In one of the most anticipated matchups in recent weeks, Brockton remained undefeated by knocking off Newton North, 81-60, the Tigers’ second loss in six days after starting the year 13-0.

The score might be a little deceiving – this was a game through three quarters. But after a third quarter that saw five ties and six lead changes, the Boxers (16-0) blew open the doors in the fourth quarter. Brockton’s deep corps of guards – led by Jarrad DeVaughn, Tim Young and Shawn Yard – forced five steals and seven turnovers overall in the first 3-1/2 minutes of the quarter, yielding a 20-1 run in the process.

Louis Montes led the Boxers with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Newton’s Greg Kelley had 20 and 11. A few more notes below:

-- Athleticism ruled out in this one. The Tigers’ three studs – Kelley and senior guards Craig Marriro and Geoff Woodberry – looked good early despite heavy defensive pressure from Montes (on Kelley) and Brockton’s rotation of guards. But by the fourth quarter, the Boxers’ backcourt defenders were consistently stripping the Tiger guards and forcing bad decisions.

“Those two guards (Marriro and Woodberry) are very nice guards, but going back and forth against five of our guards, they got pretty tired,” Brockton head coach Robert Boen said. “I think Kelley was pretty tired after having two of our guys (Montes and center Michael Neufville) on him. They got him the ball nice in the first half. Second half, I think we wore them down.”

-- Interesting quote from Tigers coach Paul Connolly about Louis Montes. Connolly called Montes “the second-best player in the state”, behind Central Catholic’s Carson Desrosiers, and thinks he is a Division 1 caliber athlete. Rumor has it Montes may do a year of prep school competition before heading to college.

“Louis Montes is really, really, really good,” Connolly said. “He’s the one player around here that I think people are missing the boat on. He is a stud.”

-- For those of you wondering why DeVaughn – a starter – spent the first half on the bench, the reasons were not major. Boen said DeVaughn, who was dropped off by a family member, arrived late to the game after the driver got a bit lost.