FITCHBURG -- The North Middlesex boys' basketball team got off to a fast start in the Monty Tech summer league, reeling off three wins after dropping their opener.

On Monday night, the Patriots continued solid play, outscoring Narragansett 32-11 in the second half to pull away for an easy 51-24 victory to improve to 4-1 on the summer.

Early on, North Middlesex had things rolling as they jumped out to a six-point lead. Francis Phillips put the first points on the board with a right wing three-pointer and Chris Brouillette added a layup off a great feed from Tyler Thomas. When Phillips hit Ryan DeLuca for a layup, the Patriots held a 7-1 lead five minutes into the game.

Over the next five minutes, North Middlesex went cold, not scoring a single point as the Warriors reeled off an 8-0 run. Chris Nelson led the way with four points while Mike Green added an offensive rebound and put back that gave Narragansett their only lead of the night at 9-7.

After missing a number of shots in a row, the Patriots found footing and put together seven unanswered points to regain the lead. Brouillette connected on a running five-footer before DeLuca hit on an aggressive driving layup. Phillips then set up Bobby Larsen for a trey from the left corner to make it 14-9 before North Middlesex settled for a 19-13 lead heading into the half.

Holding a slim four-point lead at 19-15, the Patriots came up with an 11-1 run to gain a little breathing room. Brouillette


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connected on a three-pointer from the top of the key while Larsen closed out the spurt with a trey from the left side off a Drew Patno feed to give North Middlesex a 30-16 advantage.

The Warriors closed to within 10 midway through the second half, but the Patriots put the game away with 11 straight points. Five different players scored during the outburst, keyed by a Phillips three from the right wing and a steal and layup by DeLuca. When Mark Rossi banked in an eight-foot jumper off a Dylan Woods look, North Middlesex's lead was 23 at 43-20 before coasting to the final 27-point margin.

DeLuca led the Patriots with 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Larsen finished with 10 points and five boards. Phillips two assists and two steals and Brouillette chipped in seven points apiece. Sam Heller added four points and four rebounds while Patno grabbed seven boards.

Nelson paced Narragansett with 10 points and 11 rebounds.