Bulldogs finish with perfection

LYNN – The Lynn English girls basketball team held on in a thrilling 48-45 home victory over Arlington Catholic on Thursday evening, and in doing so, recorded the program?s first-ever perfect season at 22-0.The Bulldogs? case for the No. 1 seed in the upcoming MIAA Division 1 State Tournament is as strong as any and if their finale is any indication of things to come, coach Fred Hogan and his troops are in for a wild ride.?The past few games, tonight included, have allowed us to prove we can play with the top teams around,” explained Hogan. “It was really special for our girls to finish off their perfect regular season tonight.”It certainly wasn?t easy.Following a Cougars timeout with 15.5 remaining in the final quarter, Arlington?s Melissa Rogers rimmed out a three-point attempt at the buzzer.?When Saugus left the conference, we decided on Arlington Catholic as our one non-league game and they showed why tonight,” said Hogan. “That?s a great team over there and tonight was as good a game as we thought it?d be.”English was cold at the start but got six points apiece from Diondra Woumn (game-high 23) and Deidra Newson (14 total) to end the opening eight minutes tied at 12.Rogers and Maura Buckley (11 total points) paced the visitors? offense early, scoring seven points apiece, including two triples from the former, who finished with a team-high 15 points.The hosts wouldn?t take their first lead in the game until a Catherine Stinson layup at the 1:18 mark of the second period, which they finished up 21-18.?We didn?t shoot the ball well at all in the first half so we had to rely on our defense to stay in the game,” said Hogan. “We changed up our schemes a few times and it was really effective.”Woumn (14) and Newson combined for 26 rebounds on the evening.The start of the second half proved the turning point for the Bulldogs, who outscored Arlington 19-12 in the third period.Again it was the tandem of Woumn (7 points) and Newson (5) that led the way for the hosts, with the latter extending the lead to its highest point, 10, on a putback following an offensive rebound.The Cougars staged a quick rally in the fourth quarter, scoring six consecutive points, including a catch and shoot jumper from Emma Lutz that forced English into a timeout at 5:57.Along with Lutz (7 points), Arlington got solid production from Presley Silva, who made four field goals for eight points.The Bulldogs lead was cut to three at 3:43 when Rogers sank three free throws after Stinson made contact with her on a three-point attempt.Shortly after, a pair of Lutz freebies got the deficit to one, capping a 13-4 Cougars run.In the end, Woumn?s six fourth quarter points proved just enough.Prior to the game, the seven English seniors were honored for their outstanding contributions to the program.The group consisting of Woumn, Newson, Stinson, Kiana Cedeno, Makayla Everette, Brianna Goulet, Betsy Lopez and Chantall Subervi earned the praises of their coach following the game.?We have such a special group of seniors and we saw some terrific production from them tonight,” said Hogan. “They have their names etched in history now.”