LOWELL, Mass. — Ronan Coffey had no time to think. With his team down three and the final seconds ticking away, the ball found him above the break and beyond the arc. Without hesitation, he hoisted a shot to save Norwell’s season and drained it, sending his teammates into hysteria.
“I almost shed a tear, personally,” senior teammate Oliver Rice said.
Coffey’s epic buzzer-beating 3-pointer sent the game to overtime, and Norwell used that momentum to make history on Friday night at the Tsongas Center. Behind their senior star’s heroics, the second-seeded Clippers completed their perfect 25-0 season with an incredible 64-61 victory over No. 20 Old Rochester to claim the Division 3 state championship. It’s Norwell’s first boys hoops title in program history.
Coffey capped his career with a game-high 30 points to secure glory, with six 3-pointers, the biggest shot of his life and eight points in overtime, including four free throws in the final minute to seal it.
“We could stay here until tomorrow night talking about Ronan Coffey,” Norwell head coach John Willis said. “Ronan Coffey is one of the best players I’ve ever coached. Ronan’s a winner. It’s not by accident that the ball found him and it’s not an accident that he stuck it. That’s what he’s all about.
“He’s a winner, and I’m so proud to have coached him,” Willis continued as he choked back tears. “I wish I could bring those guys back again. … I was so happy that it was Ronan. Burying that 3, and then hitting the free throws in overtime with ice in his veins. It was just fitting that it was Ronan.”
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It certainly wasn’t easy for Norwell, even though it has looked that way for most of the winter. Of the Clippers’ previous 24 wins, only three were decided by single digits as they rolled through their schedule. But they couldn’t quite find separation from Old Rochester, which seemed prime to finish its Cinderella story as both teams traded haymakers throughout the second half.
Norwell opened a seven-point lead in the first quarter, an eight-point lead in the third and a five-point lead with five minutes to go in regulation, but ORR punched back every time. Most of those responses came from senior guard Gavin Martin (24 points), who scored 17 in the second half, including the go-ahead bucket with a minute to go.
“We haven’t been down all season for the most part, so there was definitely a little uneasy feeling setting in,” said Norwell senior Will Bostrom. “But we have a team that’s been together – us three (Bostrom, Coffey and Rice) and Nick Adams have been together for 10 years at least. We knew we had each other. … This family that we’ve created, you know you can lean on each other.”
Norwell was whistled for a traveling violation with 40 seconds left before Martin hit two free throws to put the Bulldogs up three with 26 seconds remaining. Willis called for a timeout with 17.5 seconds to go, and drew up their go-to play. Adams curled around a screen for a good look at a 3-pointer with seven seconds left, giving them a second chance with a miss. The rebound came straight to sophomore forward Charlie Williams in the paint, and he turned to find Coffey, who quickly put it up.
“Great players, they always seem to be in the right spot, and Ronan was in the right spot,” Willis said. “He never hesitated, he just let it go. As soon as he released it, I just knew it was going in.”
Coffey scored the first four points of overtime, which gave the Clippers enough breathing room. Martin’s three-point play cut it to 62-61 with eight seconds left, but Coffey drained two ensuing free throws, and ORR’s game-tying 3-point attempt missed.
This win wouldn’t have been possible without sophomore center Jack Luccarelli. With Williams, the two gave Norwell much-needed size and toughness inside that it lacked in last season’s run that fell short in the Elite Eight. Luccarelli was massive on Friday night, scoring eight of his 12 points in the second half as he came up with huge rebounds and plays.
But this title was mostly about the senior group. Beyond Coffey, Adams (12 points) was critical with hustle plays and steals. Rice and Bostrom’s leadership as co-captains was invaluable. Willis said this has been a multi-year process that started with a 15-win season when they were sophomore, and then last season’s 20-win Elite Eight run. When the team met on the Monday after Thanksgiving for the first day of practice this season, Willis said he knew this would be the group that would finish the job. They didn’t expect to go undefeated, but Willis said they never talked about it.
“When the season ended, we met very quickly as a group and said, 0-0 right now,” Willis said. “It’s a brand new season. …
“I’ve been blessed to have such great teams over the years. This group was special. I knew it from when I had them at basketball camp when they were young. I got them when they were freshmen and every year, they just got better, and those who have seen them a lot know how unselfish they are. They don’t care who gets the points, they really don’t. They share the basketball, they do all the little things.”
