Old Rochester Regional came to Wareham Tuesday night and easily handled an undersized and inexperienced Vikings team that fought hard and scrambled until the final buzzer. The battling and scrambling made the game interesting in the 4th quarter, when Wareham's grit whittled a 30-point third quarter deficit to 12 points with just under a minute left in the game.  While the outcome of the game was never in serious doubt, the young Viking team kept the Wareham fans in their seats until the end.

ORR came to Wareham sporting a perfect 6-0 record, and wasted no time showing off their talent.  The taller, stronger, and more athletic Bulldogs led the entire game, building a 9-point first quarter lead and expanding that to 21 at the half, 48-27.  Seniors William and Evan Santos led the way scoring 24 of their team's 48 points, with the left-handed William Santos garnering 16 points and Evan collecting 8.  Wareham senior Alex Rezendes did his best to keep Wareham close, scoring 13 first half points, while the Vikings leading scorer, Jovahn Thomas, was held in check with just 8 points.

The Bulldog's 21-point lead would expand to 30 in the third quarter, when the score reached 64-34 with 4:06 left in the quarter.  Wareham Head Coach Steve Faniel called a time to try to settle his team and cool the hot-shooting Bulldogs.  The timeout worked, and by the end of the quarter the Vikings had cut into the Bulldogs lead by 9, ending the third quarter behind 69-48.

After his cool first half, Wareham junior Jovahn Thomas got hot, scoring 12 points in the third quarter, and then exploding in the 4th quarter to score another 17.  The Vikings rallied behind him, but on this night 37 points wasn't enough to lead the Vikings all the way back.  Rezendez finished with 17 points, and junior Ashantay Tavares finished with 13, including two crucial 3-pointers in the 4th quarter.

Faniel thought his team hustled all night, but allowed too many rebounds and second shots, and too many of their missed shots turned in easy shots for ORR.  "[ORR]  made a lot of contest shots and they pounded us on the boards", said Faniel.  "We needed to make better adjustments, but we played hard".

Wareham boys play next at Seekonk on Friday, January 8.