Jules Tavares brought his "A" game to a nearly full house at UMass Boston's Clark Field House in South Boston Saturday, leading the Wareham boy's varsity basketball team to a victory over Cardinal Spellman in the Division 3 South Sectional final.  By winning the sectional final, Wareham will play at the TD Bank Garden on Monday against Bedford at 4:15 P.M..

Tavares roared out of the starting gate, scoring his team's first two baskets and 8 of its first 12 to get the Vikings off to a quick start.  He made his defensive presence felt as well, blocking three shots and helping disrupt Spellman on several occasions.  Wareham led early 12-6, but the Cardinals from Brockton put on a late first-quarter burst to close to within a single point at 17-16.

Tavares continued his assault on the Cardinals in the second quarter, and he was joined by Pat Murphy (two 3-pointers) and a swarming defense that caused multiple turnovers.  In one stretch, Wareham forced three consecutive turnovers and converted all into baskets, the final being a spectacular dunk by Tavares and a free throw that brought the large crowd of Wareham followers to their feet.  Senior co-captain Ryan Pina picked up his third foul in the quarter, but Marcus Gomes replaced him and scored 4 points and played excellent defense.  Freshman Darien Fernandez  was also a key, pressuring the Cardinals into miscues with his determined defense. The team effort fueled a 20-6 run that extended the Vikings' lead to 10 at half, leading 43-32.

Cardinal Spellman came out of the break and quickly cut the lead to four, prompting a timeout by Wareham.  After the timeout, the game stayed close, neither team being able to mount a run.  The Cardinals were led in the quarter by 6'5" senior center Joe Glynn, who scored 12 of his team-high 24 in the period.  Tavares was steady in the quarter with 8 points, and was helped by senior guards Mike Mendes and Jordan Rezendes.  At the 4:00 mark of the quarter, following misses by the Cardinals, Wareham pushed the lead up to 11, 54-43, and would walk off the court at the end of the quarter leading 62-52.

Wareham came out in the fourth-quarter and built a 14-point bulge at the 4:00 mark.  It looked like the Vikings were ready to slow the pace down and take control of the clock, but Cardinal Spellman had other ideas.  The Cardinals chose to foul the Vikings and force them to close the game out at the foul line, and the Wareham players missed 5 free throws in the last 2-minutes to put Wareham fans on the edges of their seats.  With just 27.3 seconds left in the game, the Vikings clung to a shaky 4-point lead, 73-69.

Jordan Rezendes finally made a free throw that lifted Wareham to a 5-point lead and Wareham finished out the free-throw shooting to win 78-71.  Tavares led the Vikings with 30 points, followed by Jordan Rezendes with 15 and Pat Murphy with 11.  The Cardinals were led by Joe Glynn with 24 points and Paul Pitts with 14.

Tavares received congratulations from his team in the 4th quarter for surpassing the 1,000 points mark.  He is the second player this year to achieve this milestone, with Jordan Rezendes having achieved the mark during the regular season.  Rezendes and Tavares are the 5th and 6th boys to achieve this milestone in Wareham history.  Teammate Pat Murphy is 14 points shy of the 1,000 point mark.

The Vikings will play Bedford Monday, March 8 at TD Bank Garden in Boston at 4:15 P.M.  Bedford defeated Lynn Tech Saturday afternoon in overtime 73-67.  The winner of that game will play in Worcester on Saturday for the State Championship against the winner of the New Leadership Charter School (Springfield) vs. Whitinville Christian game.