Sibling revelry for Clark twins
WORCESTER - It may have been their last game together. Boy, did they make it count.
Twins Brian and Dan Clark combined for 47 points and 15 rebounds as Frontier Regional (24-1) won its first Division 3 state title since 1987, beating Scituate, 79-65, yesterday at the DCU Center.
Frontier, with former Boston College and Green Bay Packer standout Mark Chmura in its lineup, beat Fairhaven in 1987 for its first state championship. It lost in 1986 and 2002.
It was the first state title appearance for the Sailors (22-3), who were led by Rodney Beldo (23 points on 9-of-26 shooting).
Gary Grandonico scored 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter for the Red Hawks, who came into the final averaging 76 points per game.
Scituate had a height advantage but was outrebounded, 34-28. Frontier's matchup zone limited 6-foot-9-inch senior center Sean McCarthy to 7 points and five rebounds.
"We just tried to be very physical," said Dan Clark, who finished with 23 points and seven rebounds. "We just wanted to box out every possession and be physical."
The biggest difference came at the line, where Frontier made more free throws (18) than Scituate had attempts and makes combined (14).
"They played behind our big people," Scituate coach Matt Poirier said. "They boxed out well."
A 3-point play by Blaine O'Brien (20 points on 8-of-12 shooting) and a Dave Gordon putback brought Scituate within 47-45 with just more than three minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Clark twins, however, responded with back-to-back 3-pointers, pushing the lead to 53-45 with 2:34 remaining in the quarter.
"It deflated us," Poirier said of the back-to-back treys.
The Sailors got within 61-56 on a coast-to-coast layup by Keith Fluery (7 points) with 6:56 to play in the fourth quarter. That was Scituate's last point for nearly four minutes, until O'Brien hit a leaner with 2:58 remaining, cutting the lead to 67-58.
After 10 lead changes, the game was tied at 19-19 after the first quarter. The Clark twins combined for 17 of Frontier's first-quarter points, finishing the frame a combined 7 of 13 from the floor.
O'Brien buried a 3-pointer on the opening possession of the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 39-38. Dan Clark hit a pull-up and Brian Clark (24 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks) made a fast-break layup to extend the lead to 43-38 with just less than five minutes to play in the third quarter.
O'Brien scored the next 5 points for Scituate, Brian Clark hit two free throws, and Brennan McKenna nailed a jumper to give Frontier a 47-43 lead.
Then came the daggers from the Clark twins, who might play college basketball together.
"We know we can shoot the 3-ball pretty well," Dan Clark said. "We took the shots that were open and they were falling for us today."
"It starts with ball penetration, digging into the paint, and kicking [the ball out]," Poirier said. "There really weren't matchup issues, I thought. [Frontier] just made contested shots. Those were tough shots they hit."
Scituate High's hopes for a state championship now rest with the boys' hockey team, which takes on Westfield today at TD Banknorth Garden for the Division 3 state title.
