Bulldogs power past Classical

LYNN – The score may not indicate it, but English girls basketball coach Fred Hogan was nervous as Monday?s game with Classical wore on.?It?s always a war,” he said, “and they always play their hearts out against us.”Hogan wasn?t all that happy with the way his team played, but on the other hand he?s happy about the 11th win of the season … the one that qualifies his team for the MIAA Division 1 tournament.?I?m proud of them for that,” said Hogan after the Bulldogs defeated Classical, 58-26, in a holiday matinee at the Cavanagh Field House. “They get to go out to eat now, on the coaching staff.”English was never really threatened. But thanks mainly to Franki Galeazzi (15 points), the Rams crept to within striking distance a few times in the second half (though never less than 11 points).From Classical?s perspective, coach Tom Sawyer said his team should learn a few things from this loss.?The main thing we take from this,” he said, “is that when you see an opportunity to make a pass, you take it … teams like English don?t give you many opportunities, and you have to take advantage of them when you get them.”Sawyer wasn?t saying his team was tentative … just a little too slow to recognize and act on opportunities that were there … if only for split seconds.Several times, after Classical had gained possession after pulling down rebounds, Sawyer excitedly beckoned his troops to pick it up as they headed back up the court.?Well, yeah,” he said. “We wanted to hurry up and get to spots before English could set up to stop us.”The game was slow to get going, as between timeouts and whistles in the first quarter, Hogan noted, “there really wasn?t much rhythm to it. But Classical had to slow us down too, which they did in some cases.”English scored the first nine points before Galeazzi hit a free throw first and then a three-pointer to make it 9-4. From there, English was off to the races, scoring the next nine points to go up 18-4 at the end of the first quarter.Diondra Woumn got four points in the quarter — a portent of things to come for her as she had the hot hand for the duration of the time she was in there, finishing with 21 points. Catherine Stinson (15) and Deidra Newson (14) also helped the Bulldog cause as well.Classical?s best quarter was by far the second, as the Rams scored 11 points and reached halftime down by 15 (30-15). And even though two quick buckets by Galeazzi to open the third quarter made it 30-19 (as close as the Rams got), English poured it on after that, going on a 17-2 run to close the quarter leading 47-23, and school was out.English subs played through most of the fourth quarter.