Stoughton High Boys’ Basketball Downs Attleboro

Fueled by 9-0 runs to start both the first and second halves, the Stoughton High boys’ basketball team beat Attleboro 77-57 Friday night in Stoughton.

It was Stoughton’s fifth straight win, improving to 11-1 on the season. Attleboro is trending in the opposite direction, with five straight losses, dropping to 6-8.

After edging King Philip Tuesday night on the road in a battle of Hockomock League heavyweights, there was no letdown for Stoughton in this game.

“It was a big win for us,” Mauro Oliveira said of Friday’s 20-point victory. “We had to prove that we could keep winning after a great win at KP.”

Black Knights tri-captain Marcus Middleton keyed the first 9-0 run with five of the nine points. Stoughton used the quick start to jump out to a 24-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“Stoughton was a very good basketball team. The tempo of the game was very fast early which is what I think they like to have,” Attleboro coach Mark Houle said. “We weren’t able to slow them down. And when we were able to slow them down we weren’t able to finish offensively, which really hurt us.”

Attleboro started the second quarter with an 11-4 run and ended the quarter on a 5-0 run to keep the deficit manageable at the half, with the Blue Bombardiers trailing 38-26.

“When you have a chance to blow it open and instead you close the half on a [5-0 run] by them to cut it to 12, now all of a sudden it’s a game again when you had the chance to end it. We want to work on those little things as we head deeper and deeper into the season,” Stoughton coach John Gallivan said.

But a 9-0 Stoughton run in the first 1:15 of the third pushed the Black Knights lead to 21. Again, it was Middleton who ignited the run, with six of the nine points. Oliveira added the other three on a three-pointer.

“We were just disappointed in ourselves. We know we could play a lot better than we did and we just wanted to come out [strong],” Middleton said.

Stoughton led by 22, 64-42, heading into the final eight minutes, but Attleboro kept Stoughton from increasing the lead, keeping their deficit between 17 and 20 for most of the fourth.

“I liked the pride of our guys to keep coming back…we didn’t stop playing tonight, which is a good sign” Houle said. “We’ve lost five in a row and sometimes when you’re in a slump like that you get down on yourself, so I was proud of the fact we kept battling back.”

The Black Knights registered their ninth double-digit win this season, but were plagued by 22 turnovers.

“It was sloppy,” Gallivan said. “We have to take better care of the ball.”

Middleton finished the game with 22 points and Oliveira had 14 to lead Stoughton in scoring.

“Marcus and Mauro were a nice one-two punch [Friday night] offensively,” Gallivan said.

Aaron Calixte had 9 points, 9 assists and 4 steals, and while other players did the bulk of the scoring, Calixte opened up the floor for his teammates.

“Aaron Calixte is an outstanding player. You have to play a lot of attention to him. When you have to do that, he kicks out to the guards and the big guys and they do a terrific job of finishing,” Houle said. “They’re a well-rounded team.”

J.J. Jolaoso and Tim Walsh led Attleboro with 16 points apiece. Shawn Reardon had 9 and Evan Toomey and Matt Borgellas each chipped in with 4.

Stoughton travels to Foxboro on Tuesday, while Attleboro travels to Taunton on Wednesday.