DEDHAM, Mass. — Lambros Papalambros is a player’s coach, beloved for his positive personality. But the Nobles coach isn’t afraid to show another side, as rare as it is.
Three weeks since his Bulldogs last played a game, they came back from the break Saturday and were a little bit rusty in the first half. They had some lazy, uncharacteristic moments as they trailed by three at halftime. He wasn’t mad or upset, but he needed to get a point across.
“It was probably the first time I really got after us this year,” Papalambros said. “I thought it was necessary, and shoot, they responded, so that was great.”
With the help of some halftime adjustments, Nobles increased its physicality, held Thayer to one shot more consistently and played with more force and movement offensively. The result was a 58-46 victory that pushed the Bulldogs to a perfect 9-0 record as they continued to assert themselves as one of the best teams early in this NEPSAC Class A and ISL season.
The game was tied at 39 late in the second half before Nobles went on a 17-2 run to seal what was mostly a back-and-forth, tight game. Here are eight standouts and takeaways from the game.
Jack Charchaflian, Nobles
Class of 2028, 6-0 guard
Hometown: Winchester, Mass.
Charchaflian continued his breakout NEPSAC debut season with a game-high 23 points, which included four 3-pointers. As we’ve come to expect, he was reliable all game as Nobles’ primary ball-handler, rarely made a mistake and continuously made the right reads. He got downhill with both hands consistently and was confident with his finishes, whether it was a nifty floater or a mid-air adjustment against multiple defenders at the rim.
After a standout season at Winchester High School, Charchaflian said he’s having fun playing a different style of basketball under Papalambros, who has helped unlock his abilities and empowered him with confidence.
“He’s holding me accountable to doing everything on the floor, not just scoring,” Charchaflian said. “He’s making me be a real point guard, he’s letting me know when I need to get my teammates more involved, letting me know if it’s a force or a rushed shot in general.
“Lambros is a huge factor. He’s helping me a lot with my confidence. He’s a player’s coach. That’s what he does. He boosts you up and he allows you to take the shots you take as long as they’re good shots. He gives us trust in those, so that’s why we play with so much confidence.”
Kayden Hurd, Nobles
Class of 2028, 6-1 guard
Hometown: Dorchester, Mass.
Nobles’ backcourt is in good hands for the next three years with Charchaflian and Hurd, the latter of whom I thought was Saturday’s MVP. He scored 10 points on a pair of 3-pointers, but his impact went far beyond the bucket. He was hustling all over the floor. I counted at least four offensive rebounds that he converted for scores or follow-up fouls, and he was a primary defender on Thayer star Brayden Buckley, helping limit him to just six points.
“He does that every single game,” Charchaflian said. “I mean, every team needs a player like KJ to be honest. That’s the easiest way to say it.”
Added Papalambros: “Without KJ Hurd, we’re 3-6. He is our heart and soul. He’s amazing. He’s an animal.”
Jack Mullins, Nobles
Class of 2027, 6-7 guard
Hometown: Westwood, Mass.
Nobles’ leading scorer entering Saturday had a slow start, but he came alive to spark the Bulldogs’ 17-2 run. He drew several fouls as he started getting to the rim, and he drew another with a steal. His dunk on a backdoor cut feed from Zach Baum gave Nobles life and some juice from their home crowd, and it broke the tension from a difficult back-and-forth game. Mullins also had a sweet move where he drove from the 3-point arc to the paint and made a jump stop into a tough finish from a difficult angle over a defender. The Bulldogs didn’t look back.
“He wants it so bad and he’s so competitive,” Papalambros said of Mullins. “I actually see a lot of myself in him and that’s probably why I love him and I’m biased to him. He presses a little sometimes because he wants it so much and it’s like no, instead of pressing to score, press to play defense, press to rebound. Do that stuff and all the other stuff will happen. I thought he did that more in the second half and that’s who he’s been the whole season.”
Quick shout: Raul Cruz (Dorchester, Mass.) was instrumental in this win. He hit two 3-pointers in the first half, including an NBA range make, that helped Nobles stay in the game despite a sluggish start, and he drew the defensive assignment of Michael McNamara in the second half as he made his touches difficult.
Michael McNamara, Thayer
Class of 2027, 6-9 forward
Hometown: Needham, Mass.
McNamara got comfortable with an early 3-pointer, and he used that momentum to hit some really difficult shots, including one where he made a left-handed move into the paint and used the defender’s body to create separation for a fallaway jumper. It seems that McNamara is finding more and more comfort with his scoring versatility and using his unique 6-foot-9 frame and ability to take opponents off the dribble or attack mismatches from the post. He was an active screener and moved consistently without the ball all game as Thayer worked to get him the ball in advantageous positions.
Malcolm Curry & Justice Grant, Thayer
Curry: Class of 2026, 6-0 guard from Brockton, Mass.
Grant: Class of 2028, 5-11 guard from Hyde Park, Mass.
I’m combining Curry and Grant as two players I wasn’t super familiar with, but impressed me with their hustle and impact on the margins to keep Thayer around for most of the game. In the first half, Curry gave the Tigers good minutes as an on-ball defender, and he had a strong sequence in which he hit a catch-and-shoot and then made a great cut to the hoop, where Buckley found him for two. He also made a smart play where he drove into the teeth of the defense, stopped and made a pass back out to the perimeter off two feet for a teammate’s 3-pointer. Grant, meanwhile, was all over the offensive and defensive glass, which included a defensive board and coast-to-coast finish. He also made a great finish with his left over a bigger defender in Zach Baum. I loved the energy they both brought, especially as others struggled to get going.
Takeaways
1. Papalambros raised an interesting point about his team’s changed mentality that’s fueled them to a 9-0 start. Last season, Saturday’s performance might have been one where they lost because they weren’t playing their best, but now their mentality is that they’ll do anything it takes to win.
“Last year we had a weird complex,” Papalambros said. (Assistant coach Jack) Freeman made a good point, like we thought that even when we were in games late, if we didn’t play up to our best potential, we felt like we didn’t deserve to win. It was strange. This year, we’ve flipped that. It’s like, no it doesn’t matter what happens, we believe that eventually our core principles are going to stay true. We trust each other.”
2. New England prep games can often have mild or low-energy environments, at least compared to MIAA games, but Saturday at Nobles was certainly an exception. The stands were full for a high-level game between two local teams with many local recruits that are on the rise in NEPSAC. I loved seeing that. It speaks volumes about the job Papalambros is doing in his second season. The program is creating buzz and excitement within the Nobles community.
