Boys Hoop: Rams win over Beverly tightens NEC race

The Classical boys did their crosstown rivals a bit of a favor on Friday as they knocked off NEC North leader Beverly, 44-41, and with it, tightened the race for the NEC North title.The Rams (8-7) held Beverly (9-6) to 12 first half points en route to taking a 10 point lead at the break points but had to hang on for dear life at the end as the Panthers had a chance to tie late but couldn’t convert.”We played a masterful game in the first half and then it was like a different team in the second half,” Classical coach Tom Grassa said. “If that game was three minutes longer, Beverly might have won it.”Jalen Brown led all scorers with 20 for Classical. Moise Builou added eight and Uche Nwokeji had seven. The Panthers got 16 from Chris Keaton in the loss.”You can’t go out and sleepwalk through a half and expect to win,” Beverly coach Scott Lewis said.English 88, Revere 63At Revere, Keandre Stanton had 25 points and Kadeem Greene added 14 as the Bulldogs (10-4, 8-4 NEC North) clinched a tourney spot. Eric Rosario added 13 and Tiziani Boyles added 12.Marblehead 44, Danvers 41At Marblehead, employing an aggressive zone defense, the Magicians (6-8) shut down the Falcons (12-2) perimeter game and thanks to 15 points and six rebounds from Jeff Peras, pulled off a 44-41 win over the NEC South leaders on Friday.”We got a great effort from everyone who was out there,” Marblehead coach Wayne Hanscom said.It was an about face from the first time the teams played when the Falcons blasted the Magicians by 25 points at Salem State. But Danvers coach John Walsh knew his team had been playing with fire lately.”We shot the ball terribly and it cost us,” Walsh said. “Marblehead played well defensively, so take nothing away from them.”Salem 62, Peabody 55At Peabody, Christian Dunston had 17 of his game high 18 points in the second half as the Witches (9-5) moved within a win of the state tournament. Marvin Baez had 13 points and 10 rebounds while Billy Muse finished with 14.Peabody was led by 12 points from Steve Girolamo.St. John’s 58, Xaverian 51At Westwood, Steve Haladyna had 23 points and 10 rebounds as the Eagles (10-5, 4-4 Catholic Conference) locked up a spot in the state tournament. Freddie Shove added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Prep.Winthrop 47,Swampscott 46At Swampscott, Joe Levesque hit two free throws with 1.5 seconds left in regulation to give the Vikings (11-5) the win. Quinton Dale led Winthrop with 15 points while Joe D’Amore added 12 and Jeff Laguerre, 10.The Big Blue (6-9) got 15 points from Dan Trentsch and 12 from A.J. Baker in the loss.Whittier 66, Tech 37At Haverhill, the Tigers (3-11) hung in for a half but the Wildcats were able to pull away after the break. Michael Duarte had 18 to lead Tech.