Cason Faulk’s buzzer-beating game-winner on Feb. 11 – an absurd putback off the glass as he was falling to the ground on his back – set off a truly memorable celebration. His teammates mobbed him first, then the student section came spilling over. A few hours later, the highlight was being played on repeat on TVs across the country as the No. 1 play on SportsCenter.
But initially, Bridgewater-Raynham head coach Doug Alves wasn’t in the mood to party. Though his team had just won in incredible fashion over Catholic Memorial, he wasn’t happy that it got to that point after the Trojans coughed up a big lead. And when the celebration continued to the locker room, he shut it down.
“(I said), ‘I don’t mean to be the fun police, but we don’t need to be celebrating after playing that second half the way we played it,’” Alves recalled. “We broke the huddle and went home.”
The next day, Alves admitted he was at least somewhat misguided.
When he woke up, his phone lit up with text messages, but he waited to read them in detail. Alves made his way to school and on the drive there, he got a call from the father of Noah Perry-Lewis, his senior point guard, who told him the play had made SportsCenter. Alves didn’t believe him. He thought it might have come from a fake account. But then he started reading his texts, with the video being sent to him. It was real.
Alves got a particular kick out of what happened next. As SportsCenter transitioned from top plays to a highlight of the 76ers-Raptors, the anchor made a remark that Joel Embiid – who turned the ball over in the final seconds of a three-point loss – “could take a note” from Faulk.
Alves took in the unforgettable moment for his program. And when he met his team for practice that day, he had a confession.
“I said, ‘Maybe I should have let you guys celebrate a little more,’” Alves recalled.
B-R is hoping to do more celebrating, and they already have since. On Feb. 19, the Trojans got an arguably even more dramatic victory. Down eight against Attleboro with 1:20 remaining in regulation, they stormed back to force overtime and win. On Thursday night, in their first state playoff game, they trailed by 14 early to Methuen but made another late comeback to advance to the round of 16.
The Trojans have now won nine straight games, and 12 of their last 13. There seems to be something special brewing for this group, which refuses to die and seems intent on upsetting the apple cart over the coming weeks in the Division 1 state tournament.
“I’m sure people aren’t dying to play us,” Alves said.
Alves understands what it takes for his group to go all the way because he already has. A member of Taunton's 1997 state championship team, he has tried to impart the lessons he learned during that run. The sense of urgency and the level of focus required, the amount of work on and off the court needed, the attention to detail that’s so important. He's tried to get them to understand the massive opportunity in front of them to accomplish something that they and their community would cherish forever, just like he has in Taunton.
Inside the locker room, Alves thinks he has a team with the makeup to go on a run. It's a group that boasts athleticism, playmaking, shotmaking and toughness. They have a dynamic point guard in Perry-Lewis. Deshawn Faulk, a senior captain and older brother of Cason, gives them loud plays with his 6-foot-4 frame, whether it’s dunks or 3-pointers. Junior Cam Santos brings the defense, junior Lee Williams scraps and stretches the floor and Jack Balutis brings steadiness off the bench.
B-R is experienced. They have speed, skill, IQ and chemistry. They're a resilient group, too, which they've proven several times.
“I feel like I have every tool in the toolbox with this team,” Alves said.
And then, of course, there’s Cason Faulk, who was appropriately nicknamed “SportsCenter” for his heroics. The 6-foot-3 junior does it all for the Trojans. A week after his buzzer-beating putback against CM, he did it again in the win over Attleboro. Down two in the closing moments, he inbounded the ball before sprinting the floor, and when a 3-point heave missed, he was there for the game-tying putback to force overtime.
Alves described Faulk as the identity and heart and soul of his team. He embodies all the reasons why B-R has made it to this stage.
“He's just the ultimate competitor,” Alves said. “He’s the type of player that you love to play with and hate to play against. He just never says die. He thinks he can do anything. He’ll be in the huddle and asking mid-game to switch his matchup to the other team’s leading scorer. …
“He has that mentality. He’s just not going to lose. I’m just glad to have him on our side.”
For a few reasons, B-R is here because they don’t make anything easy on themselves. It’s true for how they play on the court, where they thrive with their backs against the walls. It starts with their schedule.
The Trojans are an independent team in the MIAA and not a member of any conference. That gives Alves the freedom to make his own schedule, and he chooses to make it as hard as possible. This season alone, 18 of their 20 regular-season games were ultimately against teams that made the MIAA state tournament. They also faced Bishop Hendricken, annually one of the best teams out of Rhode Island. The schedule included games against some of the state’s best, including Lowell, Attleboro, Mansfield and Brookline. Six straight games in January came on the road, a stretch where they went 5-1. Alves thought it was critical for one of his championship ingredients, which is being battle-tested.
“We try to schedule the best programs against the best coaches that I can,” Alves said. “My motto has always been, I’d rather be ready to play anybody in the tournament anywhere than worry about seeding or anything like that.”
In December, after it had rolled to five easy wins to start the season, B-R was dealt some needed humility in a loss to Bishop Feehan. The Trojans went scoreless in the second quarter before scoring 46 points in the second half and ultimately coming up short. Alves described it as an eye-opening loss because it forced his group to take him seriously in the principles he was coaching. Two more losses followed, but Alves thought the three-game skid sharpened their focus and urgency. They’ve reeled off 12 of 13 since.
If B-R seems comfortable with being in uncomfortable situations, it’s by design. In every practice, Alves makes time to put his first team in a game situation like being down 12 with three minutes left. The Trojans are a pressing team, and he thinks the best way for his group to develop the instincts to be successful in it is to practice those scenarios repeatedly. They do it so much that they’re not fazed when it comes up in real games.
Clearly, it’s paid dividends. They staged that improbable comeback over Attleboro, and on Thursday night, they trailed by seven with three minutes left against Methuen before going on a 12-0 game-ending run over the final two minutes to survive and advance to the round of 16. They’ll meet No. 24 seed Boston Latin next week.
“It’s definitely not by chance that we’re able to do that,” Alves said. “I just have that confidence in the guys. They just tend to battle and fight until there’s 0:00.”
Alves knows his group still has plenty to prove to claim glory. But so far, these Trojans have given him every reason to believe big.
“I feel like we’re not missing any of the ingredients,” Alves said.
