Second-half surge propels English boys hoop

SALEM ? Friday night’s game epitomized the dual personalities of this year’s Lynn English boys basketball team. The Bulldogs were ordinary in the first half, and unstoppable in the second half.A 19-2 run to open the third quarter proved to be the difference for the Bulldogs (11-3), who kept their Northeastern Conference title hopes alive with a 68-57 win over Salem (12-2), at Veterans Memorial Field House at Salem High.”One of our goals was to win the conference, and this (win) keeps us in the race,” English coach Mike Carr said. “They (Witches) are still in the driver’s seat, but if we had lost this one, it would have been tough.”Erick Rosario led the Bulldogs with 19 points, 15 of which came in the second half, while Danny Lukanda added 15. Fred Hogan had 13 points, including a pair of 3-pointers that sparked English’s third quarter spurt, which erased a 5-point halftime deficit and gave the Bulldogs a 12-point lead. Johnny Hilaire added 11 points.Bryan Martinez-Rodriguez and David Kazadi paced Salem with 15 points each, while Jamie Dominguez added 14. Only two of Dominguez’s points came in the second half, though, as English switched to a triangle-and-two defense with Hogan shadowing Dominguez, who had drained four 3-pointers in the first half.”They changed their defense, but the difference was they executed better than we did in the second half,” Salem coach Tom Doyle said.Salem led by as many as seven points in what was mostly a cautious first quarter dominated by Martinez-Rodriguez, who scored half of the Witches’ 14 points in the opening period. English scratched its way back in the second quarter and took its first lead since the opening minute of the game when Lukanda scored a 3-point play to put the Bulldogs on top, 26-24, with 2:55 left in the first half. Dominguez fed Martinez-Rodriguez for a layup and then converted a 3-pointer from the right wing to ignite a 9-0 run before English’s Tommy Rijo sank a couple of free throws to make the score 33-28 in favor of Salem at halftime.Lukanda started the third quarter blitz with a fast break layup before Hogan sank a pair of free throws from the top of the key to put English ahead, 36-33, and as it turned out, for good.”Obviously, we didn’t want to start the second half by leaving (Hogan) alone for two threes,” said Doyle. “He’s the shooter on their team you really have to contain.”After Dominquez got two points back with a runner from the left elbow, the Bulldogs picked up the pace defensively, forcing turnovers that led to easy buckets on the other end. After Rosario and Hogan converted layups, Rosario canned a 3-pointer to end the dizzying run that put English ahead, 47-35.”In order to be a good team, we have to create turnovers,” Carr said. “We didn’t do that in the first half and Salem took advantage. In the second half, we did a much better job of forcing them to turn the ball over.”English left Salem an opening by failing to convert even one of its eight free throws in the third quarter, and behind Martinez-Rodriguez and then a 3-point play by Rashad Keys, the Witches climbed back to within seven (49-42) by the end of the period. But English opened the fourth quarter with an 8-2 run to assert command again. Another 3-pointer by Rosario peaked English’s lead at 60-46, with 4:46 left in the game.Salem’s last gasp came when Kazadi started dominating down low after Hilarie fouled out. He scored 13 straight points for his team to get the Witches as close as nine, but Rosario responded with another 3-pointer, and Lukanda converted a 3-point play with 1:46 left to give the Bulldogs an insurmountable lead.