Bulldogs, Spartan boys in Boverini final

LYNN ? Down by 10 points after three quarters, the St. Mary’s boys basketball team was in a perfect position.View Photo GalleryThe Spartans went to a full-court, trapping press in the final period and rallied for a 43-40 win over Classical, in a semifinal round game in the 10th annual Walter Bovernini Tournament, Friday evening at Classical.St. Mary’s will face English, which routed Tech in the other semifinal, for the championship today (3) at Classical.The Spartans (3-1) scored just 24 points through the first three quarters, but came up with 17 points in the fourth quarter, mostly from conversions off turnovers.”We never gave up,” St. Mary’s coach David Brown said. “We knew Classical has a tough time with pressure, and we were able to pick up our defense in the fourth quarter. Our defensive effort was really the key for us.”Leading, 34-24, after three quarters, the Rams (2-2) scored just a half-dozen points in the final period.”We had 20 turnovers for the game, which isn’t good,” Classical coach Tom Grassa. “It was kind of obvious we had trouble with their pressure.”Anthony Silfa led all scorers with 16 points for St. Mary’s, while Dennis Bailer added nine. Classical was led by 6-6 center Kyle Doucette, who scored 14 points and had seven blocked shots on defense. Monte Wolfe added six points.The Rams managed to contain Silfa by switching to a box-and-one defense after Silfa scored five points in a 7-0 run to open the game. Behind a couple of hoops from Wolfe, Classical tied the score at 10-10 at the end of the first quarter, and opened a lead of six points (19-13) when Ronnie Williams converted a fast-break layup with 4:19 left in the first half. The Rams went scoreless for the remainder of the second period, though St. Mary’s only managed to recoup four points, on a 10-footer from the left wing by Bailer and a jumper from the right elbow by Calvin Johnson to close the gap to two at halftime.Classical opened the second half with a 9-2 run, and Doucette converted a jumper on a nice pick-and-roll with Eddie Solis to give the Rams their first double-digit lead at 30-20 with 4:50 left in the third quarter.Still down by 10 to start the fourth period, St. Mary’s held the Rams scoreless for the first 3:34 of the quarter, while going on an 11-0 run to take their first lead since early in the game when Jonathan Mercado swished a 3-pointer from the top of the key. A Doucette jumper gave the Rams the lead right back, but Silfa drained a three from the left elbow with 3:59 left to put the Spartans on top for good.Classical trailed by only three with 20 seconds left, but Solis missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Zach Louissant and Silfa each made 1-of-2 free throws to advance the lead to five before Jordan Brown made a bucket just before the buzzer to account for the final score.English 98, Tech 49A 37-point second quarter for the Bulldogs (3-0) turned a double-digit lead into a rout over the mostly younger and smaller Tigers (0-3). Erick Rosario led English with a game-high 27 points, while Fred Hogan added 16 and Calvin Castro contributed 10.Odell Tiggs paced Tech with 22 points, while Juan Prenza added eight.The game was competitive for about three minutes, as Prenza’s runner cut Tech’s deficit to 9-7 with 4:54 left in the first period. Hogan and Rosario combined for 16 points in the first quarter, after which English led, 20-13.Schuyler drained a pair of 3-pointers to open the second period, though, and the Bulldogs quickly advanced the lead to 30-13 with 6:33 left in the first half. A 13-0 run later in the quarter helped push the lead to 28 points, with Rosario tallying eight straight points to help make the score 57-26 at halftime.The lead got up to 40 about the time English coach Mike Carr removed his starters from the game for good, but the Bulldogs’ reserves proved nearly as effective, with Castro wreaking damage down low and freshman Tommy Rijo sparkling at point guard.Tech and Classical meet in the consolation game (1