LOWELL — The No. 5 Lynn English boys basketball team got off to exactly the start it wanted to, but the Bulldogs got away from their game plan in the second half and fell to the No. 4 Lowell Red Raiders, 71-63, in a Division 1 North quarterfinal game on Sunday night. The Bulldogs had a lot of success early going into the paint to freshman Ademide Badmus, the tallest player on the court, but English went away from that.
“We just stopped giving the ball to Ademide, and I don’t know why,” said English coach Antonio Anderson. “Sometimes when things get tight and it’s an intense game like this, guys try to do too much. And instead of doing what was working, guys tried to take it upon themselves.”
Badmus led the Bulldogs with 25 points and 9 rebounds, scoring 18 of those points in the first half. Senior Javonte Edwards added 19 points and 8 rebounds, while junior Alonzo Linton had 13 points and 5 rebounds.
Anderson said that he was pleased with the way Badmus played in such a big spot.
“It was great to see him take over like that, he was being aggressive and working hard on both ends,” Anderson said. “I think he could’ve continued to play like that if we had continued to get the ball inside. But we can certainly take a lot of positives away from his performance tonight.”
English had a clear size advantage in the game, and the Bulldogs took advantage of their opportunities in the paint early. They fed Badmus early on, and he recorded 12 points and 5 rebounds in the first quarter alone. Behind that and a 7-point, 4-rebound quarter from Edwards, the Bulldogs were able to take a 19-14 lead into the first break.
But in the second quarter, Lowell senior guard Alexander Rivera (42 points) got hot. He got into the lane and drew some fouls and also hit some shots from the outside, scoring 13 points in the quarter and propelling the Red Raiders into the lead. Rivera helped Lowell get off to a 10-0 run to open the second, eventually taking as much as a 9-point lead about halfway through the period. But the Bulldogs kept fighting, eventually clawing all the way back to enter halftime only down two points, 34-32.
The Red Raiders remained hot coming out of the break. Rivera kept getting to the basket almost at will, knocking down tough layups and getting to the free throw line. As it came down to the end of the quarter, Rivera hit three three-pointers in a row to stretch the lead back out to eight points, 51-43.
The Red Raiders held on from there, extending their lead to as many as 13 points before English went on a small run to close the game.
Despite the loss, Anderson hopes that this tournament run will light a fire under the returning players for next year.
“Give credit to Lowell, they came in and played hard and played well in their own gym,” Anderson said. “But this experience will hopefully be good for our returning guys, and I don’t think this group is done by a long shot. We’ll be back next year.”
English ends the year with a 17-5 record. Lowell is right back at it tonight (7) against No. 1 Everett at Salem High.
