Lynn teams on to division finals

LYNN – The goal at this stage of the game is to be the last team standing, and beginning tonight and going through Saturday, three Lynn basketball teams will vie for the privilege of playing at the TD Garden next week and possibly moving on to the state championship a week from Saturday.Both St. Mary?s boys and girls teams punched their tickets already – the boys Monday with a win over Hamilton-Wenham; and the girls Wednesday by beating Bishop Fenwick. Thursday night, the English girls hoop team joined the crowd, beating Woburn and advancing to the Division 1 North championship Saturday night (6 p.m.) against Central Catholic.The Classical boys team wasn?t as fortunate as the Rams fell to New Mission in the Division 2 North semifinal Thursday.The St. Mary?s boys will play St. Clement of Medford tonight (8 p.m.) at Emmanuel College in the Division 4 North final, while the girls will make the trek to Lowell?s Tsongas Arena, where they?ll play Winthrop Saturday (10:30 a.m.) in the Division 3 North final.Sectional winners will play in the state semifinals either Monday or Tuesday at the Garden (the dates and times have not been released), with the winners moving on to the DCU Center in Worcester for the state finals next Saturday.Lynn has not had this many basketball teams playing in sectional finals since 2001, when the Classical, English, Tech and St. Mary?s boys and St. Mary?s girls all did it.St. Mary?s boys hoop coach Dave Brown is no stranger to the North final. Although this is his first trip there as head coach of the Spartans, it?s his fifth time going in seven years. The other four times occurred when he coached the Winthrop boys team.Brown said the school community has been very supportive. Prior to the St. Mary?s hockey team?s loss to Reading Wednesday night, the Spartan faithful had three teams to follow in the tournament. Brown said he watched only the second hockey game in his life on Wednesday (his nephew, Eric Pedro plays for the St. Mary?s hockey team).?I?m trying to support the other teams as much as possible too. We all try and support one another and hopefully, we all keep winning,” he said.Brown said St. Clement has a very good point guard, Khaneil Bruce, who they?ll have to keep under wraps.?He?s a great slasher,” Brown said of the Pope John transfer. “He had 24 points (vs. Manchester-Essex in the semifinal). He?s very quick and can shoot the ball well on transition.”Brown said St. Clement also has a 6?6″ center who has a nice mid-range jump shot that can cause problems.The Spartans are coming off a 60-51 win over Hamilton-Wenham.The St. Mary?s girls will face a familiar opponent in Winthrop. The Vikings (21-3) earned the trip to the Tsongas with a 46-25 win over Manchester-Essex in the Division 3 North semifinals. The two teams met in the Spartan Classic back in February and St. Mary?s won, 62-46.St. Mary?s coach Jeff Newhall said what makes Winthrop tough is that all five starters bring something different to the table. They have a solid inside game and strong guard play.?Of their five starters, they all present different issues. I think that?s what makes them a very good team,” Newhall said.Kristin Siscamanis and Nina Bartlett provide the Vikings with a strong inside game while Theresa Jones, Niki Tsiotos and Ashelyne Babb get the job done at guard.St. Mary?s is riding a big win over Bishop Fenwick into the North final. Brianna Rudolph, hobbled by a sore ankle, had a monster game with 36 points. Although she was a little stiff the following day, Newhall said she?ll be good to go on Saturday.The Spartans haven?t made it to the North final since 2011, the year they won the Division 3 state title. The fearsome threesome of Rudolph, Sharell Sanders and Jennie Mucciarone were all freshmen on that team. Now they?re seniors, and another state title would be a nice bookend on their four-year varsity careers.Newhall said the season has flown by.?It seems like we were in Florida (back in December) just yesterday an