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GEORGETOWN — In every way possible, North Reading was clutch.

Whether through a stifling defense or late-game heroics, Georgetown got the best of the Hornets. With the summit of Division 2 of the Cape Ann League at stake, North Reading joined the Royals at the top (8-2 in the CAL, 12-3 overall) with a 66-58 victory.

The Hornets limped into the contest on a two-game losing streak and the trend continued as early offense from junior Mike Messman (10 points on the night) and defense from sophomore standout Jaymie Spears (game-high 22 points, 7 rebounds, 6 steals, 4 assists and a blocked shot) gave the Royals a 19-13 lead 1½ minutes into second quarter action.

But behind an amped-up, full-court defensive blanket, North Reading sent a message that was impossible to ignore.

Over the next 5½ minutes, Georgetown only got off one shot and suffered 13 turnovers as guards Bobby Rosano and Dino Rizzo (5 rebounds and 5 assists) joined with forward P.J. Dionne to contribute a pair of steals each during the sequence. A 19-0 run ensued led by two 3-balls and 10 points from Rosano (12 points and 4 assists) and seven more from Dionne (team-high 16 points with 5 steals) to give the Hornets a 32-19 advantage.

"P.J. has really come on for us lately," North Reading head coach Joe Casey explained. "And obviously credit has to go to Rosano and Matt Baretto — the two guys guarding Spears. I think they wore him down and forced him into some tough shots.

"We can’t play any way else," Casey said. "We play full throttle, and (last night) we were able to play at our pace."

"We had more turnovers in the second quarter than in some of our games," Royals head coach Mike Rowinski said. "North Reading’s size bothered us and we were rushing to run and forcing ourselves too much. They just outmuscled us and out-pressed us."

Darren Hartwell had 10 rebounds and Kevin Lentini eight as the Hornets outrebounded Georgetown, 45-34.

The Royals slowly rebounded as six points from Julio Colon (nine points in limited play) closed the gap to 43-42 late in the third period even with the center, Messman, Kyle McKay and Josh Ingram drawing their fourth fouls in the period. And on Messman’s putback and a fast-break layup from Spears, the Royals tied the game at 54 with 3:53 left to play.

But steals created layups for Rizzo and Lentini (eight points) as part of a 7-0 run that essentially locked up the win. And as Messman, Ingram and Colon fouled out, and with inside presence Chris Esposito lost from the lineup due to what Rowinski termed a "leisure time injury" suffered last weekend, the Royals could get no closer than six (61-55) the rest of the way.

"We played 11 and it was our best team effort of the season," Casey concluded. "We just got a lot of good balance (last night). Georgetown is a legitimate threat to go deep in the Division 4 tournament, and this was probably our best win in the last four or five years."

"That’s probably the best they’ve handled our press," said Rowinski. "And when we play half-court ball, we’re just an above-average team. We just don’t have the scorers to play that way."