LYNN — The English boys basketball team hasn’t forgotten how things went in last year’s Walter J. Boverini Tournament. English entered the tournament with high hopes, only to watch St. Mary’s wipe them away in the first round.
Refusing to play a consolation game this time around, the Bulldogs stormed through Classical with a 90-69 win in the opening round Thursday evening at Tech’s Field House.
“We played St. Mary’s last year, it was my first year and we were still getting our feet wet,” English coach Antonio Anderson said. “(St. Mary’s coach) Dave (Brown) is a great coach. After we lost to St. Mary’s, Dave and I sat down and he gave me some tips. We prepared all week. I’m just happy my guys came to play. I told them before the game, ‘let’s not get caught up in the crowd, let’s just play basketball.'”
English led by three points at the end of the first quarter before mounting a double-digit lead in period No. 2. Classical whittled the deficit to as little as six points but the Bulldogs made their shots when things got close.
“We weren’t contesting anything at the end,” Classical coach Jasper Grassa said, “but I thought it was the same thing the whole game. We’d get in, eight points or something like that. A second-chance point, defensive breakdowns, we just can’t have it. Especially the rebounding. It seemed like we couldn’t get a defensive rebound to save us. English is a good team, they’re going to make shots. The rebounding and defensive breakdowns really hurt us.”
English’s Jarnel Guzman led all scorers with 29 points. Guzman netted a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to help put the game out of Classical’s reach.
Alonzo Linton scored 21 points and Mason Jean-Baptiste added 15.
Classical (3-1) featured three double-digit scorers. Dyrrell Rucker scored 17 points, Jeff Hill poured in 16 and Jeff Barbosa added 13.
A back and forth opening quarter saw the Bulldogs hold a slim 21-18 edge. Linton and Malik Anderson swapped buckets, and Barbosa drained a 3-pointer to tie the game at 23-23. Jean-Baptiste came alive for eight points in the quarter, aiding the Bulldogs to a 45-37 lead at halftime.
Justin Fitzpatrick’s 3-pointer with 1:06 remaining in the third quarter allowed English to open a 16-point lead, 67-51. A Classical basket and 3-pointer brought the Rams within 11, down 67-56, heading into the fourth quarter.
English opened the fourth quarter on a 13-6 run to pull away, 80-62. Guzman’s late 3-pointers put the Rams away and sealed English’s 90-69 win.
“We have playmakers,” Anderson said. “Alonzo and Jarnel. Mason made some three’s, Justin made some three’s, Joaquin (Crespo) made some shots. We spread the floor. When our guys are doing that, we’re hard to guard.”
Grassa’s take was identical.
“English has some really tough players,” he said. “Jarnel and Alonzo are very, very good. On top of that they have players that can space the floor. They’re a good team. They’re just very talented.”
The Bulldogs (5-0) will have another shot at St. Mary’s (6-0) in Saturday’s (6) championship game.
Classical will play Tech (2) in the consolation game.
“You never want to go 0-2 in this tournament,” Grassa said. “We’ll prepare for Tech Friday.”
