Bulldogs blast past Malden in tourney opener

LYNN – Finally able to put all the distractions off the court with the suspension of head coach Buzzy Barton behind it, the Lynn English boys basketball team came out on Tuesday at the Paul F. Cavanagh Field House and delivered a statement: The Bulldogs are not out to give up their Division 1 North title easily.Malden never stood a chance on Tuesday as the Bulldogs blasted out to a 24-6 lead early in the first quarter and never relented until they led by 30 in the fourth quarter of an 84-66 win. English will host Lexington on Friday (7) in the quarterfinals.Click here for a photo gallery.”For all the negative stuff that’s been said about this program the last few days, the thing that was forgotten is that this group of kids has worked their tails off this year,” English assistant coach Mike Carr Jr. (who coached in Barton’s place) said. “So it was nice to just get back on the floor and play again.”It was all Bulldogs from tip to buzzer as five players scored in double figures, led by 16 from Keandre Stanton.”Keandre was just unbelievable,” Carr said. “He has really stepped it up for us the last few games.”The game was tied at 4-4 in the early moments before English exploded for a 20-2 run that made it an 18-point game late in the first. Malden chipped away and cut it to 10 before eventually trailing by 13 after one.Malden continued to hang around until late in the first half when English put the Golden Tornadoes down for the count with a 10-0 run that had its exclamation point in a thunderous dunk by Jarell Byrd that brought the capacity crowd to its feet.Another big run at the start of the third, this one to the tune of 13-0, extended the lead to 61-25 with 4:30 left in the quarter. English would push the lead to 28 before Malden’s Robinson Vilmont went crazy in the fourth quarter.The senior almost singlehandedly tried to bring his team back with a series of drives to the basket. His hard work turned the game into a much more respectable final.”They started to make a little run on us there and it got a little crazy,” Carr said. “But I think since the Salem game, we’ve really been playing well.”