The post-season is the ultimate challenge for the unbeaten, defending Division 3 state champion Danvers High Falcons. But for them to achieve the first pefect regular season of any major DHS team in school history, two final tests remain.
The Falcons, fresh off a 63-37 homecourt victory over Gloucester Thursday, boosting their record to 18-0, now take on Brighton Sunday at 6 in the nightcap of the annual Comcast Invitation at Babson College. If they win this one, they take on Monday at 6:30 in the title game the winner of the Newton North-Boston College High tussle, a pair of Division 1 squads. All four teams are highly ranked in the Boston newspaper polls, but only Danvers has a No. 1 ranking, in The Globe.
So we get to see to see just how good the Falcons are in these two games, a nice barometer heading into the state tournament. The Falcons got a healthy wakeup call against bottom-dweller Gloucester the other night, when the starters played an atrocious second quarter, turning a 19-5 advantage established by the second unit, comprised of five seniors that got the starting nod, into a 25-15 halftime lead.
Coach John Walsh said the right things at halftime, apparently, because the Falcoms came out and played vintage Danvers defense and transition offense in the third quarter, staging a 24-4 run that put the game away. There are no givens at this point, the Falcons learned. Hopefully they will apply what they learned in these two Comcast games coming up tomorrow night and Monday (title game or third place game).