On January 19th, the boy’s thirds basketball team hosted Cushing Academy for a 4:30 tipoff in the Hale Gym. Despite trailing at half-time, the team rallied in the 2nd half for a 49-40 win to raise their record to 2-3. Cushing shot the ball extremely well in the 1st half, hitting 5 out of 7 shots from long range to jump out to a quick 9-point lead. Deerfield chipped away at the lead, working the ball around to get some good looks at the basket, and cut the lead to 4 at the half, 23-19. Right out of the gate in the 2nd half, Deerfield hit several 3-pointers and finally took a lead at 28-27. The teams traded the lead for the next several points before Deerfield finally took the lead for good at 35-34, after 2 free throws from Gunnar Moore ’25. The lead was stuck at a still-precarious 5 for the last few minutes before MacGregor Hynds ’25 sealed the 9-point win with 2 free throws and a layup with under 10 seconds left. The team was led by Jonny Scagel ’25 with 13 points, Lock Grigsby ’25 with 8 points, and Ephraim Tutu ’24 with 7 points. The team has a return date on the road against Eagle Hill, whom they beat 32-26 back on December 15th, on January 22nd at 3 pm in Hardwick, Mass.