Boys’ basketball: Better night for Lynn teams

The St. Mary?s boys? basketball team needed desperately for something good to come out of its game with Arlington Catholic on Monday at the Tony Conigliaro Gymnasium. What the Spartans got was a much-needed win as Dennis Bailer poured in a game-high 26 points and Jonny Mercado added 15 to lead St. Mary?s to a 63-54 victory.
?AC is one of the top teams in the league so it?s a big win for us,” St. Mary?s coach Dave Brown said.
The Spartans (5-2) trailed, 13-11, after a quarter but rallied to take a 25-24 lead at the break. St. Mary?s extended the lead to five (44-39) after three and steadily pulled away from there.
Luc Zikianda was another big contributor for the Spartans as he pulled down 12 rebounds and was a monster on the defensive end. Phil Garraud added nine points and Mike Cerulli had six in his first varsity start.
Lynn English 78, Salem 71
The Bulldogs (6-1) looked like they were well on their way to a dominating victory in a battle for first in the Northeastern Conference/North division, leading, 30-13, after a quarter. But Salem (5-2) awoke in the second quarter and clawed its way back into the game thanks to a game-high 35 points and 19 rebounds from Bryan Martinez.
English, however, was able to pull away late thanks to 20 points from Erick Rosario and 16 from both Johnny Hilaire and Anthony Silfa.
?Salem is such a great rival for us. Next to Classical, they are our biggest,” English coach Mike Carr said. “But there is such inconsistency for us. What we did in the first quarter is what I know we can do.”
Jordan Lark added 14 for English while Michael Sanchez had 11 for the Witches.
Lynn Classical 68, Beverly 50
The Rams improved to 3-4 behind 18-point performances from junior C.J. Lights and a season-high from freshman Calvin Johnson. The visiting Panthers (0-5) were led by Gavin Sparkman who had 18 points and 11 rebounds and 15 points from John Loreti.
Marblehead 66, Swampscott 42
Cian Saunders? 25 points, including eight free throws, proved a big difference in the visiting Magicians? victory over their rival. Will Millett added 10 points for Marblehead (3-3), which held Dajour Dunkley to 19 points. Travis Thurman scored 11 points for the Big Blue (3-3).
Danvers 88, Saugus 66
Devin Harris poured in 40 points for the visiting Falcons, who got 17 points from Vinny Clifford. Danvers led 25-11 after one quarter before the Sachems stormed back to go into halftime tied at 41. Saugus (2-4) got a team-high 20 points from Dan Bertrand as well as 19 from Lamarr Jones.
Peabody 71, Revere 57
The Tanners (3-2) were led by 21 points and 11 rebounds from Junior Estrella. Matt Correale added 15 and Mike Raymond chipped in 14 as part of a balanced Peabody attack.?Our guys were sharing the basketball, which was huge,” Peabody coach Thad Broughton said. “I was happy with our effort.”