Winchester Basketball Secures Late Victory

The crowd chanted “UN-NI, UN-NI, UN-NI, UN-NI” in the rhythm of the song “Ole” and he did not disappoint the Sachem faithful in this preliminary matchup versus No. 17 Malden Catholic. Caleb Unni set the tempo the entire night on his way to 23 points and the go-ahead three-pointer with 14 seconds left to play. His two free throws then iced the game with two seconds left.

The Sachems went on to win 50-47 in an opening round game at Winchester High School on Monday night.

The No. 16 Sachems came out firing on all cylinders.

Their defense was stout, they outrebounded the Lancers and the flow of their offense created mismatches all night. 

Peter Miller should receive much of the credit as the junior finished with six points, 16 rebounds and nine blocks. But the story of the night was Caleb Unni. He made big play after big play leading the Sachems to this hard fought victory.

“Those are our go-to-guys. They were very active tonight. We had a great week of practice,” said Winchester Coach Quinton Dale.

The Sachems were in control of the game the entire night leading comfortably at halftime 29-18.

The third quarter was much of the same as the Sachems set the pace for the game as they led by eight points heading into the final quarter.           

But the Lancers came storming back in the fourth, going on a 15-7 run and with under a minute to go had a 47-45 lead. 

Jared Lewis who finished with 14 points, led the Lancers’ comeback. Lewis and the Lancers thought he hit the game-winning three-pointer with 30 seconds left, but Unni still had time for one more shot. 

After a timeout, Caleb Unni found himself open behind the three-point arc where he buried his third three-pointer of the game to give the Sachems a 48-47 lead.

“We called the play for Miller, but then we used him as a decoy which opened up a lot of space for Caleb and he knocked it down,” said Dale.

The Lancers fought back the entire fourth quarter silencing the Sachem crowd, but in the end the Sachems found a way to escape with the victory. 

“We got tired. (Malden Catholic) got momentum. We settled for jumpers.  We did not attack, but once Caleb got his confidence back, we pushed the ball and did what we wanted,” said Dale.

Ryan Murphy also added eight points for the Sachems and Greg Thompson scored nine points with some very timely baskets down the stretch. The Lancers received help from Domenic Mastascusa who finished with 13 points. 

The Sachems will travel to Wilmington to take on the top seed on Thursday.