LYNN — The Lynn Tech boys basketball team kept it close for much of the game, but in the end the Tigers made too many mistakes and fell to Mystic Valley, 65-61, at home on Friday evening. Turnovers did the Tigers in on the evening, and their offensive production was hindered in part because one of Tech’s best players, Tre Baldwin, was not on the floor for the game.
“In all honesty, I think this was one of our worst games we’ve played this year,” said Tech coach Stevie Patrick. “We committed way too many turnovers, we had guys not playing, and we just couldn’t get it done out there tonight.”
Belmin Berilo led the way for Tech, putting up 22 points and five rebounds. Rob Wallace had a huge double-double with 18 points and 21 rebounds, while Buba Ceesay added eight points and six rebounds. Amari Gaston also had eight points to go along with two rebounds.
Things got off to a slow offensive start for both teams, but the pace began to increase as the quarter drew to a close. Tyler Story (16 points) scored eight points in the first to help push the Eagles to a three-point lead at the end of one, 18-15.
Tech came right back to tie the score at 21-21 early in the second, but Mystic Valley quickly went on a 6-0 run to regain control. Behind some solid play from Ben Soto (19 points, 10 rebounds) the Eagles were able to take a 36-33 lead into the half.
Berilo and Wallace really started to come alive in the third quarter, but it almost wasn’t having any effect on the score because the Tigers got caught turning the ball over too many times. On a number of plays, a Tech player would pull down a rebound and dribble a few steps, but then get the ball stolen or a bad pass would lead to a loss of possession. Behind these mistakes, Mystic Valley was able to stretch its lead out to nine points by the end of the third quarter, 52-43.
But still, as has been their method of operation all year long, the Tigers continued to fight. After getting down by as many as 14 points, Tech was able to roar back over the final three minutes of the game. Wallace went off for eight points and 10 rebounds in the final quarter alone, and Berillo hit a couple of clutch three-pointers to cut the deficit all the way down to four points with 15 seconds remaining. But then, in a stretch where the Tigers had to be perfect, they committed a foul, missed a three and were unable to close the gap any further.
“That’s the one thing that has been consistent about this team all year, we’ll keep fighting until the very end,” said Patrick. “It’s just that sometimes, that fight comes a little too late for us to really do anything with it. That’s what happened tonight.”
With just three games remaining, Patrick wants his team to get some momentum going into the upcoming state tournament.
“I just want us to get some consistency going into the end of the year, because all these mistakes aren’t going to cut it come tournament time,” Patrick said. “We have stretches where we play really well, but then we get killed by turnovers and mistakes. We just have to clean that up.”
Tech has a road game against Hamilton-Wenham on Monday in a rematch of Jan. 25 matchup in which the Tigers fell 62-56 at home.
