Boys' Basketball: Tourney Run Ends

Eight seniors played their final game in a uniform Tuesday night, as the boys’ basketball team fell to New Mission 62-51 in the Division 2 North semifinals at Burlington High School.

Woburn coach Tom Sullivan had effusive praise for his players after the game.

“In all my years, this is the greatest group of guys I’ve ever coached,” he said genuinely.

Sullivan came to Woburn when his current seniors were freshmen, seniors like Mickel Simpson, who recently eclipsed the 1,000-career-points mark.

Against New Mission, Simpson left it all on the court. He scored 18 of his team’s 27 points in the first half and ended the game with 23 points and eight rebounds, in addition to his solid play on defense.

“When the lights go on, when the bell rings, this kid is there every time,” Sullivan said.

Sixth-seeded Woburn (18-7) had its last lead midway through the second quarter, at 20-19, but hung with No. 2 New Mission (19-4), the bracket’s presumptive favorite from Roxbury, until the beginning of the fourth quarter.

After Woburn’s Brandon Daughtrey scored to start the quarter, to pull his team within four, at 47-43, New Mission went on an 11-0 run to go up 15, at 58-43, with about four minutes remaining in the game.

In the second quarter, Woburn was leading by four, at 20-16, before New Mission went on a similar run, a 13-0 stretch to take a seven-point lead, at 27-20.

Woburn battled back in the final two minutes of the first half to pull within two, at 29-27, at the break. However, the fourth-quarter deficit proved to be too much to overcome.

New Mission scored most of its points in the paint and had a number of offensive rebounds, which in turn led to easy put-backs.

“I knew we had to show up—rebound and execute—and we did that tonight,” New Mission coach Cory McCarthy said.

Senior forward Samir McDaniels led New Mission with 22 points and 15 rebounds, while senior guard Kachi Nzerem had 19 points.

For Woburn, senior center Bill Claflin had 11 points and nine rebounds, while senior guard Brandon Daughtrey had five and five.

Junior Matt Littleton had five points, senior Mike Sallese three and senior Shane Galvin two.

Crowd-favorite Mark Melanson, also a senior, scored the game’s final basket to a loud ovation from the student section, while seniors Hov Karamousayan and Ricky Aponte also suited up.

Woburn started four seniors in Simpson, the team’s playmaker, Claflin, the team’s low-post threat, Sallese, the team’s sharpshooter, and Daughtrey, a slasher who led the team in assists this season. Galvin, an all-around guard who started some this season and last, and Melanson, a hustling guard, also saw significant minutes this season.

After starting the year 3-4, Woburn went 15-3 in its last 18 games.

New Mission advances to face the winner of No. 8 Brighton and No. 12 Burlington in the sectional finals Saturday at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell.