West Canaan
Schwarz’ career night helped the Royals defeat the Bears, 73-57, at the recently dedicated Edward P. Kehoe Gymnasium.
The 14th player in Mascoma history to join the 1,000-point club said he took a wait-and-see approach into Tuesday’s NHIAA Division III matchup.
“If the shots started flowing in the first quarter, I was thinking of going for it,” Schwarz said. “If they were falling, I was gonna keep going, and they were.”
Schwarz scored 27 first-half points — almost all on layups — and waited until the second stanza to showcase his jump-shooting prowess, draining four 3-pointers.
The captain’s second downtown conversion, taken from the top of the key with 2:43 remaining in the third quarter, pushed his career point total above 1,000 and gave his team a 48-34 lead.
Schwarz, who hit another 3-pointer to beat the third quarter’s final buzzer, also finished with nine rebounds.
He had no trouble getting to the basket against Newfound, employing a full arsenal of crafty dribble moves that included hesitations, crossovers and stutter steps.
“I’m usually more of a drive, layup, get-to-the-free-throw-line (type of player),” Schwarz said. “(Opponents) usually try to deny me the ball, and it’s harder to take a 3, so I try to create my own space for the shot, and tonight they were just going in.”
The Royals looked sharp at the outset, putting together an 8-0 run in the game’s first three minutes. The Bears came charging back, however, and trailed 18-17 after the first quarter. Mascoma (3-7 overall, 3-4 in NHIAA) opened up its lead to 34-24 by intermission.
Newfound put together a late run, clawing to within eight points (65-57) with 1:33 remaining in the game. Mascoma coach Jim Barry then sent three starters, including Schwarz, back on to the court to secure the victory.
Newfound, which tied the hosts with 29 team rebounds, fell to 1-7 in NHIAA. The Bears were paced by Mason Dalphonse and Jarrod Fairbank (15 points each). AJ Muse added 12 points in the losing cause.
Barry, Mascoma’s eighth-year coach, said he’s never had a player eclipse the 50-point mark, although he’s witnessed the feat once before.
“I said, ‘If it comes in the flow of the game and if they’re good shots, take ’em, just don’t force them.’ ” Barry said. “I don’t think (Schwarz) really forced anything tonight. … I kind of gave him the green light.”
Schwarz is a second-year captain who has started every game since his freshman year. He’s also a model citizen within the Royals’ basketball program, according to the coach.
“He’s humble, he’s coachable and he leads by example,” Barry said. “He makes coaching easy here, not because he’s vocal, because he leads by example. … He’s not afraid to be the hardest worker in practice.”
Schwarz became the school’s first 1,000-point scorer since Josh Poland scored his 1,000th career point in 2009.
“It’s definitely an accomplishment,” Schwarz said when asked to reflect on his historic achievements. “I don’t know, it’s all sinking in.”
Schwarz and Barry both seem unconcerned about Mascoma’s lackluster start.
“Our four losses were against teams we consider in the top six in our division,” Barry said. “We’re playing teams tough.”
Added Tuesday’s star performer: “We definitely had a slow start,” Schwarz said. “But we played a lot of good teams at the beginning of the season. We learned from those losses and hopefully improved from them.”
The Royals return to action on Friday at Berlin.
Correction
Josh Poland scored his 1,000th career point for the Mascoma High boys basketball team in 2009. An earlier version of this story incorrectly named the most recent Royal player to reach the milestone.