Boys hoop: English plays its way back into the NEC picture

The English boys basketball team – after last week’s one-point loss to Beverly – found itself, for the moment, on the outside looking in as far as the race for the Northeastern Conference/North title goes.But thanks to Tuesday’s 69-42 victory over Peabody, the ‘Dogs can grab a share of the title that’s been theirs, in one form or another, since 2007.However, Classical stands in the way. The Bulldogs have lost to the Rams twice this season (only one of those defeats counted in the NEC standings; the other was in the Boverini Tournament), and will have to defeat them Thursday, on the road, if they’re to win a share of the title. A loss would mean they’d relinquish the title for the first time in six years.English, which hadn’t been able to practice since last Thursday because of the storm, scored only 17 first-half points and trailed by 11.”But we had a nice discussion at halftime, and we turned it up in the second half,” coach Mike Carr said.”It took us a while to get going.”The Bulldogs blitzed Peabody in the third quarter, outscoring the Tanners, 31-9, and kept rolling in the fourth.Freddie Hogan led the way for the Bulldogs (12-4 overall, 12-4 in the NEC) with 21 points. Erik Rosario chipped in with 15 and Stevie Collins had 12.Maynard Wheeler led Peabody with 11 points while Brian Oressimo had 10 rebounds to go along with six points.Swampscott 62, Saugus 52At Swampscott, Stephen Bowers led all scorers with 30 points, while Val Temin added 17 in the win for the Big Blue (6-11).For Saugus, Shane Ripley scored 16 poinst and added seven rebounds while Brendan Wladkowski handed out 10 assists and recorded 12 points of his own.”I give all the credit to Swampscott,” said Saugus coach Paul Moran. “They out played and out coached us and deserved to win.”Arl. Cath. 59, Fenwick 38At Peabody, Ben Maxner scored 16 points for the Crusaders in the loss.Marblehead 51, Gloucester 34At Marblehead, the Magicians got 15 points and four rebounds from junior guard Matt Millett to move to 4-12.Other highlights from Marblehead: Alex Conn had eight points and seven rebounds; and Ryan Himes scored six points and had 12 rebounds.uBeverly’s game at home against Revere was pushed back until today; and Lynn Tech’s game at Greater Lawrence will be played Monday at 10 a.m.