Newson, English too much for Beverly

LYNN – Losing a season opener is never a fun experience, but for Lynn English, an early-season defeat may have been a blessing in disguise. The defending NEC champions seemed right back on track in their 64-41 victory over Beverly Thursday night at Cavanagh Field House.Leading the charge was junior Deidra Newson, who gave the Panthers fits all night, pouring in 22 points to lead all scorers. Diondra Woumn had a big night as well for the hosts, posting 16 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists.Click here for a photo gallery.It was clear from the outset that the host Lady Bulldogs (2-1) were a much more athletic team on the floor, and it paid dividends. The hosts pulled down 35 rebounds in the contest, keeping pace with their season average of 40.The first quarter featured a battle between English’s Catherine Stinson and Beverly’s Andrea Zelano, who scored seven points apiece to pace their respective teams. Unfortunately for Zelano, Stinson received more help as captain Shannon Calnan added six points of her own, helping the hosts to a 20-11 lead.English’s size and athletic advantage showed in the second half as it held the Panthers to just five points while getting six from Woumn. To its credit, Beverly stayed out of foul trouble while drawing quite a few itself but still went into the half down 18.”The defensive end was there tonight,” said English head coach Fred Hogan, especially of that second quarter. “We’ve been looking to improve on defense and tonight we managed to do that.”With the exception of Newson, who scored seven in the period, English came out cold to start the third quarter. Beverly cut the deficit to 14 before Hogan called a timeout at 4:28. “They weren’t playing with any emotion to start the half,” explained Hogan. “That timeout was a wakeup call and I tried to fire them up a bit.”The morale-booster seemed to work as English picked up the pace in the fourth quarter. Newson and Woumn combined for 14 points in the final quarter as the Lady Bulldogs pushed the lead to as many as 24.”I thought it was a good overall effort tonight,” said Hogan of the victory. “Deidra Newson has been playing unbelievable basketball and she did it again tonight. I can’t say enough about Diondra either, taking over as point guard like she has.”Since that season-opening loss to Revere, Hogan has noticed a complete turnaround with his team, noting that the loss may have been a good thing.”It really taught us a lesson as a team,” said Hogan. “A lot of people have told the girls things about themselves, but they still have to go out and play the games, and they’ve realized they have to treat every team the same.”Up next for the Lady Bulldogs is the Boverini Tournament, where they have a matchup with rival Lynn Classical.