Rams boys hoop team gets past Bulldogs

LYNN – Classical coach Tom Grassa grudgingly admitted that it would be tough to imagine his team playing any better than it did Tuesday night in its 91-84 victory over English.?Normally,” he said, “in the rest of my life I?m a glass-half-full kind of guy. But with my team, maybe it?s because of the pursuit of perfection, it?s the other way around. All I know is that we were up by 19 at one point.”True. Classical was torrid from the floor in the second and third quarters — so much so that the Bulldogs, who were tied with the Rams 16-16 after one, led by 17 (75-58) at the end of three despite the fact that English scored 41 points in the second and third periods.?They shot incredibly well,” said English coach Mike Carr. “But when you have a guy who can put in 38, that?s tough to overcome.”That would be Philip Rogers, who stymied any English attempt to stop him. And in addition to his 38 points, Rogers pulled down 17 rebounds.?He was tremendous,” said Grassa. “No matter what they did (including — at one point — a triangle-and-two zone with the double-team on Rogers) he beat it.”The win gives the Rams a sweep of the season?s series with the Bulldogs. They have also nudged their way into the thick of the Northeastern Conference/North race, and look to get as high as a No. 2 seed in the upcoming Division 2 North tournament, whose pairings will be announced a week from Friday.Rogers didn?t do it alone. As Grassa noted, the 91 points represent a season high for Classical. Both Eddie Solis and Monte Wolfe had 17 points (this despite a tough shooting night for Wolfe) and Solis pulled down 11 rebounds.?We ask Eddie to do everything,” said Grassa. “At different times tonight, he had to guard Stevie Collins, Freddie Hogan and Erik Rosario.”And while Hogan did end up with 27 points, Rosario scored all of his 13 in the second half, and Collins — whom Carr calls the guts of his club — was held to nine.It was Johnny Hilaire (17) and Danny Lukanda (15) who factored into the comeback English almost completed in the fourth quarter.?I thought Johnny did a tremendous job,” said Carr. “All night long, he was in there working.”The high water mark for Classical came moments into the fourth quarter when Rogers and Eli McConney (7 points) hit back to back baskets to put the Rams ahead by 19 (79-60). From there, English went on a 17-9 run — something Grassa figured was going to happen.But a complete comeback never materialized. Wolfe and Solis hit baskets (Solis? was a three) to prevent the Bulldogs from going on the lengthy run they needed to position themselves to win in the end, and each time the Rams hit just enough free throws to keep English at arm?s length,