Needham Rockets soar into state title game

While Henry Bickford’s two hand slam was just another two points in his impressive stat line, it signified the start of a Needham celebration.

Bickford poured in 23 points to go with nine rebounds and two blocks to lead No. 5 Needham to an impressive 60-43 win over No. 9 North Andover in a Division 1 state semifinal on Wednesday night at Worcester State.

Needham (22-2) will play for its first state championship in program history versus No. 6 Worcester North this weekend.

“Henry really stepped up tonight, you can’t ask for anything more from a senior. He had a different look in his eye pregame,” Needham coach Paul Liner said. “Our guys have just been so locked in. They’re coachable, they respect the game, and they know what it takes.”

Throughout the night, Needham dominated at both ends of the floor, executing their actions on offense to near perfection while preventing the Scarlet Knights from garnering any sort of dribble penetration. After Jackson Shaw finished a layup off a cut through the paint, the Rockets grabbed a 27-16 lead with 4:07 to play and never once led by fewer than double digits.

“This is very exciting for our school, our town, our community,” Liner said. “We’ve been going at this and trying to get here for a few years now and checked off a handful of boxes along the way, but now it’s finally here and this team deserves the chance.”

Zach Wolinski and Cam Bethel opened the night with three-pointers for North Andover, but the Rockets countered with a 9-0 run to go in front 11-6. A Brian Cloonan triple put Needham up 18-8 after one and in the second the Rockets stretched their lead on the heels of Bickford. The senior forward finished through contact and drilled a mid-range pull up as part of Needham’s second 9-0 run of the half that put them on top by 20.

The Rockets’ lead hovered around 20 for most of the second half, and got as large as 22 on a basket by CJ Hutchison and a trey from Bickford. Two three-pointers from Zach DesRochers attemped to give this tournament’s Cinderella a spark as it got North Andover within 56-39 with six minutes left. Bickford, however, threw down his two hand slam off the press break that started the celebration for the Rockets’ fan section