The Scituate High School basketball team played Hingham High School on January 6th– a game marked on both team’s calendars. The game was played as a part of the Good Sports TD Garden Invitational. The tournament was also held to honor the late Andrew James Lawson, as teams donned warm-ups that paid tribute to the Andrew James Lawson Foundation, a not-for-profit organization established to advance the lives of people with developmental and intellectual disabilities.   

After a loss to eventual state-champion, TechBoston Academy, in last year’s Division II state playoffs, Scituate entered the year with high expectations. Scituate is no longer a young team, as they possess 16 upperclassmen on the roster. The guards–junior Jack Poirier and senior Aidan Sullivan–play an important role in the Sailor’s success. Scituate has a plethora of talent to pick from off their bench as well.

Both teams entered the game undefeated–Scituate at 5-0 and Hingham at 8-0. Scituate and Hingham have been beating teams at an impressive rate, as the average margin of victory between the two is 21 points. Scituate overwhelmed Pembroke, beating them 79-53 the Friday before the game. Hingham also won 60-42 at Plymouth North the same night.

Anchored by their senior core, Hingham saw an opportunity for revenge after losing to Scituate last season 62-55. John Lowther, John Gates, and Jack Johnson have been mainstays for the Hingham varsity team–the trio is essential to Hingham’s success. The three are also familiar with Scituate’s Aidan Sullivan, as they all played on the same AAU basketball team this past spring.

The game started close, as both teams traded scores. Hingham started to break the game open as they pushed the lead to 22-14, but Scituate junior Peter Shamatta scored six consecutive points to keep the game tight. Both teams continued their back and forth trend, heading into halftime 29-25.

The third quarter was a different story for the Sailors. Hingham exploded for 30 points, and Scituate was unable to keep up. After expanding their lead to 36-25, the Harbormen subsequently went on an 18-4 run. Hingham was able to break Scituate’s press and make open shots.

In a postgame interview, Lowther said, “I thought we played extremely unselfishly in that third quarter. We had phenomenal ball movement and everyone was looking to create for other people.” Gates added, “We took advantage of the press. We did a really good job rotating when we got the ball over half court.”

The fourth quarter was no different, as Hingham maintained their lead. Scituate could not cut the deficit to less than 21 points. Poirier finished the game as Scituate’s leading scorer with 19 points and eight rebounds. Shamatta added 7 points and Sullivan had six rebounds with five assists.

Scituate players were disappointed with the loss, but plan to use it as motivation going forward into the second half of the season.

“I enjoyed the experience of playing on the same hardwood of basketball greats and many of my favorite players,” Shamatta said. “I want to learn from what we did wrong and fix our game. We want to continue to get better as a team.”

“It was an amazing moment, but we definitely have things to work on as a team,” said junior Kyle Whippen. “It wasn’t our greatest performance as a team, but we will be prepared next time.”

The Sailors, who strive to wear teams down by being faster on the court, were victorious in their last three games since playing Hingham at TD Garden. Clearly, they have picked up from where they left off.