English, Classical to meet in Boverini boys’ final

LYNN – The marquee match-up for the first day of the 2014Walter J. Boverini BasketballTournament at Lynn Tech, pitting the Lynn English and St. Mary?s boys, certainly lived up to its billing.
After 32 minutes of back-and-forth play couldn?t decide a victor, English outscored the Spartans 11-0 over a five-minute overtime session to secure a 80-69 victory.
?Good teams find a way to win and we really had to search today,” said English coach Mike Carr, whose team advances to the finals where they will meet Lynn Classical at 2:15 Saturday afternoon. “Overtime is really a gut-check time and fortunately we were able to make some big plays down the stretch.”
Four Bulldogs scored in double digits including Johnny Hilaire who led the way with 22 points. Anthony Silfa added 18 points against his former team. Erick Rosario (14 points) and Stevie Collins (10) played major roles in the overtime surge, combining to make five of six free throws.
St. Mary?s led 33-31 at halftime before senior Dennis Bailer put on a one-man show in the third quarter, scoring 16 of his game-high 29 points to seemingly put the Spartans in the driver?s seat.
?There are not many teams that can stay with him one-on-one,” St. Mary?s coach Dave Brown said of Bailer who made four three-pointers in the frame. “He can handle the ball and shoot it with the best of them.”
Joe Fama scored 17 points for the Spartans before being carted off the court on a stretcher late in the fourth quarter following a serious lower-body injury.
Despite the win, Carr knows much work remains to be done.
?I?m not thrilled with the way we came out,” he said. “We?re a team that thrives off creating pressure but we came out soft defensively and didn?t turn them over once in the first half. I really felt that St. Mary?s deserved this game.”
In the other game, Classical took a 74-33 win over Lynn Tech. First, though, Classical faced a 5-0 deficit before taking a 22-7 first-quarter then cruising to the win. The Rams finished the game going 8-for-25 from three-point range.
?We?re coming off three straight losses in four days so we really needed this win, just for our team?s mentality,” said Classical coach Tom Grassa. “We were finally able to knock down some shots from the outside and put ourselves in a position to build a lead.”
Junior Jakeel Brown scored a game-high 13 points for the Rams who got 10 points apiece from junior C.J. Lights and freshman Calvin Johnson.
Grassa was pleased with the defensive effort as well.
?I thought our pressure was real good,” he said. “We forced them into plenty of turnovers which in turn led to plenty of shots at the other end.”
Tech coach David Leary had similar views.
?I thought their pressure was the biggest difference in the game,” he said. “If we had been able to get over halfcourt comfortably and settle into a rhythm, it might have turned into a game. The guys worked hard but we need to work on limiting our mistakes.”
Junior Arlin Reynoso led the way for the Tigers with eight points.St. Mary?s and Tech will meet in the consolation game at 11:30 a.m., between the girls? consolation match of English and Tech 10.and championship game between Classical and St. Mary?s at 1 p.m.