Blue Devils storm past Mustangs
Dadah, Mccormack combine for 39 points in win
NORWOOD >> With just under two minutes left in Monday evening’s game at Norwood High School, Leominster’s small, but boisterous broke into an “it’s all over” chant.
Truth be told, the Blue Devil faithful could have started their celebration much earlier in the night.
Leominster powered past No. 24 Norwood with a 74-50 drubbing in the Division 2 round of 16, pushing the 25th-seeded Blue Devils into the state’s quarterfinals.
If the Blue Devils want a chance to raise the D2 trophy, they know they’ll have to be road warriors. Leominster advances to face the winner of Tuesday’s contest between top-seeded Malden Catholic and No. 16 Scituate. Regardless of that game’s outcome, the Blue Devils will again be on the road as underdogs.
“I feel like all the adversity we’ve fought through and our tough schedule helped us get to this point,” Leominster head coach Kevin Grutchfield said. “They’re just starting to hit their stride. It’s March Madness at it’s best.
“We’re one of eight teams left in our division in the state, so we’re going to get serious and play every game like it could be our last because if we lose, we’re done.”
Leominster (13-10) saw senior Justin Dadah Jr. pour in a teamhigh 22, while junior Terrance Mccormack added 17 in the victory.
“Our season has been such a grind, that to be in the final eight is just awesome,” Dadah said.
Dadah put the game out of reach in the opening minutes of the fourth, scoring seven straight points as the Blue Devils pushed their lead to 63- 42. And though the Mustangs put together a 5- 0
run moments later, Mccormack’s 3-pointer with 4:03 left gave the guests a 66- 47 and a surge in confidence.
“We don’t get fazed,” Mccormack said. “We just keep playing. We stick together as a team and don’t force things. We trust each other.”
Norwood’s Noah Beaudet led all scorers with 30 points, but it wasn’t enough as
the Mustangs end the season with a record of 18-5.
“My coaches did a great job scouting this team. We watched all we could find on them,” Grutchfield said. “They’ve got a really good scorer in (Beaudet) and we knew we’d have to play good defense.”
Leominster held an 18-12 lead after eight minutes, going ahead for good as Michael Halstead converted an old- fashioned threepoint play 2:23 in to put the guest up 9- 6.
But Leominster really turned things up in the second quarter. Mccormack hit a step-back 3 to start a 6- 0 run midway through the frame, pushing the lead to 35-18. By the time Ricky Encarnacion (eight points) hit a putback as the buzzer sounded on the first half, Leominster had built a 3823 advantage.
“We’re starting to get confident offensively at the right time,” Grutchfield said. “We were able to hit some big shots tonight.”
Leominster senior Chase Hause added 10 points in the win.