Last modified: Friday, February 29, 2008 12:34 AM EST AHS boys knocked out BY KEVIN R. LaBOUNTY SUN CHRONICLE STAFF BROCKTON - The first time the Attleboro High boys' basketball team faced Brockton in their regular-season finale, large scoring runs are what really cost the Bombardiers during a 74-58 setback to the Boxers. And, unfortunately for Attleboro, that was the case again when the teams met in the first round of the MIAA Division I South Sectional Tournament on Thursday night. Brockton, the top seed, blew open a close game with a huge third-quarter surge on the way to an 89-56 win over the 17th-seeded Bombardiers, who finished the season with an 11-11 mark. The win improved the Boxers' record to 19-2 overall. Brockton will host ninth-seeded Madison Park in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 4 p.m. Madison Park advanced to the quarterfinals with a 54-51 win in overtime against eighth-seeded Brookline on Thursday night. The only two losses this year for the Boxers have come to Boston College High and Dartmouth. After trailing by eight at the half, 46-38, Attleboro closed the gap to four at 42-38 following a jumper by Andrew Anderson with six minutes remaining in the third quarter. Mac Borgellas, who had 14 points in the game up to this point, was called with a charging foul and received a subsequent technical foul at the 5:37 mark. That sent the senior forward to the bench with his third and fourth fouls. Jarrod DeVaughn hit a pair of free throws and then Kendall Gillians hit a three-pointer, pushing the Brockton lead to 11 points at 49-38 in the span of just seven seconds. After Allen Leach drove to the basket for two points, Brockton scored the next six points to open up a 15-point advantage at 55-40 with 3:40 remaining in the third quarter, completing a 13-2 spurt in the process. After KP Morgan connected on a pair of free throws to make it 55-42, Kyle Gerry almost single-handily put the game out of reach, keying an 11-2 run that gave the hosts a 66-44 lead with just under two minutes remaining in the third. Gerry hit a deep three to make it 58-42 and concluded the spurt with a three-pointer and a three-point play to push the lead to 22 points. Brockton would outscore Attleboro 35-21 in the third to take a 71-49 lead after three quarters. The Boxers would complete the victory with an 18-7 surge in the fourth quarter for the final margin of victory. "They are best team athletically and the best shooting team we have faced this year," said Attleboro coach Mark Houle. "Against a team like that you have to limit their runs. We were able to do that for a while, but then their athletic ability took over and they took off from there. Once they got the momentum, it was hard for us to get it back." In the first meeting between the two teams on February 20, the Bombardiers held a one-point lead after the first quarter, 13-12. But the Boxers outscored Attleboro 23-11 in the second quarter and 25-7 in the third for a 60-31 lead. Brockton outscored Attleboro 48-18 over the second and third periods in that contest. In their final games in Bombardier uniforms, Borgellas finished with 16 points, while Leach contributed 10 points and Jared Linhares added eight. DeVaughn finished with a game-high 24 points for the Boxers, while Gerry had 23 points, including 14 in the decisive third quarter. In the first quarter on Thursday night, Attleboro found itself trailing 9-4 early on, but rebounded to cut the deficit to one at 14-13 after one. A basket by Borgellas (12 first-half points) to start the second quarter gave the Bombardiers a 15-14 lead, but Brockton went on a modest 9-4 run to take a 23-19 lead with 5:01 remaining in the first half. Attleboro cut the lead to two points (25-23) and later three (27-24), but the Boxers put together another 9-4 run to end the first half and take an eight-point lead at the break, 36-28. "We tried to control the tempo of the game and tried to slow down them down," said Houle, "and, again, we were able to do that for a while. We just lost to a better basketball team, but the effort was there for our kids the entire game."