Any time Bob Fischer gets his hands on a high school basketball program good things happen. That is why the Dragons had to be somewhat leery when they traveled to Marshfield on Monday night to take on the Rams.

“We made it clear to the kids before the game that this wasn’t going to be your normal game,” said Coach Gordon Cushing

Not known as a basketball power, Marshfield was off to a 4-1 start under their new head coach prior to taking on undefeated Duxbury. As expected, the hosts gave the Dragons all they could handle, overcoming a 10-point deficit in the third quarter and eventually fading at the end in Duxbury’s 57-50 win.

It was Duxbury’s seventh straight win of the season, and got them ready for Wednesday night’s home game with undefeated Whitman-Hanson starting at 6:30 p.m.

Senior captains Mark Brust (29 points) and Sam Davidson got Duxbury off and running, as they combined for 11 of their team’s first 13 points and a 13-6 lead with 2:47 to go in the first half that had Fisher calling for a time out to keep the game under control.

Brust continued to torch the Rams over the next five minutes, as he hit a jumper in the lane, another from the foul line, one from the baseline, and a swish from the top of the key to build a 22-13 lead.

A steal for a lay-up by junior Brian Grossman gave the Cushing’s squad their biggest lead of the game at 29-17, forcing Fisher once again to storm up and down the sidelines before calling another time out.

This time he got the attention of his team, as they came out of the break with 2:30 to go in the half and went on an 11-2 run, thanks to the shooting of sophomore Barrett Murphy, who buried nine points in just over a minute to send his team into the locker room trailing 31-28.

Duxbury built its lead to 40-32 over the first five minutes of the third quarter, but the Rams closed the gap to 42-41 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.

Both teams surged with Brust and Grossman giving the Dragons a 46-41 lead, but the Rams countered on baskets by Phil Whitaker and Tom Fitzgerald to make it 46-45 with 5:07 remaining.

Marshfield had a chance to go ahead, but a lost possession and missed free throws were their best chances to take the lead.

Free throws by Ian Whitney and Mike Sullivan were critical down the stretch, as was a Brust basket off a loose ball that gave Duxbury a 51-47 lead with 2:18 to go.

A Sullivan hoop off a baseline feed from Brust made it 53-48 with 1:19 left, and a pair of free throws by Brust with 30 seconds remaining iced the game for the Dragons.

“I thought our defense played great in the first half, except for those three-pointers they scored near the end of the half. But overall it was a good win for us, because Fisher can coach like crazy,” said Cushing.