Peabody boys basketball makes it tough on Saugus

SAUGUS ? With a 6-8 record, the Peabody High boys basketball team doesn’t have to win out to qualify for the state tournament, but the Tanners are playing with a must-win intensity right now.With four players scoring in double figures, including a game-high 22 points from center Brian DeAngelis, Peabody defeated Saugus, 75-57, Friday night, at Saugus High’s Towers Gym.Stephen Girolamo added 15 points, on five 3-pointers, while Jon Byrne added 12 and Kyle Franey had 10. With the score tied, 25-25, the Tanners closed out the first half with a 7-0 run and then pulled away behind Denaglis, who had 14 points in the third quarter.”It’s a game of runs,” Peabody coach Domenic Coleman said. “We knew Saugus has a great group of shooters and they’d keep coming at us, but we played good defense and stayed patient on offense.”Saugus (6-6), was led as usual by Omar Benabicha with 18 points, but they were all hard-earned as Peabody’s Boyce and Byrne in particular played aggressive on the Sachems’ guards. Curtis Casella added 15 points and Jim Hyde chipped in with 10, but Saugus only had six different players score.”Peabody is just an outstanding team,” Saugus coach Paul Moran said. “It all starts with Brian DeAngelis, but Boyce is a great player and (Franey and Girolamo) are great shooters.”Saugus led for most of the first quarter behind some good shooting from Brett DiPanfilo and Hyde, who then scored on the first possession of the second quarter to give the Sachems a 5-point lead, which turned out to be their largest of the game.Consecutive 3-pointers by Girolamo concluded a 9-0 run that gave the lead to the Tanners. Saugus answered with a quick run of its own that could have done more damage had the Sachems not shot just 2-for-5 from the foul line in the last four minutes of the half. Saugus was a mediocre 14-for-25 from the line during the game.”I think we missed the front end of six one-and-ones,” Moran said. “We’re not going to win games if we shoot from the free throw line like that.”Another 3-pointer by Girolamo keyed a run that closed out the half to put Peabody ahead, 32-25. The second half started with each team trying to get the ball to their featured scorer. While Benabicha opened the third quarter with six points in the first minute, he didn’t score another bucket until just before the buzzer, while DeAngelis was almost unstoppable in the low post.”He had to work hard against their double team, but he was getting better looks in the second half,” said Coleman. “And I was pleased with the way he played defense against (Saugus center Andrew) Turgeon. Brian really responded when we needed him.”Franey made a couple of threes and then handed off to Byrne on a 3-on-2 fast break for a bucket that opened Peabody’s lead to 10 (44-34) for the first time, and DeAngelis scored his team’s last five field goals of the third quarter to put the Tanners on top, 59-47, after three.Saugus trailed by 16 but had a chance when DeAngelis picked up his third and fourth fouls just 12 seconds apart and had to go to the bench with 4:34 left in the game, but Girolamo’s last 3-pointer of the game ended any real chance of a miracle rally.