English boys hoop solves Acton-Boxboro in quarterfinals

LYNN – All season long, the Lynn English boys basketball team has used a stingy defense to put games out of reach in the final minutes. On Sunday at the Paul F. Cavanagh Field House, the Bulldogs needed every bit of that defensive intensity.Facing an Acton-Boxboro team that had pushed it for three quarters, English turned up the wick and held the Colonials without a basket for four critical minutes as Josh Castillo had 13 of his 21 points in the final quarter to give the Bulldogs an 81-70 Division 1 North quarterfinal win in a game that was much closer than the score.”That definitely was the best team we’ve played other than Central Catholic this season,” English coach Buzzy Barton said. “Their kids played excellent and so did ours. That was the best game we’ve played all season.”English had the lead through most of the first two and a half quarters before the Colonials put together a 12-2 run to take a 54-52 lead with 1:20 left in the third. The Bulldogs called time out and responded with the final six points of the quarter to grab a 58-54 lead.”(English) hit the shots when it mattered most,” A-B coach Rick Kilpatrick said.Carrying all the momentum into the fourth quarter, Castillo and Travonne Berry-Rogers (25 points) helped the Bulldogs cap a 15-4 run that gave them a 67-58 lead with 4:00 left. The Colonials didn’t go away, though, as they got baskets from Sam Longwell and Wes Schroll to get back within five with plenty of time left.Fernando Rijo’s jumper with 1:30 left proved to be the dagger though as English salted the game away at the foul line thanks to Castillo and Berry-Rogers in the final minute.”That was the best game Josh has had all year,” Barton said. “He did above and beyond what we expect him to do and Travonne and Keandre (Stanton) played well like they always do.”This one was close the whole way as the teams treated the capacity crowd to a run and gun affair from the beginning. The teams were tied at 23 after a quarter before English went on a 10-3 run to grab a 33-26 lead. A-B responded by closing the gap to 42-38 at the half.Next up for English is No. 15 Lawrence in the semifinals Wednesday at Reading (7).