Published in the Boston Globe on Jan. 17, 2015
SPRINGFIELD — The last time Tommy Mobley was at the Spalding Hoophall Classic at Springfield College’s Blake Arena, he was a middle schooler and the Tigers’ water boy.
On Saturday, the senior’s 23 points powered the Newton North boys’ basketball team, but despite a late fourth-quarter push by the Tigers, Brooklyn’s Bishop Loughlin left the birthplace of basketball with a 58-51 win.
“It was so much fun finally being out there playing,” Mobley said. “We’re going to play to win. If we’re going to go down, we’re going to go down swinging. We certainly did. We got a few big punches in late, we were just a basket or two short.”
The trip to the western part of the state capped a stretch of seven games in 14 days for the top-ranked Tigers (12-1), which included playing in two of Massachusetts’ prized basketball homes. Newton North beat rival Newton South, 61-46, at TD Garden on Jan. 10.
“[Hoophall] is a first-class event for our kids,” Newton North coach Paul Connolly said. “It got away a little bit in the second half, but we fought right back.”
Trailing by 17 early in the fourth after the Lions’ Jordan Thomas (12 points, nine rebounds) leaped over two Tigers for a dunk, Newton North went on a 14-0 run to make it 54-51 with 1:42 remaining.
The run started with 3-pointers from Mobley and Sam Jefferson (8 points) before a parade of Tigers, including Napoleon Miller (12 rebounds), Ethan Wright, and Nate Hollenburg (6 points, five rebounds) drove to the basket and drew fouls.
“Those plays were big for us because we got to the rim, we got points, and we got the clock stopped,” Connolly said.
Bishop Loughlin went 4 for 4 from the line in the final 44 seconds to put the game away.
Earlier, Mobley tied it, 6-6, by converting a 3-point play, but Newton North struggled to stay in the game until its late run. Bishop Loughlin broke the early tie with a 9-3 run to close the first quarter leading, 15-9.
The Lions maintained a double-digit lead from midway through the second and into the opening of the fourth, in which they led, 45-35. As the Lions tried to pull away late, the Tigers bit right back, but fell short.
“You can’t beat yourself up after a game like that because we came so close to pulling that one out,” Mobley said.