PHOTO BY SPENSER HASAK
St. Mary’s Jonathan Mola tries to get to the basket as Jakeel Brown stops his progress.
By MIKE ALONGI
Late rally lifts St. Mary’s over Lynn Classical in overtime
LYNN — After trailing the entire game, the St. Mary’s Spartans boys’ basketball team rallied to force overtime before eventually beating Lynn Classical, 65-63, on Wednesday night at Lynn Classical High School.
St. Mary’s sophomore guard Calvin Johnson was the game’s high scorer with 22 points. Junior guard Curtis High had a huge game off the bench with 17 points, and junior guard Jonny Mercado added 14 points.
“The guys really stepped up when we needed them tonight,” said St. Mary’s coach Dave Brown. “Curtis High had a great game off the bench, Mercado attacked the basket, and Calvin had a great first half. Without Curtis, we don’t win that basketball game tonight.”
For Classical, sophomore forward Edwin Solis led the team with 21 points, including five three-pointers. Sophomore guard Erick Solis had 16 points, while senior captain point guard Jakeel Brown finished with nine points and 13 rebounds.
Classical came out firing early in the game. Brown and Edwin Solis each hit a three and the defense was stifling. After the first five minutes, Classical jumped out to an 8-1 lead. The Spartans (5-4) were able to recover, however, and end the first frame down just 14-8.
The second quarter is when Johnson started heating up for St. Mary’s. He got aggressive and started taking the ball to the hoop, and it in turn helped his shot. With about 1:30 remaining in the first half, Johnson hit two consecutive threes to tie the score up at 20. Johnson finished the first half with 13 points, but the Spartans still trailed, 25-23.
Classical regained its footing early in the third quarter, eventually extending its lead to eight points. But the Spartans wouldn’t quit, and after some big shots from High, the deficit was cut down to five points.
High and Erick Solis each hit a three to start the fourth quarter, and all of a sudden it was a two-point game. Then, with just under six minutes left, the Spartans grabbed their first lead of the game when Erick Solis hit a jumper to make it 42-40, St. Mary’s.
Almost as soon as St. Mary’s took the lead, Brown came up the floor for Classical and converted an and-one to retake the lead for the Rams. The scoring went back and forth for a few minutes, and Classical held a one-point lead with two seconds left.
At that point, Erick Solis was fouled and hit one of his two free throws to send the game to overtime.
The overtime period was also a back-and-forth affair. Classical junior Michael Brown hit a jumper to give the Rams a one-point lead, then Erick Solis converted an and-one at the other end to retake the lead. With less than 10 seconds left, Edwin Solis hit two free throws to tie it up again.
Then, with 0.4 seconds remaining, Mercado drove to the basket and got fouled. He hit both free throws, and the Spartans walked away with the win.
With the win, the Spartans have now beaten all of the other Lynn schools (Classical, English and Lynn Tech).
“All I hear is, ‘St. Mary’s is Division 4, Lynn Classical is Division 2, English is Division 1,” said Brown. “Look, we’re the city champs, no question about it. We took those games, 3-0. Now we’re 5-4 and just trying to get better every day.”
Mike Alongi can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @m_alongi.
