PEABODY (Photos – Videos) The Peabody boys basketball team opened play Tuesday night in the MIAA Division 1 tournament with a 50-43 win over Belmont. #28 seeded Peabody will now play at #5 seeded Xaverian on Friday night (6 p.m.). The Tanners were led offensively by Raphel Laurent (21-points) and Anthony Forte (19-points) Belmont had a more balanced scoring attack with 8 different scorers with Gabriel Meyer-Herron leading the team with 10-points. Peabody led at the half by 10-points (31-21). Peabody had two first half 13-point leads (27-14 & 31-18) but struggled to score in the third quarter. With less than a minute to play in the third quarter the Tanner had only posted 3-points. They closed out the quarter by scoring a total of six points in the quarter but still maintained a lead (37-30) The fourth quarter saw each team generate offense and make big defensive stops. Belmont closed to within four points to open the fourth quarter (37-33) but that was a close as Belmont would come as the Tanners had the answers (shots & rebounds) to close out the opening round MIAA win. Below are Peabody interviews with coach Thad Broughton and Raphel Laurent.
Postgame Interview – Photo Gallery
