The Wareham boys basketball team overcame the Buccaneers from Bedford in a hard-fought physical game at TD Garden Monday night to become the eastern Massachusetts champions by the score of 63-49. They will play New Leadership Charter School for the State Championship on Saturday at 12:30 PM at the DCU Center in Worcester.

In a game befitting Vikings and Buccaneers, in which bodies seemed to be either bouncing off each other or the floor, Wareham proved to be both the more physical and more skilled team and the one better able to find its way through the maze of defenders to the basket.  It was a game where shooting percentages didn't mean very much - Wareham just had to score more than Bedford.  Which the Vikings did.

Wareham led at each break.  Neither team was able to find much success early in the game, but Bedford held a slim 14-13 lead with seconds remaining in the first quarter when Jules Tavares hit a very deep three that brought the Garden to its feet.  It provided the lift his teammates needed to surge out to a 10-point lead at the half, 36-26.  Tavares had 12 points at the half, and was helped by Jordan Rezendes (8), Ryan Pina and Darien Fernandez (each with 5).  Fernandez took advantage of the rough play with drives to the basket and made Bedford pay by making his free throws.

The hard playing style continued in the second half, with Bedford creeping as close as 5 by playing hard defense and driving to their own basket.  But Wareham had just enough answers to keep the Buccaneers at bay.  The physcial defense left the Vikings frequently frustrated as they missed multiple shots around the basket, only to have a 3rd or 4th miss be rebounded by Bedford.  At their own end, however, Bedford faced an equally tough Wareham defense and they missed frequently.

At the end of the 3rd quarter, Wareham led 47-39.  In the 4th quarter, the Vikings appeared the more poised of the two teams and, with 4:00 left, they led by 10 points.  As they had done on Saturday against Cardinal Spellman, the Vikings chose to play a controlled game on offense, inviting the Buccaneers to foul.  Fortunately, this time Wareham made its foul shots and won comfortably.  With the final seconds of the game ticking off, Coach Brogioli pulled his starters and played his remaining seniors, giving them the chance to say they had played at the fabled Boston Garden.

Jordan Rezendes led Wareham with 20 points, followed by Jules Tavares with 16.  Pat Murphy played his usual strong game, but was held to only 2 points. He will try to reach the 1,000-point mark in Saturday's game in Worcester.

Bedford was led by Michael Ingram-Rubin with 21 points.