Sharks Capitalize On Energy, Pull Away From Cohasset On Senior Night

HARWICH – The Monomoy boys basketball team wasted no time.

Playing with extra energy in front of a massive crowd on hand to celebrate the school’s boys soccer and field hockey teams, the Sharks exploded for a dominant first quarter against visiting non-league foe Cohasset on Friday night.

Monomoy opened the game with a 14-0 lead and never looked back, cruising to a 61-44 victory to improve to 12-4 on the season.

“What was so exciting about tonight was carrying that energy of having field hockey and boys soccer here,” Monomoy coach John McCarthy said.

Both teams were celebrated after posting deep postseason runs in the fall. Each advanced to the Division 4 state championship, marking the first state final appearance for each program.

“They had such a good fall season and being able to jump off that energy and put that in the building, I think our guys wanted to show that at some point soon we can make that type of run,” McCarthy said. “They are buying in and believing in what we are doing.”

The early start came after a pregame ceremony celebrating the senior cheerleaders and seniors associated with the basketball team — managers Christian Whittle, Natalie Larivee and Harrison Aristhomene — as well as senior guard Jacob Routhier, the only senior on the team.

Routhier helped spark the crowd immediately with an early 3-pointer, as he and juniors Tamarr Washington and Jackson Rocco helped Monomoy take a 22-5 lead into the second quarter after the trio combined for all 22 points in the opening frame. Washington scored 10 of his 18 total points in the first quarter, while Rocco had eight of his game-high 21 during the first eight minutes of play.

“That was really good and really big for us,” Rocco said about the fast start. “We had a lot of energy, the crowd was good, and we moved the ball well. That was a great start for us.”

Junior Jackson Morneau finished with eight points while classmate Finn Hyora, the only member of the boys soccer team who was playing in the basketball game, had five.

McCarthy said the team is looking forward to this week, with games against Martha’s Vineyard on Monday and Nantucket on Thursday. The Sharks suffered losses to each of the island schools in their first meetings, falling to MV, 55-52, on Jan. 26 before suffering a 58-43 loss at Nantucket on Jan. 30.

“The Martha’s Vineyard game, I felt like we let that one slide. We were up by 11 in the fourth quarter. We should’ve won it, but we didn’t,” McCarthy said. “The Nantucket game, I think we got caught a little bit on the island trip where you get there and you don’t have much time to warm up. They took it to us, but we’re really looking forward to getting our second shot against them this week.”

With a Division 4 state tournament berth already secured, McCarthy said the team’s focus is to finish the regular season strong and work to improve their standing in the MIAA Power Rankings.

“The emphasis for us is to really get ready for the playoffs right now and to try to build our resume,” the coach said. “On top of that, I think every day I’m trying to preach to these guys to earn respect because for our program it’s been a little while since people have looked at us as a team on the Cape that they better look out for. We’re building respect, and that’s what it’s all about.”

The players are excited for what’s to come.

“I’m definitely looking forward to playing in the tournament,” Washington said. “These games we’ve been playing in and the ones we have coming up have definitely helped us. Win or loss, the tougher games are at the end of our schedule and they’ve been helping us get ready for the tournament.”