LYNN — Perhaps no team was more prepared to turn the page on last week’s Boverini Tournament than the Lynn Tech boys basketball squad. The Tigers struggled in their two Boverini games, falling to Classical and English by large margins.
But with a new week comes a fresh start for coach Stevie Patrick and his Tech team. Tuesday evening’s 57-42 win over Northeast at Tech’s field house wasn’t pretty, but it was a step in the right direction.
“It’s nice to get a win,” Patrick said. “It’s hard because it’s still early. As the season goes on, I think we’ll start to feel better. But to be honest, I’m still feeling those two tough losses (in the Boverini) even though those were two Division 1 schools. I felt like we gave up in that tournament but tonight was the first step of getting back on track.”
With the win, the Tigers improved to 4-3 this season.
Senior Jama Aroni finished with 20 points while junior Tre Baldwin added 19 points for the Tigers. Junior Johan Ortega Jr. added seven points.
With a new-look starting five, the Tigers rumbled to a quick lead coming out of the gate in the first quarter. Aroni and Ortega Jr. paced the Tigers in the early part of the period, with six points each. Baldwin added a few buckets in the closing minutes of the quarter, and the Tigers led 17-10 through one.
A quick Baldwin lay-in gave Tech a 19-10 lead, its largest advantage of the first half, to get the second quarter started. Northeast didn’t go down quietly. The Golden Knights whittled the deficit to as close as one point before Tech claimed a 28-23 lead at the end of the half.
Foul trouble kept the Tigers from extending their lead.
“We have to work on keeping guys in front of us,” Patrick said. “They like to reach and bail the opponent on offense out when they have him. Most of the time they’ll keep them in front, and then reach at the wrong time for a foul. Both teams were being physical. It was a good game.”
Baldwin netted another lay-in to start the third quarter, putting the Tigers ahead 30-23. From there, the Tigers and Golden Knights played an even quarter in which they each scored 10 points. Baldwin provided the highlight of the third period with a nifty drive to the basket for a slam dunk. At the end of three, the Tigers led 38-28.
“Tre can play with anybody,” Patrick said. “He had a nice dunk tonight, which ignited us. It’s his second dunk in about four games. He can go with anybody. I think he has a good chance of being named CAC Player of the Year, if he keeps going at this rate.”
The Tigers sealed the victory in the fourth quarter. Northeast hung within 10 points before Aroni knocked home a 3-pointer with 3:40 remaining to put the game out of reach. Tech walked away with the 57-42 victory, its fourth win of the season.
“I called a couple of timeouts in the fourth quarter to let our guys know what we needed to do to finish the game out,” Patrick said.
Tech’s back in action on Thursday when the Tigers host Whittier Tech. The Tigers are undefeated in CAC Small games.
“We have a tough Whittier team coming in Thursday,” Patrick said. “I think they only have one loss and that’s going to be a good game. If we can get that win, or at least if we’re competitive, that’ll really let me know that we’re back on track.”
