Boys Basketball: Beverly puts on big finish to defeat Saugus

Evidently Beverly coach Scott Lewis pushed the right buttons with his Panther team at halftime in Saugus on Friday.The Panthers trailed 36-35 at the break, but outscored Saugus 21-9 in the third quarter to take the lead and eventually a 69-55 victory.”We came out strong in the third quarter and then had to hold on at the end,” Lewis said.Curtis Manuel and Matt Tobin were the big reasons for the Panthers second half surge. Manuel scored all 11 of his points in the final 16 minutes while Tobin caught fire, finishing with a team high 21.THe Sachems (3-9), meanwhile, couldn’t buy a bucket in the second half, scoring just 19 points.”It was just a frustrating game offensively,” Saugus coach Titus Manderson said. “We did a good job in getting open shots, but really didn’t get anything to fall.”Dan Internicola was outstanding for Saugus in the loss, scoring a game-high 27 points. Ryan Anastos finished with 18 for the Sachems.English 62, Gloucester 37At Gloucester, the Bulldogs (11-2) got off to a slow start but had things running well by the end.Eugene Turner had 15 points to pace an English offense that saw three players reach double figures. Jose Rivera had 11 points and Jeremy Subervi finished with 10. James Mitchell pulled down 12 rebounds for the Bulldogs.Classical 62, Danvers 35At Danvers, the Rams (9-5) bounced back from Tuesday’s loss at Everett with a solid performance on the road, that saw nine different players score points.”It was a good opportunity for us to get good, solid minutes for a lot of different players,” Classical coach Tom Grassa said.Chad Quintana had 12 points to lead the balanced Classical offense. Jarell Byrd also reached double figures, finishing with 11. Tony Johnson pulled down 14 rebounds.Arl. Cath. 72, St. Mary’s 61At Lynn, the Spartans (7-5, 4-2 Catholic Central League) found themselves playing catch-up from the beginning and never were able to get all the way back.Tyler Grillo had 19 points for St. Mary’s and Alex Mitchell added 14 in the loss for St. Mary’s, who had no answer for AC’s Joe Granato’s 32 points.Swampscott 64,Peabody 40At Swampscott, the Big Blue (9-5) jumped out to a 24-9 lead after one quarter and a 44-14 lead at the break.Scott Leffler had 16 points and Ryan Squires added 15 to pace the Swampscott attack. Craig Rodenstein chipped in with 13 as nine different players scored for the Big Blue.”We had things flowing (Friday),” Swampscott coach Paul Moran said.Kevin Skop finished with 10 points for Peabody.Winthrop 56, Revere 51At Winthrop, the Vikings (8-3) struggled early in shaking off the rust following a week off, but took a 36-28 halftime lead and then hung on down the stretch.Dino Mallios led Winthrop with 21 points and Jonathan Murdock added 13 for the victors. Mike Visco pulled down 13 rebounds for the Vikings.Lynnfield 78, Amesbury 50At Lynnfield, the Pioneers (8-6) got an outstanding effort from Mike Kennedy, who poured in 36 points and dished out six assists. Jeff Milinazzo chipped in 16 points and 10 rebounds while John Mehr had 14 points and nine rebounds.Williams 67, Fenwick 51At Braintree, Nolan DiPanfilo had 15 points and Phil Eagan added 12 for the Crusaders (4-7), who trailed 33-23 at halftime and never got even.