Prep-English game highlights Benedetto

LYNN ? The St. John’s Prep and English High boys basketball teams don’t play each other often, but when they do, it’s usually something special.View Photo GalleryTwo of the contenders to win the Division 1 North boys basketball team squared off in the marquee game of the annual Elmo Benedetto Jamboree, Friday night at English’s Cavanagh Gym, and St. John’s defeated English, 36-30, in a fast-paced, entertaining game.Ben Judson led the Eagles with 10 points, while Max Burt added nine. Erick Rosario led the Bulldogs with nine points, while Johnny Halaire and Danny Lukanda added six points each.”We’re happy we were able to get a win over a very good team,” St. John’s Prep coach John Dullea said. “I liked our intensity and the way we played defense.”St. John’s took command when Judson hit back-to-back threes to make the score 17-9 with 2:46 left in the first half. The Eagles led by 13 at halftime and went on top, 28-13, when Burt made a basket with 6:45 left in the game. The Bulldogs still trailed by 14 with less than two minutes to play, but went on an 8-0 run to close out the game.English played without starting guard Stevie Collins, who will also miss Tuesday’s regular season opener with Salem due to a school suspension. The Bulldogs have plenty of experience in the starting lineup, but are a bit thin on the bench due to some academic suspensions.”Remember, we started last season 4-4 and then everything gelled. It’s going to take some time, but I liked our intensity and our effort tonight,” coach Mike Carr said.Classical 27, Everett 26The Rams held on for a win when a 3-point bomb by Everett’s Ernie Chipman fell a couple of feet short at the buzzer. Classical, which due to injuries and illnesses brought just six players, led by seven when Peter Mafo converted a layup after a tremendous save by Kyle Doucette with 1:33 left. The Crimson Tide roared back to close their gap to one when Chipman converted a layup off a steal with 17.5 seconds remaining.Everett got the ball back on a turnover with three seconds left, but good defense by the Rams on the in-bounds forced Chipman’s desperation shot.The Rams got all their scoring from three players. Mafo had 11 points, while Doucette added nine and Monte Wolfe had seven. Chipman paced Everett with 11 points and Timmance McKinney contributed seven.Gr. Lowell 28, Marblehead 27In the other game that went down to the last possession, Will Millett’s runner from the left side came up just short as the Magicians fell to the Gryphons.Greater Lowell led most of the way and by four until Griffin Butterfield’s 3-pointer closed the gap with 50 seconds to play. Neither team scored the rest of the way, however.Peter Tully paced the Magicians with seven points, while Cian Sanders added five and Matt Millett chipped in with four. For Greater Lowell, Raymie Brown was the leading scorer with seven points, while Jayson Colon and Anthony Zeoli added four each.The Gryphons broke open a tie game with a 5-0 run, but Marblehead closed out the first half with three straight buckets to take a 15-14 lead. The Magicians’ only lead in the second half came when Tully hit a 3-pointer from the wing to give them a 22-21 lead, but Raul Navarro answered with a 3-pointer 10 seconds later to put Greater Lowell on top for good.Beverly 33, St. Mary’s 17Coach Dave Brown’s debut with his high school alma mater in the Benedetto Jamboree was a bit disappointing as the Spartans fell behind, 20-2, and never got closer than eight the rest of the way against an impressive Beverly team.Dennis Bailer led St. Mary’s with nine points, while Phil Garraud added four. Nick Cross led the way for the Panthers with 18 points, including the first 10 of the game with two 3-pointers and four free throws to give Beverly a double-digit lead with 4:21 left in the first half.A foul line jumper by Luke Zikandi closed the Spartans’ deficit to 20-12 with 6:22 left, but Cross keyed an 11-0 run to put the game away. Ken Karaya added six points for the Panth