WINTHROP– The Winthrop boys basketball team challenged itself in the early going of its 2018 regular season schedule. Games against state tournament mainstays in Malden Catholic, Beverly, Classical and English gave the inexperienced Vikings a tough set of tilts out of the gate.
Winthrop dropped all four games but the Vikings finally found themselves on the win column Friday afternoon when they defeated St. Joseph Prep, 59-47, at Chris Tsiotos Court.
“It feels good,” Winthrop coach David Sacco said. “The kids have been working hard. They’re so young. We need to learn how to win. We saw it in points today where we played really well, got the lead up to 15, 16 points and then we just stopped playing. We’re not that good where we can stop playing. Sure enough the lead came down to seven or eight and they got back in.
“A win is a win and we’ll take it,” Sacco continued, “but we need to keep battling. Our schedule doesn’t get any easier.”
Sophomore forward Cam Conway led Winthrop’s scoring with 14 points. Conway scored 12 of his points in the second half to help put the win in the bag. Junior guard/forward Engjell Ramadini scored 11 points, sophomore guard/forward David DiCicco added 10. Senior guard Chrono Washington scored nine points and senior guard Brayan Rodriguez contributed with seven off the bench.
“Conway’s a guy that has really stepped up,” Sacco said. “He had 28 points and 10 rebounds against English the other night. He’s been our leading scorer. David’s another sophomore. He’s shooting the ball well, getting after it on defense. Engjell’s another guy who’s shooting the ball well. We just have to get more consistent on offense and defense.”
The Phoenix hung close for the majority of the first quarter, trailing 16-12 heading into the final minutes of the period. Rodriguez came off the bench, knocked in 3-of-4 free throw attempts and hit a lay-in at the buzzer to power the Vikings to 21-12 cushion at the end of the first quarter.
“Brayan’s a guy we’ve been working since Day 1, trying to get him going,” Sacco said. “He’s been battling some injuries early on. Slowly but surely, he’s been getting better and better. He got the most minutes he’s had all season today. With seven points he gives us some scoring, he gives us a ton of energy and he gets after it on defense. He’s going to be somebody that’s going to step in and play a lot more minutes as we get going.”
Winthrop’s offense stalled in the second quarter but the Vikings managed to hold a 30-23 lead at halftime.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from DiCicco and Austin Daigneault put Winthrop ahead, 36-23, early in the third quarter. Refusing to go away, St. Joseph answered with a 6-0 run of its own and trailed 45-33 heading into the final period.
“That’s back to guys being inexperienced and not being there before,” Sacco said. “If you have a senior-laden or an experienced group, when you come out in that half and put that run on you’re looking to step on their throats and turn it into a 16-0 run. We come out and put a run on, and guys stop playing. They came back with a run of their own. That’s something that can be worked on.”
A pair of turnovers to start the fourth quarter allowed the Phoenix whittle Winthrop’s lead to 45-37. Conway drilled a 3-pointer to end Winthrop’s drought and scored seven points in the fourth, sealing the 59-47 win.
The Vikings (1-3) host Somerville next Friday night (7).
“Experience-wise we’re getting better,” Sacco said. “We’re seeing a lot of things that we hadn’t seen earlier. Guys just have to keep battling and keep grinding.”
