Vikings stay atop South Coast Conference
Eight years. Eight conference titles. For the Wareham boys basketball team, this year’s title came on Senior Night in a 73-63 win over Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical School.
“I’m just really happy these guys won the South Coast Conference championship without having to share it with anyone,” coach Kevin Brogioli said. “This is a time where I praise greediness.”
At the game’s conclusion, players took to Twitter to see if Old Rochester had lost its game to Case, making Wareham the sole owner of the South Coast Conference title. The Bulldogs lost, and guard Mason Vasconcellos climbed the ladder to the press booth to announce over the PA system who still rules the conference.
“Getting it on this night is big. It could not have been a better night, and I’m glad this is how it happened,” Vasconcellos said. “Usually, we know we got it when we have five games left.”
“Now, we have the momentum going into the playoffs. And hopefully, we can go into North Quincy and get a win,” Vasconellos said.
For Wareham to get to that point, it had out run Greater New Bedford.
“We wanted to beat them up the court, and I felt our bigs beat their bigs,” Brogioli said.
“Their big men couldn’t run with our big men, and that was the difference right there,” Vasconcellos said.
Forward Latroy Hairston led Wareham in scoring with 16 points alongside guard Andrew White.
“I can’t even explain how it feels. I have never been that guy for games. Now in my senior year, it’s my year,” Hairston said.
While it was Senior Night, Wareham had contributions from up and down the roster. Hairston, Vasconcellos, White, Michael Labonte, Chris Ciacci, Jovahn Thomas and Cy Bartiteau all had at least five points.
“I’m proud of my team, but let’s keep it up. We don’t lose another game from here on out,” Vasconcellos said.
Brogioli was also happy to take the conference after a home game.
“It was a good atmosphere. We finally got a few people in the gym, which was nice,” he said.
At 15-4, Wareham has secured at least one playoff home game. The playoffs begin the week of Feb. 24.