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February is that time of the season when you find out what teams are truly made out of. In Sunday’s matchup between Brockton and Newton North, both teams showed why they could each be dangerous teams when March comes around.

Brockton won the contest, 71-65, in overtime. After digesting the game, here are some observations about both of these teams, who will both likely enter the Division 1 South Sectional as favorites.

Brockton’s Defense

Defense is arguably Brockton’s best asset. Jahleel Moise’s jumping ability and Sayvonn Houston’s size make it nearly impossible for players to drive in the lane. This was especially true at the start of their game against Newton North. Brockton’s defense forced Newton North to be a jump shooting team and since the Tigers’ shots were not falling, they took an early lead.



Defense pushes teams far in the playoffs. However, basketball is played on two ends of the floor. While Brockton’s defense is superb, there offense leaves a lot to be desired.

Brockton’s Offense



After watching this clip, one would think there is nothing wrong with Brockton’s offense. It is not so much that they are a bad team offensively. Obviously, they were good offensively in this game because they won. It is more about how they are scoring.

They do a wonderful job of scoring in the paint, getting put backs, and burning defenders off of isolation plays. The only issue: that is the only way they score. There are never any plays run for a basket or jump shots made for that matter.

Newton North is not a big team or an athletic team, so Brockton can get away with this type of scoring. When they play a more athletic or bigger team, this type of offense simply will not work in March.

X-Factor: Jaylen Blakely

In March, it is critical to have players who can create off of the dribble. Jaylen Blakely is that type of player.



Blakely does a great job of getting looks for his big man and making big shots. That being said, Blakely’s biggest weakness is his decision making.



Blakely turns the ball over at a high rate and takes bad shots often. If he can focus on playing under control, he has the capability of pushing Brockton far in the playoffs.

Newton North Offense

Newton North always has talented go-to options, which is why they are always a dangerous team in March. They might not have the Anthony Gurley or Greg Kelley on their roster this year, but the duo of Mike Thorpe and Luke Westman are not too shabby. They are two players who compliment each other well and play smart all of the time.



The Tigers rely on those two to do most of their scoring along with many of their sweet shooting role players. When their shots were not falling, Newton North struggled. The key for them will be for role players to knock down open shots when they get them.

X-Factor: Tommy Mobley

In the third quarter, one role player did exactly what Newton North needs in order for their offense to be effective. Freshman Tommy Mobley knocked down three outside shots. This was the point in the game where Newton North came back and made it a close game.



Mobley has an unusual yet highly effective shot. He might only be a freshman, but he does a good job of moving without the ball and knocking down tough shots. This type of role player is key, especially when fighting while down.

The only issue is that he is a freshman and makes the mistakes that all freshmen make. To rely on a young player is always a risky proposition for teams looking to make a deep run in March.

Conclusion

Brockton and Newton North are dangerous teams for very different reasons. The Boxers do a great job of beating teams with their size and athleticism. They are great on defense and make teams have to play their tough brand of basketball. The key for them will to force teams to turnover the ball and score in transition.

As for Newton North, they don’t have the size or talent of past years but they have a team of players that play well together. In this game, they finally showed their main flaw: defense. They are not a bad defensive team, but when they play bigger or more athletic teams, they run into serious problems.

Neither team is perfect, but both have assets that can push them far in March.

WEYMOUTH, Mass. -- Players from the Weymouth basketball team looked up at the scoreboard at their home gym as they headed into the halftime break, glanced at the 34-9 score, and dipped into the locker room to the chorus of a "single digits" chant from the visiting Newton North student section.

Then the Wildcats came out swinging, and cut the Tigers' lead to single digits, outscoring them 41-19 over the first 11 minutes of the half to close the gap to 55-50. But some key transition basket from two clutch seniors, and a dagger 3-pointer from a promising freshman, put the finishing touches on a 73-63 Newton North victory that puts the Tigers in control of the Bay State Conference's Carey division.

And so just 48 hour after losing a thriller in overtime to red-hot Brockton, the Tigers quickly rebounded with one of their strongest performances of the season's second half.

"We knew they were going to make a run. Basketball is a game of runs," North head coach Paul Connolly said. "Ours was early, theirs was in the middle, and we hung on and did what we had to do. We're in their gym, they're not going to lay down. You've got some tough, tough, city-type athletes here in Weymouth. That's a really good team, so for us to come in their gym, play the way we played early, was terrific."

To put it bluntly, the Wildcats (13-2, 12-2) couldn't buy a bucket in the first half, going 4-for-23 from the field and 0-for-7 from the free throw line. Between a plethora of shots that hit iron, and a mix of 2-2-1 and diamond-and-one presses from the Tigers (15-1, 13-0), the Wildcats appeared overwhelmed at first.

But they came out firing on all cylinders in the second half, opening with a 12-3 run, ending the third quarter with a Khary Bailey-Smith breakaway two-handed slam that energized the home crowd, and eventually cutting North's lead down to 55-50 with five minutes to go.

"We talked about not handling their press well, and about getting in the middle and reversing it," Weymouth head coach Jim Dolan said of the half-time adjustments. "We didn't do a good job of that in the first half, and a much better job of it in the second half. But our guys didn't quit. Newton North is a great program, and you can't spot anybody a 25-point lead, nevermind a Newton North lead."

North responded down the stretch with clutch performances from its biggest playmakers to ice this one. Down low, senior forward Barry Santana (20 points, 17 rebounds) stepped out to the wing and hit Luke Westman with a backdoor touch pass. Westman picked up the foul in the process, and converted the three-point play, to make it 59-50 with just under four minutes to go.

A few possessions later, Santana took a high entry lob over the top from freshman Tommy Mobley for a wide-open lay-in; he followed up the next trip down with a layup off a pick-and-roll with Michael Thorpe (20 points) to make it 65-54 with two minutes left.

Mobley then put the clamps down on this one with a dagger 3-pointer from the left wing, off a long pass from the opposite corner by Westman, to make it 68-57 with 1:37 to go.

Damian Lugay led the Wildcats in scoring with 17 points, while junior Connor Deegan added 13.

Oye Como Va: Since the Tigers won back-to-back MIAA Division 1 state titles in 2005 and 2006 by pushing a fast pace with an NCAA Division 1 backcourt of Anthony Gurley (Wake Forest/UMass) and Corey Lowe (Boston University), they have had a size luxury. From the 6-foot-8 Greg Kelley (currently a sophomore at Yale) to 6-foot-8 Tevin Falzon (a post-graduate a Winchendon who has signed with Sacred Heart) to his younger brother Aaron (who has since transferred to St. Mark's), it had been a gradual switch to a halfcourt-oriented offense.

In 2011-12, the Tigers present a dramatically different look in the frontcourt, with the 6-foot-2 Santana being counted on for a role once owned by players nearly half a foot taller than him. For once unable to rely on a shot-blocking big man behind the play for help, this guard-heavy lineup loves to run up and down the court

It was Santana's five rebounds in the first quarter that enabled the Tigers to push such a tempo in transition and open with a 12-2 run that set the tone for the night. On both ends, the undersized Santana does the dirty work underneath night after night, in spite of his guard-like frame.

"I thought the difference in the game at so many levels was Barry," Connolly said. "Barry was so active all night long. He was on the glass, loose balls, defensively, he easily had a double-double tonight. He kept balls alive for us."

Thorpe said Santana is "an animal."

"He's just always going, no matter what," Thorpe said. "He gets so excited for these games, and just loves to go. Nobody's going to stop him, he doesn't like to lose, and when we lost to Brockton (on Sunday) he took it really hard. He made sure to make a statement coming out tonight. I love playing with him."

Thorpe stepping up: Connolly commented on Thorpe's play over the last week and half, stressing that the Emerson-bound senior has "really shown some great point guard ability."

"He's really, really solid," Connolly said. "I get on him in terms of turnovers, missed assignments sometimes. But he takes it, he's real coachable. His point guard ability in the last couple of weeks has really elevated."

Also playing a motivating factor? Public perception.

"You've kind of just got to step up," Thorpe said. "You know people are talking about you, 'Newton North this, Newton North that'...coming into the season, people were like 'Oh, Newton North doesn't have any size', blah blah, 'They're going to be mediocre at best'. Then we blow the head off, we win our first 14 games and [now] people are like 'Whoa, Newton North is this'."

'Mobley Time', part 2: Last month, we introduced the term "Mobley Time" on this blog to characterize St. Peter-Marian senior swingman Matt Mobley and his knack for explosive late-game performances. Perhaps Tommy Mobley, North's promising sharp-shooter of a freshman, could be the heir apparent.

The 15-year-old Mobley, brother of former North star and Yale sophomore Greg Kelley, has been known to put up as many as 1,000 jump shots in a day. It shows on the court; there are few freshman seen at the MIAA level with not only stout confidence in his shot, but mastery of it -- a repeatable follow-through, perfect 60-degree arc, soft touch and quick release.

Mobley didn't enter the game until the fourth quarter tonight, and it's probably hard for the unfamiliar to believe that the shot he took seems so automatic coming off his hands. But just ask his coaches and teammates what it's like playing with him.

"It's a blessing, just to have him coming off the bench," Thorpe said. "You know when it goes up, it's going in. It's beautiful to have a kid like that."

Said Connolly, "He's fearless, he's a real weapon for us. He's got a great attitude, he's real, real coachable."

BROCKTON, Mass. — Brockton’s lack of free throw shooting was a big reason that Newton North was able to erase a 15-point first half deficit, but when the Boxers absolutely needed a pair from the stripe they got it.

Sayvonn Houston hit two clutch free throws with 16.3 seconds left to force overtime, and the Boxers (11-1) rushed away from the Tigers in the extra session to seal a 71-65 win at Staff Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon.

“It was necessary,” said Boxers head coach Bob Boen. “I don’t know if that’s what I have to tell him, but we need him to make those shots. Yes, we had shot very poorly and you wouldn’t have want to bet that we were going to make those two the way that we had been shooting. But he made two big shots and we had to have them.”

Houston was fouled after a free throw from Michael Thorpe gave the Tigers a 61-59 lead in the waning moments of the fourth. The Boxers big man had good form on both free throws and they were no-doubters to tie the game.

“I had to calm down and knock down my free throws,” said Houston, who scored 12 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.

Houston was 2-for-6 from the line before making his final two, and the Boxers finished 50 percent from the line in the game and went 15-of-30 in the second half to let the Tigers get back into the game.

The Tigers had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but watched as a rushed 3-pointer in the corner from Tim Stanton hit off the rim with only 1.1 seconds left to get it off.

Jamal Reuben scored five points in the extra session and the Boxers held the Tigers to one field goal and two free throws in the final four minutes of play to run away with the game.

Boxers' Athletes Stand Out: It’s easy to see that the Boxers are probably the most athletically gifted team in Div. 1 South — which will be one of the deeper divisions in all of the tournament.

Houston is a force inside that many teams won’t be able to matchup with, but Jahleel Moise brings a knack for being a menace to anyone coming down the lane. The 6-foot-3 Moise is an athletic wing and he had a complete game with eight points, nine blocks and six rebounds in the victory.

“I said to someone the other day that Jahleel is the most amazing shot blocker that I’ve ever seen at Brockton High,” said Boen. “I’ve been here 29 years now as a JV coach and varsity coach. He gets about that many blocks every game. He gets off his feet so quick and really sees the ball well. He’s the best shot blocker that we’ve ever had by far.”

Tamed Tigers Wake Up: Paul Connolly wasn’t quite sure what team he was looking at in the first quarter — and most of the first half. His Tigers needed a heave at the buzzer by Luke Westman to score seven points in the first quarter and fell down by as much at 15 in the second.

But Connolly’s bunch clawed its way back into the game when it looked like it just wasn’t possible.

Thorpe scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half and freshman Tommy Mobley hit three big 3-pointers — including the one in the beginning of the fourth quarter that gave the Tigers their first lead.

“We were down 15-4 to start the game,” said Connolly. “That’s not the team that I’ve coached in the last 14 games. I was disappointed early in the game, as disappointed as I’ve been coaching. But now as I sit here I’m really proud of my guys because we battled.”

The Tigers are now 14-1 on the season.