English, Brockton ready for D1 EMass final boys hoop showdown

Former Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver used to talk about “deep depth.” Decades later, the Lynn English and Brockton boys basketball squads seem to have perfected this principle.Both teams boast considerable bench strength, and this is one of several similarities between the teams, which play each other in the Division 1 EMass final tonight (7:45) on the parquet floor of TD BankNorth Garden.Visit www.itemlive.com for live updates during the game.”They’re a good team,” English coach Buzzy Barton said on Monday. “They’re like us. You can’t focus on one player. We’ll go out tomorrow and play our team game. Nobody will get any special interest.”The Bulldogs’ 71-60 victory over Central Catholic in the North final on Sunday impressed Brockton coach Bob Boen.”They looked very good,” Boen said. “It looked like they play a lot of guys, which is similar to us.”Depth offers assets to both squads. The Boxers feature nine seniors, the most Boen has had as Brockton coach. Five of them will start against English – guards Shawn Yard and Tim Young, forwards Jarrod DeVaughn and Louis Montes, and center Michael Neufville. Yard, Young, DeVaughn and Montes all average in double figures in terms of scoring. DeVaughn and Montes are co-captains and three-year starters.The Bulldogs, meanwhile, used a 25-point, six-steal effort from Ryan Woumn to ride into the state semifinal.Asked whether he anticipated such a stellar season from Woumn at the outset, Barton said, “Yes, I was” twice, adding, “Remember, he’s my captain. He’s the leader of the team. I expect him to lead.” Barton also praised Woumn’s work in the offseason and in the classroom, saying, “If he thinks he’s struggling in a class, he’ll talk to his father and get a tutor.”Both Boen and Barton noted Woumn’s performance in the second half against Central. The junior scored 18 of his points after intermission, an effort Boen called “outstanding,” while Barton said, “He was putting the team on his back and taking us as far as he could take us. But don’t get me wrong, it was definitely a team effort.”Indeed, Travonne Berry-Rogers scored 13 points against Central, while Charlie Rucker added 11. Justin Young and Archie Allen had six each.”(Allen) brings so much energy off the bench,” Barton said. “It seems like when he gets into the game, we change gears. The game speeds up offensively and defensively.”The coach also praised another bench player, Jose Rivera, who backs up Rucker at center.”Defensively, he plays well, and he’ll get us some points in the paint,” Barton said.English and Brockton will enter tonight’s game with nearly identical records. Brockton has gone a perfect 23-0, while English comes in at 23-2. Their dominance this season has followed frustrating finishes from last year. English lost in the first round of the 2008 tournament, while Brockton fell in the South sectional. Barton said English made going deep into the 2009 postseason one of its goals, using last year’s defeat as motivation.”I didn’t think many teams were as deep as us,” Barton said in describing the 2009 Bulldogs. “Coaches make substitutions and we don’t lose much. Our game plan is to wear people down with our deep bench.”The game plan for tomorrow afternoon sounds straightforward. After school gets out, “We’ll have a big meal,” Barton said. “We’ll make sure all (the players) eat ? We’ll have a little down time, we’ll relax, digest, and head to TD BankNorth Garden at 4:30.”A few hours later, the teams will tip off, ready for the next stop in their remarkable journeys.