freshman teams.
         “We've had too many one-sided games this year, so a game like this is good for us. Give Wachusett a lot of credit. They hustled and played very hard out there.”
         Wachusett cut into a 12-point Fitchburg lead with scrappy play late in the game, deadlocking the score at 57-57 when Generelli took a lead pass from Stukowski and hit a layup with 2:24 to go.
         Moments later, the smooth-shooting Gauvin returned the lead to the visitors when he canned two free throws. Fitchburg retained a slim advantage the rest of the way.
         Refusing to go away, the upstart Mountaineers closed to 61-60 with 44 seconds to go on a layup by forward Mike Webster off an offensive rebound. The Red Raiders' Mark Gabriel then sandwiched four free throws around a Wachusett turnover over the next 18 seconds, propelling the visitors to a 65-60 lead with 26 seconds remaining.
         Later, Stukowski countered with a trey, cutting the margin to 65-63 with 15 seconds to go. Hanging tough, Fitchburg got a free throw from Graciano and layup by Creamer off a missed free throw in the final seconds to account for the final margin.
         “This is as good a game as we can play,” Mountaineers coach Brian O'Brien said. “It was a physical game and we were hurt by turnovers, but it's also the kind of game that our team can build on. Now we know that we can play with these guys.”
         Though outsized underneath, Wachusett stayed even with the victors for the duration of the first half. For example, the score was tied three times over a four minute stretch midway through the session. Graciano then took center stage, hitting three layups and a free throw to return the lead to Fitchburg. The Red Raiders went on to hold a 31-28 edge at the break.
         Fitchburg opened the second half with an 8-2 run, jump-started by the inside play of the 6-8 Leavitt and the defense of Graciano. Each player hit two hoops in the spurt, which gave the Red Raiders a 39-30 lead with 13:20 to go in the game.