Triangle-and-two helps shape English boys’ win

SALEM – Better known for its in-your-face brand of defense, the Lynn English basketball team took a page out of the playbook from back in the 1950’s against Salem on Tuesday at Veterans Memorial Field House.After getting shredded in the first half by the hot shooting of Christian Dunston and Marvin Baez, the Bulldogs (11-4, 9-4 NEC North) pulled out an old-school triangle-and-two defense for the second half.The gimmick paid off as the two were held to a combined one point in the second half as the Bulldogs pulled away to a 61-52 win.Click here for a photo gallery.”Salem always seems to give us fits,” English coach Mike Carr said. “We didn’t think that we’d have to go gimmicky against them but it’s a testament to the kids that they bought into it and played great.”With Baez and Dunston effectively taken out of the game and no other hot hands on the floor for much of the third quarter, the Witches (9-6, 7-6 NEC North) got themselves into a hole that was a little too much to dig out of.”We didn’t shoot a great percentage and that made it even easier for them to play the triangle,” Salem coach Tommy Doyle said. “It threw us for a loop and with two good defenders and Keandre (Stanton) back there, it was a challenge for us.”Neither team was lighting the scoreboard up for much of the first half as Salem led 12-9 after a quarter before pushing the lead to six twice in the second quarter on bombs from Baez.The Witches still had a four-point lead late in the first half when the Bulldogs’ big man in the middle asserted himself. Stanton scored on three straight offensive rebounds to end the half, the last of which came with five seconds left to give English a 28-27 lead at the break.”Keandre banged up a knee in practice (Monday) and we didn’t know if he was even going to be able to go,” Carr said. “He gave us much more that we even thought he could.”Stanton opened the second half much like how he ended the first as he made it 11 straight points as a part of a 13-1 run that opened up a 35-27 lead and forced a Salem timeout early in the third quarter.”We wanted to make Keandre work for his points,” Doyle said. “And we let him get some easy buckets late in the first half that turned a lot of the momentum.”With Dunston and Baez struggling to get looks, Billy Muse stepped up big late in the third with eight points that helped claw Salem back within one (41-40) after three quarters.But the lack of another scorer proved to be Salem’s undoing in the fourth quarter.English scored the first seven points of the period and held Salem without a field goal until Muse’s jumper with four minutes remaining. Gibran Morillo quickly answered with a three that made it 53-44.The Witches would cut the lead to five with under a minute left but Kadeem Greene, who quietly finished with 12 points, and Stanton netted hoops to cap the game.”It was a big win for us to come in here and get it done,” Carr said. “I’m proud of how we played.”