Woburn Hoops Sneak by Belmont's Boys', Girls'

It was an unlucky Friday, the 13th, for Belmont Hoopsters as the Woburn High School Boys' and Girls' Basketball teams left town with wins as the Tanners squeezed past the Marauders in the final minutes of each game. 

Littleton skies high in OT

Woburn senior Matt Littleton score 8 of his game high 26 points in overtime, all while playing with four fouls, to lead Woburn (6-4) over host Belmont (5-4) Friday night, 70-65, as the Marauders could not comeback after being torched by 13 Tanner three pointers.

Littleton hit two shots and four free throws in a two minute stretch after Belmont cut a 15-point, second half Tanner lead as Marauder John Dillon (who led Belmont with 21 points) scored three consecutive baskets to push the home team to a 59-57 lead with 1:51 left in the game.

The Tanners came back to tie the game and potentially win it in regulation as Tyler Bennett (11 points) hit a driving shot along the baseline and was fouled by Dillon with 7 second left in the game. The junior forward missed the foul shot but Belmont could not score.

But Dillon was hit with his fifth foul on Bennetts shot and Belmont lost its most consistant inside force. While Littleton was scoring in OT, Belmont could not convert on four consecutive trips down the floor. 

Woburn senior Domonic Mondi (22 points) and junior center Chris Claflin (11 points) scored for the Tanners who took the lead early in the game from downtown, hitting the 13 three pointers (five each for Littleton and Mondi) against a 2-1-2 Marauders' zone. 

Belmont moved away from the zone to a pressure man-to-man by the end of the third quarter that not only stopped the Tanners' threes (they would not score from beyond the 19' 9" arc again) and caused numerous turnovers. 

Marauder guards Sam Mauser (19 points, 4 threes) and captain Manny Cabral (11 points) kept in the game close while Angel Tejada came off the bench to contribute 7 points in the second to help cut a double digit lead to seven by the half, 38-31. 

Let's get physical: Tanners bump by Belmont

What the Woburn Girls' Hoop team lacks in most basketball skills is made up in pure, out-and-out physical play. And Friday the Tanners needed to commit to a sufficating defense to beat host Belmont, 32-30, in a game that resembled, at times, a wrestling tournament.

Tanners' captain Erin Marshall scored 14 points while Shannon McGuire put in six to led the scoring but it was the constant man-to-man play – including a great deal of hand checking, grabbing and elbows – that created turnovers and missed opportunities for Belmont, who once again missed critical free throws and outside shots.

Senior guard Amari Bradshaw put in 10 from jumpers inside the arc as Olivia Lyons contributed 7 points, doing the hard work near the basket, to lead the Marauders.