It took overtime, but Dartmouth would not be denied revenge on Brockton.
After the Boxers whipped Dartmouth by 38 points Jan. 9, the Indians struck back at home with an 80-78 nail-biter last night.
"We wanted some revenge," said Dartmouth senior guard and captain Owen Higham. "We knew we could play with them. We didn't give it our all last time and we knew from the get-go that we would have to give everything we had and we did."
Higham had only 10 points but played perhaps the biggest role. After Justin Mello's layup attempt was unsuccessful, a scramble ensued for several seconds until the ball ended up in Higham's hands. With an extra Brockton defender coming to double-team him, Higham found a wide-open Mike Toole under the hoop and passed the ball to him for an easy bucket with 10 seconds left that made it 80-78.
"Owen was going to take the ball up and we were going to have a pick-and-roll attempt," said Indians coach Steve Gaspar, "when all of a sudden, [the defender] helped. We wanted to spread them out, and Michael was open because that kid came over and helped."
The Boxers called time with 8.9 seconds left, but their plan went awry when point guard Kyle Geary fell trying to bring the ball up. It ended up with center Lewis Montes in the left corner, and the big man threw up a 3-pointer that fell short.
Bay State: Senior forward Tom Beegan (26 points, 10 rebounds) surpassed 1,000 points for his career in Weymouth's 81-66 victory over visiting Brookline.
Boston City: Hyde Park defeated host Boston English for the first time in years, 73-63, behind double-doubles from seniors Gerard Kimble (25 points, 10 assists) and Michael McKenzie (21 points, 23 rebounds) and junior Dean Lambright (19 points, 11 rebounds) . . . Darius Carter collected 39 points, 8 assists, and 5 steals and Alex Dosouto had 23 points to spearhead Dorchester's 105-69 victory over host Burke . . . Junior guard Gerard Coleman scored a game-high 33 points to lead West Roxbury over visiting New Mission, 82-64.
Mayflower: Akim Williams scored 56 points in Avon's 85-59 win over host South Shore Regional.
Independent: Kyle Casey totaled 26 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 blocks as Brimmer and May trounced host Thayer, 82-50.
South Shore: Senior K.P. Wholey had 25 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists as Hull beat visiting Harwich, 76-63.
Nonleague: Sophomore Rodney Beldo (32 points) led visiting Scituate to a 72-65 overtime win over Plymouth South, while Sean McCarthy contributed 12 points and 19 rebounds.
Girls' basketball
Atlantic Coast: Senior captain Rebecca Goreham scored 13 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, to surpass 1,000 for her career as North Quincy prevailed over host Quincy, 58-54. Quincy senior Marybeth Torpey notched five assists to reach 185 for her career, breaking the school record.
Boston City: Senior Delicia Williams netted 33 points and Sequetta Samuels added 24 in Charlestown's 85-55 victory over visiting Fenway.
Cape Ann: Amy Fahey had 31 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists in Wilmington's 60-52 win over visiting Manchester Essex.
Northeastern: Senior guard Danielle Sherry scored 22 points to eclipse 1,000 for her career in Danvers's 47-38 victory over host Lynn Classical.
South Coast: Junior captain Courtney Donovan scored 23 points to go along with 15 rebounds and 6 blocks as Bourne defeated host Wareham, 54-43.
Boys' hockey
Prep-private: Bobby Adam scored in overtime to propel Pingree past visiting Brewster, 4-3.
Mayflower: Senior Mike Kuhn scored four goals, giving him 103 for his career, as Blue Hills routed Avon/Holbrook, 13-1.
