Boys hoop: Marblehead comes back against Classical

After two quarters, Lynn Classical looked like it was on its way to a very satisfying road win at Marblehead.It’s too bad for the Rams games last four quarters.The Magicians (5-5) poured it on in the second half, outscoring the Rams 34-15 en route to a 56-45 win,After the first 16, it was 30-22, Classical, and the one thing Marblehead coach Mike Giardi noticed was that the Rams were having their way off the offensive glass.”We talked about doing a better job on the boards,” he said. “Classical got a few offensive rebounds in the first half, but we did a better job of keeping them off the glass. Our goal was to keep them out of the paint.”Cian Saunders had a lot to do with that. Aside from scoring 13 points, he played the top of the Magician zone and after a few adjustments “did a really good job,” Giardi said.With their halftime speech fresh in their heads, the Magicians scored the first six points to close the 8-point gap to two.”That was really big for us,” said Giardi.Marblehead stormed past the Rams from there, outscoring them 15-6 in the third period and 19-9 in the fourth.”We were forcing them to shoot from outside and they weren’t hitting,” Giardi said.Matt Millett had 21 points, four rebounds and six assists; and Spencer Craig had eight rebounds and Angel Perez pulled down six.For Classical, Philip Rodgers was the only Ram in double figures, with 13.The Magicians are at home Tuesday (7) against St. Mary’s while Classical plays at home Wednesday (7) against English.Gr. Lawrence 57, Tech 51At Greater Lawrence in North Andover, the Tigers fell behind 22-8 after one quarter and spent the rest of the game trying to catch up. However, despite playing much better the rest of the way, Greater Lawrence made the plays down the stretch, and that proved to be the difference, coach Marvin Avery side.Tech, 0-6, got good games from Shaiheem Mazil (17 points, 8 assists, 7 steals), Michael Anaya (13) and Odell Tiggs (15).The Tigers are in action Monday (3) at home against Gloucester.Salem 61, Swampscott 53At Swampscott, the Witches found themselves down by a point (41-40) after three quarters, but as Big Blue coach Dave Born said, “their length and athleticism wore us down.””It was a very good high school game,” said Salem’s Tom Doyle. “Every time we made a run, they made a run.”David Kazadi scored 20 points, pulled down 13 rebounds and blocked three shots for Salem. Bryan Martinez-Rodriguez had 14 points and eight rebounds.For Swampscott, freshman Andre Reeves had 15 points, five rebounds and four steals while Joey Ragusa had 13 points and two assists.Saugus 72, Amesbury 49At Saugus, the Sachems (5-6) welcomed back head coach Paul Moran, who has been sidelined with an illness a good part of the season, with a win. Joe Bertrand had a typical Joe Bertrand day with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Justin Winn and Dan Cacciola each had 10 points.Danvers 82, Revere 58At Danvers, the Falcons (9-1) had four players in double figures: Devan Harris (23 points, 7 rebounds); Kiernan Beck (20 points, 10 rebounds); Rashad Francois (14 points, 3 rebounds) and Mark McCarthy (13 points, 6 assists). Mike Ciambelli had 12 points for Revere and Tommy Chea, 11.Both teams racked up a boatload of fouls with Revere being called for 11 in the first five minutes of the second half. Danvers was without two of its top players. Vin Clifford is out of the season with a torn ACL and 6-9 center Peter Merry is awaiting MRI results for a hip injury, Walsh said.Glouncester 69, Peabody 42At Gloucester, the Tanners fell to 3-6 despite 19 points and nine rebounds from Brian Onessimo.Bob Sullivan had nine rebounds and four points.”They jumped on us early,” said Peabody coach Thad Broughton, “and they never let up.”St. John’s 76, Xaverian 52At Xaverian, Kareem Davis had 21 points for St. John’s and Max Burt chipped in with 18.Mike Bissen scored 10 for the Eagles, who raised their record to 7-1.