Mathews and Windham move on

By Tom Williams | March 6, 2010 at 12:05a.m.

By Doug chapin

WARREN

The Mathews High boys basketball team celebrated its return to the Division IV tournament with its first tourney win since 2004.

Friday, the Mustangs pounded Newbury, 84-45, in a sectional final at Harding High.

The Mustangs (17-4) will face Windham (12-10) in a district semifinal on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Harding.

The Bombers defeated third-seeded Bloomfield, 50-41, in Friday’s first game.

Mathews played at the Division III level the last two seasons.

The Mustangs were voted the number one seed at Harding and looked every bit the part.

Mathews led outmanned Newbury (7-15) by scores of 17-9, 38-22 and 61-29 at the quarter breaks.

The Mustangs, who start five seniors, had balanced scoring. Chris Morgan had 19 points and 11 rebounds, Shane Link added 18 points and seven rebounds, Collin Bowser recorded 11 points and four assists, Rick Sommers had 10 points, Cole O’Dell scored eight points and Corey Lumley added seven points and eight rebounds.

In the opener, Bloomfield, enjoying its best season in years, fell behind Windham 25-16 at halftime.

The Cardinals (16-6) tied the game twice in the second half but could not take the lead.

The first tie was at 27-27 with 4:32 left in the third quarter and the second came at the 4:52 mark of the fourth with the score 37-37.

Windham then opened a seven-point advantage and held off the Cards.

Senior Aaron Knight led Bloomfield with 19 points.