LYNN— Classical girls basketball coach Tom Sawyer has pointed to depth as one of his team’s strengths this season. Wednesday evening in the opening round of the Boverini Tournament at Classical, that depth paid dividends for the Rams.
Classical rolled to a 54-30 win over Swampscott, similar to last week’s result when the two teams met (a 57-21 Classical win). Along the way, the Rams were given a boost from their substitutes during key stretches for the win.
The Rams didn’t miss many shots in the first half. Classical stormed out to 19-3 lead at the end of the first quarter, as the Big Blue struggled to find their rhythm on offense. Three points was all Swampscott could put on the board in the second quarter, leading to a 33-6 deficit at halftime.
“We’re still learning and there’s a lot we’ve done in little time,” Swampscott coach Katelyn Leonard said. “It’s overwhelming for a lot of players so it’s just about getting better in practice every day. We were better than we were when played them last week and that’s all I can ask for.”
It didn’t help Swampscott’s cause that Classical was knocking down its shots throughout the half. On the few occasions when the Rams missed, Skyler Crayton (six points) and Jean Gupton (eight points) were there to clean things up with buckets in the paint.
“This year we’ve got some girls that can come off the bench and help us with positive plays,” Sawyer said. “A big part of girls basketball is defensive and offensive rebounding. If we do that well, we put ourselves in position to do well. We did that well tonight.”
Swampscott’s best spurt in the game came midway through the third quarter when the Big Blue went on a 9-0 run. Paris Wilkey (game-high 20 points) netted a 3-pointer to end the drought and get Classical back on track. The Rams led 51-18 through three.
“It came to the little things that we can control,” Leonard said. “The rebounding, the fight for loose balls and just playing with a little more energy. We came out a bit flat and we talked about playing with energy. It turned into offense for us. If we can play four quarters like that, we can beat teams.”
From there, Classical cruised through the fourth quarter en route to the 54-30 win and a bid in Friday’s tournament final against St. Mary’s. The Spartans defeated Classical in last winter’s tournament.
“St. Mary’s is very good,” Sawyer said. “I watched them play English and they have a lot of depth. They have five, six kids off the bench that are dynamite players and their starting five is dynamite. We’ll have our hands full. They’re a very skilled team.”
For the Big Blue, Nikki Rosa and Brooke Stout each finished with seven points. Stout swished two of Swampscott’s five 3-pointers.
Swampscott will aim to bounce back with a win in Friday’s consolation game against English.
“If we play four quarters the way we played in the second half, I think we have a chance to beat English,” Leonard said. “They’re a good team, but if we play hard I think it can go our way.”
