Classical grinds out victory to win Boverini boys tournament

LYNN ? Defense was the difference.The Classical High boys basketball team held St. Mary’s to just one field goal in the last 4:37 and earned its first-ever championship in the Walter Boverini Tournament by beating the Spartans, 64-57, Friday night, at English’s Cavanagh Gym.View Photo GalleryThe 7-point lead at the end was the largest for either team in what was a grinder of a game that featured nine ties and 11 lead changes. Tournament MVP Eraldo Custodio led the Rams (3-4) with 25 points, while Jalen Brown added 18. For St. Mary’s (2-4), Tom Deveau had 23 points, while Matt Manning added 11.A steal and a layup by Dennis Bailer gave the Spartans their biggest lead at 53-47, but behind eight points from Custodio, the Rams out-scored St. Mary’s 17-4, the rest of the way.”Our execution on defense was much better down the stretch,” Classical coach Tom Grassa said. “And we did a good job of rebounding the ball. We’ve been putting up a good fight under the boards lately.”A layup by Custodio after pretty feed by Odell Tiggs tied the score at 55-55, and Classical took the lead for good with 1:39 left when Custodio put back a missed jumper by Jalen Brown. Kyle DiFilippo missed a runner at the other end, which Custodio converted into a fast break layup. The Spartans went into a foul mode, and the Rams made 5-of-8 down in the last 39.1 seconds, but the only hoop St. Mary’s got was a runner by Deveau with 9.8 seconds left.”I thought it was a combination of their defense and us not converting on offense,” St. Mary’s coach Kevin Moran said. “Our effort was good. It always seems to come down to execution for us. We had a few too many turnovers at key times. But give (Classical) credit. They played a very, very strong game.”A couple of 3-pointers by Jalen Brown helped Classical open an early 8-2 lead, but the Spartans caught the Rams at 12-12, and took their first lead midway through the second quarter when Deveau – in the midst of scoring 13 of his team’s 15 points – converted a 3-point play to put the Spartans on top, 19-17.Classical roared back with an 8-1 run, but St. Mary’s closed the first half with and 8-2 run capped by Nick Amenta’s 3-pointer to give the Spartans at 28-27 lead at halftime.The teams swapped the lead early in the third quarter before a couple of layups by Tino Fernandez gave the Rams a 40-34 lead. St. Mary’s held Classical to just one field goal for nearly six minutes to take its largest lead, setting up the Rams’ stretch run.In the consolation game, English defeated Tech, 80-31. English’s Freddie Hogan led all scorers with 27 points while Ben Bowden had 10 and Erick Rosario nine.For Tech, Lynwood Moore had 11 points and Kennedy Gomes nine.The All-Tournament team was Custodio and Jalen Brown from Classical, John Teehan from St. Mary’s, Hogan from English and Gomes from Tech.