Boverini hoop tournament on for Dec. 26

LYNN – It’ll be Lynn Tech against Classical, and St. Mary’s vs. English when the Walter J. Boverini Basketball Tournament commences the day after Christmas in the T. O’Connor Fieldhouse at Tech.The tournament, named for the late Massachusetts Senate Majority Leader, will get under way at 10 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 26, with the Tech girls basketball team playing Classical. This will be the final year that the Tigers’ girls team will be participating.Fifteen minutes after the Tech-Classical game ends, the girls game between St. Mary’s and English will begin. At the same intervals, it’ll be the St. Mary’s and English boys, with the Tech and Classical boys finishing up.On Saturday, Dec. 27, the girls consolation game will begin at 10 a.m., followed by the boys consolation, girls championship and boys championship.English won both the boys and girls titles last year – both of them with wins over St. Mary’s. Much has changed with the Lady Bulldogs, though. Their predominantly-senior team won the Division 1 North title. However, the Bulldogs, besides losing four of their starters, also have a new coach – Rachael Bradley – as Fred Hogan stepped down after last season.The Bulldog boys lost captain Fred Hogan to graduation, but have a strong and experienced lineup coming back.Prior to entering politics, Boverini was a teacher and a coach in the Lynn school system who went out of his way to help athletes. Proceeds from the tournament go to a scholarship in his name.