Worth the wait: Caldwell's late heroics lift Weymouth boys basketball over Braintree
WEYMOUTH – Wait for it ... Wait for it ...
Patience was the key for the Weymouth High boys basketball team on Tuesday night as senior point guard Cortney Caldwell drained almost all of the 35-second shot clock and then drained a left-elbow jumper with 4.2 seconds left to key a 57-54 win over Bay State Conference rival Braintree.
The victory clinched a Division 1 playoff berth for the Wildcats (11-6) and prevented the Wamps (9-6) from doing the same. It also gave Weymouth a 2-1 edge in the season series; each team had won in the other's gym before the Wildcats protected their house, thanks to Caldwell's gutsy solo effort.
On the clinching possession, which followed a Braintree timeout, no other Weymouth player touched the ball after Caldwell received the inbounds pass in the backcourt. Caldwell danced around beyond the 3-point arc before finally starting his drive with the shot clock below 5 seconds. It expired as the ball rippled through the net.
Braintree's ensuing full-court baseball inbound pass went astray, and the Wildcats dribbled out the clock to snap a two-game losing streak.
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"I was looking at the shot clock and I thought, 'we gotta hold the ball and get the last shot,'" Caldwell said. "So, I'm timing it out (in my head). I'm going in, bringing it back out. And I heard (the crowd) counting down from 5 (on the shot clock) and I looked again, and I was open. I did a move and got to my shot."
On a team with offensive options such as newly minted 1,000-point scorer Edric Louissaint, Will Savage (career-high 27 points in the first Weymouth-Braintree game this season) and Gill Dolan, Caldwell doesn't often lead the charge. Still, he had 14 in this one (6 in the fourth quarter) and noted, "I'm a good scorer myself. I'm just in the point-guard role."
"He's been hitting that pull-up elbow jumper all year," coach Jim Dolan remarked. "He's come a long way, both on and off the court. Big shot in a big moment and he hit it. That's what good players do."
Louissaint, who had a game-high 21 points (his fourth straight game in the 20s), said he didn't demand the ball on the key possession with Weymouth nursing a 55-54 lead.
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"I was at the top of the key and (Caldwell) waved me off," Louissaint said with a smile. "He brought the ball all the way up. I believed in my guy. I didn't say anything (to him about getting the ball). He looked locked in. He (faked going) to the rim, stopped, shot it and it went in. It was perfect. Big win. Very big win."
Dolan chipped in with 9 points for Weymouth, and Savage added 7. Owen Kelly paced Braintree with 10 points, getting help from Marcus Lemire (9) and point guard Theo Moore (8). Calum McClorey, Ethan Elie and Jared Coughlin each had 7.
By the numbers
1,051: Career points for Louissaint. He reached the 1,000-point mark in a 64-60 loss at Walpole last week, becoming just the fourth player in program history to do it. He didn't find out about the milestone until the team got back home. "We lost the game, so it would have been better if we had won," said the 6-3 swingman, who's committed to Div. 3 Keene State College in New Hampshire. "But it was still great. I didn't even realize until we went to the gym (after we got back from Walpole) and they surprised me."
49.2: Points per game that Braintree is allowing. That's very good and will be the Wamps' calling card down the stretch and into the playoffs. Braintree had allowed 46 or fewer points in six of its previous seven games coming into the Weymouth matchup.
Said Braintree coach Bob Crook (a Weymouth South grad, by the way): "We take a lot of pride in (defense). I think we have some guys who are probably better defensive players than others, but we play team defense. They're all able to switch out and cover anybody. Even when we practice, we point out every single mistake that they make defensively. Our favorite drills in practice are the defensive drills. Guys like doing them."
15-0: A run by Weymouth that turned a 12-8 first-quarter deficit into a 23-12 lead midway through the second quarter. It was a game of runs as Braintree closed the half on a 16-5 spurt for a 28-all halftime tie. The Wamps kept the momentum going, outscoring the hosts 17-10 in the third quarter, but the Wildcats answered with a 19-9 scoring edge in the fourth.
34-37: Combined won-loss record (entering Tuesday's action) of the final five opponents on Braintree's schedule. The Wamps face Needham (10-4), Milton (3-10), Durfee (8-6), BC High (9-6) and Oliver Ames (4-11), needing one win to clinch their first playoff appearance since the 2017-18 season. Braintree's last playoff win came the season before that – a 67-64 upset of North Attleboro in the first round of the old Division 1 South Sectional tournament.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Caldwell's late hoop lifts Weymouth boys basketball past Braintree
