money Brockton High boys basketball leans on unsung hero to nab tourney win over Lincoln-Sudbury
BROCKTON — About 15 months ago, Eliase Feagins was cut during tryouts for the Brockton High boys varsity basketball team.
Missing the team as a junior, Feagins initially thought his chance to play varsity might be over. That thought didn’t last long, and he spent the offseason training for tryouts with the confidence he would be representing the Boxers this winter.
“I just kept fighting,” said Feagins. “Winners never quit and quitters never win, so you’ve just got to keep working at it and you’ll get there eventually. But never be satisfied with your work; you’ve always got to keep getting better.”
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Feagins had his fingerprints all over Tuesday’s 61-55 win over Lincoln-Sudbury in the preliminary round of the Division 1 state tournament. With 5:46 remaining, Brockton senior captain Niko Lutz fouled out and the Warriors took a 49-48 lead on two Kyle O’Connell (26 points) free throws. In came Feagins, who finished with 5 points (all on second-half free throws) and 11 rebounds, to make countless hustle plays.
“He really is our unsung hero on the bench and when he comes in he just gives so much effort and energy, which is what we always want to play with,” said Brockton coach Emanuel DeBarros.
With the win, No. 26 Brockton (12-9) advances to play at No. 7 Lexington (17-2) on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in a first-round game.
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In fitting Feagins fashion, he went to the line twice in the final 30 seconds. He missed the back end of a pair of free throws, but used stick-to-it-iveness to come up with his offensive rebound on the miss and canned a free throw to push the lead to 61-55 with less than 15 seconds to play.
“You’ve got to do whatever’s best for the team to win and succeed,” said Feagins. “Use your strong suits and mine is rebounding, defense, put-backs and free throws. Whatever I can do to help us win, I’m going to take pride in it. If I don’t score, but if I had 9 rebounds that’s still a plus for us.”
“Eliase is a great kid,” said DeBarros. “I call him ‘Redemption' because he got cut last year, didn’t make the team.”
Burton’s big day
Junior guard Dajon Burton (18 points, 6 assists) was a steady offensive presence in all four quarters for the Boxers. He had six assists in the first-half and made three 3-pointers in the win.
“I love that kid,” said DeBarros of Burton. "He stepped up big time. He really has ice water in his veins. When we need big shots, he hits them.”
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L-S (No. 39 seed, 10-11) limited sophomore Cam Monteiro to 10 points, but the Boxers received big offensive days from the likes of Burton, Ezekiel Johnson (11 points) and Lutz (8). Senior Dominick Hopkins scored all 3 of his points in the fourth quarter after Lutz fouled out, and sophomore Nathan Rateau had a pair of 3-pointers off the bench.
“(Burton) and Cam do a great job of playing off each other. (Burton) really carried us towards the end,” said DeBarros. “What’s going to happen when teams focus in on one of our best players, you need other guys stepping.”
This defensive star can shoot, too
Johnson caused havoc for the Warriors with his full-court defense on point guard Kordell Bogus, but his biggest play came on a 3-pointer.
With the game tied at 49-49 midway through the fourth quarter, Monteiro passed to Johnson for a 3-pointer right in front of the Boxers bench Quickly, an L-S defender closed out on Johnson, but his shot was true, giving the Boxers a 52-49 lead.
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On the ensuing possession, Monteiro came up with a steal and found a wide-open Burton for a fastbreak layup that forced a Warrior timeout.
“That’s one of those plays as a coach that you’re like, ‘No, no, no!’ And then it goes in and (you say), ‘Yes, that’s how I drew it up.’ I credit him for being ready for the moment,” said DeBarros. “We’ve really been putting him on one of the toughest players on the court and all season long he’s been doing a great job of defending the other team’s best player.”
The Warriors cut the deficit to 54-53 before three free throws from Feagins pushed Brockton’s lead to 57-53. Bogus made it a one-score game when he scored amongst a crowd of trees in the paint.
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Burton hit a free throw, but collected his rebound on the second and drained both to the Boxers up 60-55 with 27 seconds remaining.
Monteiro blocked an O’Connell jump shot, and Feagins came up with the defensive rebound to close out the game.
“I’ve always been ready,” said Feagins. “When Niko Lutz fouled out, I was like, ‘Okay, this is my chance to win us the game or break it.’ It’s going to make or break us and I’ve always been ready.”
Great atmosphere
The MIAA’s mask mandate for indoor sports ended on Feb. 28, so this was Brockton’s first home game without masks since 2020. It was also the first tournament game since that season as the 2021 state tournament was not held.
“They had a lot of jitters and I think they did a great job letting that go and mentally being tough,” said DeBarros.
The Arthur E. Staff Gymnasium was rocking as the band and some Cape Cod Pizza added to the atmosphere.
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“It brings me back to the old days with the gym being filled, we’ve got the band over here,” said DeBarros. “Mr. Karo (BHS athletic director Kevin Karo) did a great job atmosphere-wise, Cape Cod Pizza, our fans did a great job coming out and so did Lincoln-Sudbury. It was fantastic, it really was because it’s been two years since we’ve had this. To be able to play with no masks on, the environment was like the NCAA (tournament).”
Turnaround continues
The Boxers needed a late-season push to make the tournament. After starting the season 1-5, which including almost a month-long pause between games, Brockton is peaking at the perfect time.
“We never gave up on each other,” said Feagins. "We always trust each other as teammates just to get it back. We turned it around at a perfect time and now we just move on the next round.”
This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton High boys basketball defeats Lincoln-Sudbury in tournament
