Pirates fall to Gardner in district playoffs 72-60

Finish season at 14-8

by Steev Riccardo

OXFORD – The fourth-seeded Oxford Pirates saw their season end this past Tuesday (February 26) with a 72-60 loss to the 13th- seeded Gardner Wildcats in Division 2 district playoff action.

Coming off a semi-finals loss to Quaboag after getting their first win at the Clark Tournament in four years, the Pirates had been playing really good basketball. Unfortunately they went up against a team which, despite its 8-12 record, plays a much tougher schedule, and they were outmatched.

Senior co-captains Donny Freeland and Tyler Barrie each had 16 points for the Pirates, while fellow senior co-captain Mike James added eight points in the loss.

“I knew it was going to be an uphill battle going in even though they were the 13^th seed,” said Sean Halloran. “They play a tough schedule all year and then get bumped down to Division 2 for the playoffs, which did not bode well for us. They are a good team with a bunch of seniors and they played hard and physical and we couldn’t match up with their intensity and speed.”

“I thought the effort was there for the most part; we just couldn’t match up with them,” said Halloran.

The Pirates finished 14-8, winning seven of their last regular season games going into post season. Overall, they can’t be that disappointed with the season they had.

“It was a good season, winning 14 games in this league is not easy. I am happy for the seniors who had a really good year. I feel like we left it all out there,” said Halloran.

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