Classical boys reach quarters

LYNN – To set the scene, the Classical boys basketball team was hanging on tenuously to a two-point lead with just over a minute to go. Moments earlier, Philip Rogers had nailed a three-pointer from just beyond the arc to break the Fishermen?s momentum (they?d taken their first lead of the game moments before) and give the Rams that advantage.After Gloucester?s Drew Shairs was called for traveling down the other end with 1:04 left, Classical had a chance to ice the game.But Gloucester — as both teams had done for the entire second half — played flypaper defense. As time on the shot clock wound down to two seconds, Rogers spotted Jordan Brown deep in the corner closest to the Classical bench. Just before the clock expired, Brown heaved one up that hit nothing but net.Ballgame.The Rams, with their 58-53 win over the Fishermen, advanced to the quarterfinals of the Division 2 North tournament, where they?ll host Woburn Friday (7).?It was a prayer,” said Gloucester coach Bill Cahill. “We did everything we could. He threw it up and it went in. What a tough way to lose. But if that?s what it took to beat us, I?m OK with that.?It was just a great high school basketball game,” he said.?I told him after that he (Brown) should just take the ball to the top of the key and shoot his free throws there,” said Classical coach Tom Grassa, noting that a few minutes earlier, Brown had missed three straight free throws.The game was the type of fierce defensive struggle that only two teams familiar with each other could play.?We know them and they know us,” Grassa said. “There isn?t a coach in the Northeastern Conference that doesn?t do his homework.”The teams are in different divisions of the NEC, so they only played once — with Classical winning by two. But in that game, Gloucester?s guard Andrew Muniz lit the Rams up for 28 points. This time, Grassa put his defensive ace — Eddie Solis — on Muniz and held the sharp-shooting junior to two three-pointers.However, something had to give as a result, and Grassa?s defensive strategy left center Shairs to create mismatches with whatever Classical player was guarding him. He ended up with 20.?For a big guy,” said Grassa, “he has some nice moves. All he had to do was back us in, turn around, and he?s a lefty … so he had a pretty decent shot.”?He played his heart out,” said Cahill. “He?s certainly the backbone of our team.”Neither team ever built a double-digit lead in this one (though Classical led by nine a few times). But each time Classical made a run, Gloucester responded.?I give my kids credit,” said Cahill, “they played with a lot of heart out there.”Classical?s latest nine-point lead came midway through the third quarter (47-38), after which Muniz knocked a three down from the top of the key. Shairs and Jeffrey Oliveira followed with baskets and suddenly it was 47-45 and sweating time.Neither team shot well after that (?I think that was a product of the type of defense that was being played,” Grassa said), but Gloucester kept pecking away. Eli McConney beat the third-quarter buzzer to make it 49-45, and Solis? bucket put Classical up by six.However, Shairs? hook shot high off the backboard and Austin Davis? basket (off a steal) brought the Fishermen to within two.Another Shairs hoop tied it, and after Rogers (13 points) hit one of two from the line, Connor Adkins put Gloucester up by a point with 2:05 to go.However, Rogers, and then Brown, hit their threes to pull the game out for the Rams.Monte Wolfe was high man for Classical with 14, and Kyle Doucette had 13. Brown ended up with nine, on three threes.