Historic Scoring Effort Lifts Sharon Basketball

With junior guards Brian Mukasa (32) and James Fritzson (30) each scoring over 30 points, the Sharon High boys basketball team rolled offensively for nearly all of Tuesday night’s 89-71 victory over Oliver Ames.

“Obviously, our best outing of the season,” said Sharon Head Coach Bruce Jackman. “Our guards played extremely well. It was just a great night all-around for us.”

Mukasa said, “In transition, we were getting up and down [the court]. We killed it, especially in the first half. It was a good night. A lot of contributions, from everyone.”

On Oliver Ames’ Senior Night at Nixon Gymnasium, Sharon took control soon after the opening tap. Jackman said, “It definitely took a little bit of the wind out of their sails. That was big for us.”

The Eagles stretched their lead to 20 during the second quarter. Fritzson sunk five three-pointers during the first half, which concluded with the Eagles having racked up 49 points.

Fritzson said, “Coach told me during halftime that I was moving a lot without the basketball, and that got me a lot of open shots that I was able to hit. And we were just running the offense.”

Late in the second quarter and during the third quarter, Oliver Ames rallied, trimming their deficit to just four points. However, Sharon responded.

“We didn’t fold,” Jackman said. “We were able to hold them off, get it back up to 14 again, going into the fourth. That was definitely the turning point.”

“When they got close, they started to get momentum,” Mukasa said. “I just had to get aggressive, make plays. And my team responded, definitely, with the intensity, and we put it away.”

Jackman said, “Brian Mukasa and Fritzson kind of took over, handled the ball. Brian made a couple of key shots. Jimmy did a nice job defensively for us. And we got stops up front from [senior guard Sean] Asnes, on [OA senior Andrew] Reardon.”

Fritzson says that Sharon returned to what keyed their first-half success. “We just played hard. We stepped up on defense. We were talking to each other – stay long at the zone. And we got our offense back flowing; we were running it, getting to the basket,” he said.

Jackman says that in his 15 years in Sharon, and likely in the program’s entire history, two Eagles had never posted 30-plus-points in a single game. A barrage of fourth-quarter foul shots sealed the decision and put both Mukasa and Fritzson over that benchmark.

Also scoring in double-figures for Sharon was senior captain Kevin Bartas, with 13.

“We had people in foul trouble all night long; people stepped up,” Jackman said. “Mukasa, Fritzson, Bartas, and Beach played extremely well. Sean Asnes did a very good job on defense.”

Fritzson said, “I thought [junior guard] Ade [Bright] stepped up a lot off the bench – got the offense flowing. And Sean – he’s a monster on defense, and he got us steals, got us back into the game.”

Senior guard Adam DuBrow’s long-range three-ball was the finishing touch on Sharon’s season sweep over Oliver Ames. Mukasa said, “OA – we don’t like them, and I don’t think they like us. So it’s always fun to beat them. We get [especially] amped to play them. It was good.”

As for areas of improvement, Mukasa said, “We gave up too many points. We missed a lot of easy ones – myself definitely included.”

Due to weekend snow-outs, Sharon (10-7, 7-7) plays again on Wednesday night, as the Eagles travel to Bridgewater-Raynham.