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NORTH ATTLEBORO - Defense, Defense, Defense.

North Attleboro High basketball coach Chris Perron was a little surprised when his squad fell down by nine points in the early going Wednesday night.

A fan of tight defense, Perron called a timeout, reiterated that it was defense that won games and sat back to watch his Red Rocketeers respond. And, respond they did, throwing a blanket defense over Attleboro High to roll to a 67-38 triumph in the second game of the 31st annual North Attleboro Holiday Tournament at North Attleboro High.

The Red and White thus gained their third-straight entry into Friday night's (7:30) final against Taunton. The Tigers edged defending champion Franklin, 55-53, in the first game of the tourney. Franklin will battle Attleboro in the consolation contest at 6 p.m.

Attleboro (1-2) came roaring out of the gate and looked like it was going to run away with the game. A three-pointer from the left corner and a driving layup both by Allen Leach helped spark an 11-2 run in the first 3:07 of the game for the Blue and White. It was here that the Red Rocketeers took stock of themselves and decided to start playing some defense. Holding Attleboro off the board for the next 7:35, North Attleboro ran off the next 14 points to take a 16-11 advantage they would never relinquish. A putback by Derek Galvao stopped the bleeding temporarily for the Bombardiers, but North ran off six more points and just kept increasing its lead.

Charlie Morse's 10 points and eight more by Justin Graham allowed the host team to take a 30-21 advantage into the dressing room.

"We controlled the backboards tonight, I think," said North Attleboro's Perron. "Especially getting second and third attempts. Justin (Graham) and Charlie (Morse) played well, helping us out and we didn't turn the ball over as much. Those three things add up to a better team for us. We have complete respect for Attleboro. They have good guards and they work hard inside.

"Second and third attempts that we weren't getting early on started going in. We started hanging around tough at the basket." Asked what caused the turnaround early in the game, the Rocketeer mentor replied, "That was just recognizing their pressure and how they were going to attack us. Once we figured out we needed a certain person in a certain spot, it all kind of came together.

"That was getting Charlie in the middle and it ended up with a two-on-one down there, but it was working our personnel around their pressure. I was glad we gave them as few second shots as we did, that was our big thing against OA and Franklin. They were getting second and third shots," added Perron.

Three pointers by Allen Leach and Jared Linhanes, along with two other hoops by Leach brought Attleboro back to with 10 at 43-33 with 9:21 to play. But, the Hockomock League entry proved to be strong down the stretch, out-scoring their Old Colony League rivals, 22-5, at the end.

"Everything starts with defense," said Attleboro coach Mark Houle. "And, we didn't do a good job. We got into foul trouble because we weren't moving our feet. We were reaching in and we got some fouls.What it all comes down to is when we're moving our feet, causing them to have some tough shots, that's what we need.

"Bottom line is defensive pressure wasn't there for us when we needed it. Then, when we had opportunities to create offense in our own halfcourt, we had a real hard time breaking down their defense."

Morse and Graham both finished with 22 points for the 2-2 Red Rocketeers. Leach paced the Blue and White with 15 points, five more than Taylor Maynard.

Taunton had three players in double figures in their squeaker over the Panthers. Backcourter Brendan Perry dropped in a dozen points, one more than Jake Wren and two more than Drew Beck. Apollo Wade had nine for the winners. Darren Drew and Matt Palazini both had 10 points for Franklin. Franklin and Taunton have combined to win the last five championships with Taunton prevailing in 2001, 2002 and 2004. North Attleboro last took top honore with a three-peat fro m 1998-2000.