English boys turn in clutch run to top Classical

LYNN – Not even Mother Nature could keep the basketball diehards out of the Paul F. Cavanagh Field House at Lynn English on Tuesday as the Bulldogs went in search of a second straight unbeaten Northeastern Conference record.Standing in their way, however, was a Lynn Classical team that was not ready to let its rivals get there easily. And for the fans who braved the ugly weather, the show was worth the hazardous trip.There were rim-rattling dunks, plenty of emotion and what turned into one of the best games of the season. The Rams were more than game, but it was English who turned in a clutch run in the final minutes to finally pull away en route to an 80-78 win.Click here for a photo gallery.”You wouldn’t expect anything else when English and Classical suit up,” Bulldogs coach Buzzy Barton said. “It’s always a dogfight and fortunately we were able to get out with the win.”The Bulldogs (19-1) got a typical game from Ryan Woumn, who finished with 21, but it was the rest of the supporting cast that came through in the clutch for English.Travonne Berry-Rogers had 20 and Keandre Stanton added 14 but perhaps the biggest contributions came from Jordan Rogers, who scored half of his 12 points in the fourth quarter.”Jordan really came up big,” Barton said. “He’s been playing good since we’ve started him the last three games. He did a great job on the boards.”English also did a fantastic job of holding NEC North MVP Jasper Grassa in check all night. Grassa was constantly hounded by two or three white shirts at a time and finished with a very quiet 12 points.”I told him (Jasper) that we’ve played 24 games every year for the last four years and that’s the first time I’ve seen him struggle from the field,” Classical coach Tom Grassa said. “But we got a great game from a lot of other people.”Tony Wonde had 19 to lead the Rams while Josh Cheever was immense, finishing with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Nick Grassa added 12, including three huge 3-pointers in the fourth quarter when the Rams made a run to try to go ahead.”Cheever really had a great game for them and there’s not a lot you can do when they start hitting shots like they did,” Barton said. “I think some of them came from Classical High.”English had attempted to run the Rams out of the building in the first half, but Classical fought back to trail by only two (37-35) at halftime. The Bulldogs extended the lead to four after three quarters and made it an eight-point game early in the fourth when Rogers rattled off four straight points.When Jarell Byrd scored on a layup to make it 64-53 with just under seven minutes to go, it looked like English had finally assumed control. The Rams, however, stormed back in a hurry.Nick Grassa hit a pair of threes and Jasper Grassa added a third as a part of a 10-2 run in two minutes that cut the gap to 65-64 with 5:29 to go. Stanton followed with a jumper before the younger Grassa got his team all the way back, tying the game at 67 with a deep three from the left wing.Berry-Rogers put English back in front for good when he buried a trey of his own and when Woumn followed with his lone triple of the night, English led 75-68 with 3:00 remaining.Jasper Grassa cut the lead back to five before Rogers and Stanton completed a 12-3 run that upped the lead to nine (79-70) with 1:50 remaining and allow English fans to finally breathe easy.”I couldn’t be prouder of these kids,” Barton said. “To go unbeaten in this league says something in itself and to be 19-1 is great too.”