HIGH-SCHOOL

Burlington ends title drought, Rice's 3-year reign in D-I

Austin Danforth
Free Press Staff Writer
Burlington's Asko Mostarlic celebrates the win over Rice Memorial in the Division 1 boys state basketball championship in Burlington on Saturday, March 5, 2016.

Two days before starting his 94th and final game for Burlington High School, Josh Hale talked about the desire to finish his career with no regrets.

After four years in the spotlight, the Seahorses’ stalwart had seen his share of highs and lows, always — without fail — taken with an even-keeled demeanor. Thrilling comebacks and painful letdowns. Final Four losses, Final Four victories. The twists and turns of Burlington’s annual rivalry series with Rice.

All of those threads entwined Saturday, with just enough time left for Hale and the Seahorses to tie them off in the shape of a long-awaited championship banner.

Following two free throws with an off-balance floater in the lane, Hale provided the spark for top-seeded Burlington’s fourth-quarter rally to vanquish No. 2 Rice and pull off a 37-29 victory in the Division I boys basketball state championship game at sold-out Patrick Gym on Saturday afternoon.

“It feels like I’ve been here forever and to finally bring one home for the team that I’ve loved since I was a little kid is just unbelievable,” Hale said.

“I remember watching my brother cut down the nets when I was in like fourth grade, I didn’t really grasp it,” he said. “But now, it’s amazing. It’s all your dreams come to fruition at that point.”

Burlington coach Matt Johnson hugs Josh Hale after Burlington defeated  Rice Memorial in the Division 1 boys state basketball championship in Burlington on Saturday, March 5, 2016.

Hale finished with a team-high 11 points as Burlington (23-1) avenged last year’s title-game loss to the rival Green Knights (20-4) to secure the program’s state-record 21st championship. He scored six points in the final stanza as the Seahorses finished on a 17-4 run.

Junior forward Kaden Rosamilia tossed in nine points off the bench for BHS , while sophomore Kevin Garrison added eight points and senior Asko Mostarlic posted seven points and 10 rebounds.

The win also dashed Rice’s bid for a fourth straight crown and ended an eight-year title drought for the Seahorses, who last hoisted the trophy with an undefeated campaign in 2007-08. Saturday’s final was the first since 1947 in which neither squad cracked the 40-point mark and the lowest combined score since 1945.

“It’s really sweet,” BHS coach Matt Johnson said. “The mix of being really happy for the seniors, especially Josh Hale who’s been with us now for many years, and Asko and Mentor (Hashani) who really have done a great job.

“And when you’ve been the runner-up three times, to win after having lost three, makes it feel pretty good.”

Senior standout Ben Shungu netted a game-high 13 points for the Green Knights, his bid to lead the powerhouse program to a fourth consecutive title coming up just short against a Burlington team they’ve faced nine times in the last three years. Jack Fitzgerald added six points.

The century-old rivals produced a pair of down-to-the-wire classics earlier this year, with Burlington leveling the score with a 73-71 win on the final night of the regular season. The rubber match was nowhere near as loose but every bit as tense.

“Every possession is a battle to find the best shot and get a good defensive stop,” Hale said.

Said Rice coach Paul Pecor: “The kids just know each other so well. All those moves and all those things you can get away with against maybe other teams that don’t know each other as well, you can’t.”

Knotted 9-9 after one quarter, Burlington took control early in the second and went up 16-11 on a Hale 3-pointer with 5:40 left in the half.

But the Seahorses went ice-cold for the next 10 minutes of game time. In that span, Rice countered with an 11-0 run into the third quarter — taking a 17-16 lead by halftime and leading by as many as six points.

“Sometimes when it’s such a low-scoring game there’s a tendency to get frustrated and I thought our kids just kept battling through it,” Johnson said.

As significant as Rice’s 24-20 lead felt with eight minutes to go, it was far from insurmountable for the Seahorses, who erased a 20-point second-half deficit in a win over Brattleboro earlier this winter.

“We had to keep playing hard, play for each other. Get stops, take time on offense and get good shots,” Mostarlic said.

The biggest break of the contest, however, fell for BHS when Shungu headed to the bench with 7:25 to play after being whistled for his fourth foul.

Inside a minute, Hale had kick-started the comeback with four quick points. And Burlington took the lead for good with 5:55 left when Kujtim Hashani chased down a long rebound and fed a quick outlet pass to Garrison for a fastbreak layup and 26-25 edge.

“I think, as I told my guys, I’ll take a lot of this today because we didn’t really practice a lot (for), ‘what if Benny gets in foul trouble?’” Pecor said. “We didn’t talk a lot about it and obviously we saw what happened.”

Shungu reentered moments later but the Seahorses’ charge didn’t break. Mostarlic knocked down a fadeaway jumper from the elbow and Hale found Rosamilia wide-open behind the arc for a 3-pointer to make it 31-25 with 3:37 left on the clock.

“You could see the momentum, the kids realized they had the lead and the chance to win it — you could see them shift up a notch with their defense,” Johnson said.

Burlington, which finished with a 39-20 edge on the glass, held Rice to just one basket in the final 2 1/2 minutes and iced the title at the free throw line — going 6-of-8 in the final minute — to return to glory.

“All those kids … there’s so much respect between the two teams, that’s really important,” Pecor said. “You know, the rivalry is so big, but the players playing the game and the coaches coaching the game, we all get along so well. … We know they can play, they’re a great team, and I think they have the same respect for us.

“I’m happy for those guys, I truly am, even though it hurts on our end.”

This story was originally published March 5, 2016. Contact Austin Danforth at 651-4851 or edanforth@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/eadanforth

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