BOSTON — It’s safe to say that few opponents have been able to contain the English boys basketball team’s high-flying offense. Monday afternoon at Cathedral High, however, the Bulldogs were pushed to their limits.
In a hard-fought clash from start to finish, the Bulldogs came away with a 78-72 win over St. John’s Prep at the BABC/Slades Basketball Classic.
“It was a war from the beginning of the game,” English coach Antonio Anderson said. “It was a tournament atmosphere. St. John’s runs its stuff. They played hard, they rebounded and they have guys that can shoot it. My guys stayed together. We made plays that we needed to make in this type of atmosphere.”
Alonzo Linton led English with 26 points. Jarnel Guzman (21), Jack Rodriguez (16) and Justin Fitzpatrick (12, on four 3-pointers) also made key shots throughout.
Reaching double-figures for St. John’s were Will Batchelder (24 points), Aidan Callahan (17) and Liam Dunfee (10).
“Will and Aidan are a very young and promising backcourt for us,” Eagles coach John Dullea said. “Our future’s very bright with those two. They certainly have different styles but both are very effective. They’re not afraid of the moment, which is rare for sophomores. They don’t back down.”
Both coaches felt their teams improved from matching up against one another.
“I’m very proud of the effort our kids played with tonight,” Dullea said. “We battled all game. We’re taking steps in the right direction.”
“That’s the type of team we can see in the state tournament,” Anderson said. “It can only help both of us. That’s the one thing about games like this. It was a heck of a game for both our teams to be a part of. We can’t ask for anything more. For us, especially, we’ve been blowing teams out. We needed something like this.”
The first half was back and forth from the opening tip. Each team had its share of good runs but neither could pull away when it looked like things could get out of hand. Knocking down its outside shots, St. John’s ran out to a 15-8 lead. In the blink of an eye, English took a 16-15 lead with a 8-0 spurt capped by Linton’s lay-up. Batchelder made a nifty move the basket for a lay-in and ended the first quarter with St. John’s in front, 21-16.
After an Eagles bucket gave them a seven-point lead to start the second quarter, the Bulldogs turned things up a notch. A 14-0 run saw English take a 34-23 lead midway through the period. Batchelder knocked in a 3-pointer to whittle it down to a point, 35-34. Linton closed the half with a basket to give the Bulldogs a 37-35 edge at recess.
“Alonzo dominated the game,” Anderson said. “He made three’s, baskets, free throws, got rebounds. Jarnel was out the first half, which is hard. He’s one of our go-to guys. Mason was out, he’s our best defender. We had to figure out a way to make that work. We had a two-point lead at the half. St. John’s fought back but everytime they fought back Alonzo made huge shots.”
Half No. 2 was much of the same. Linton and Rodriguez took over in the third quarter with drives to the basket. The Bulldogs carried a 60-52 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Batchelder’s 3-pointer with 4:30 to play made it a three-point game. But that’s as close as the Eagles would get, with the Bulldogs clamping down in the final stretch for the 78-72 win.
Both teams bounce back into conference play this week. St. John’s (6-6) hosts Malden Catholic Wednesday (6) in a Catholic Conference tilt.
English (10-1) visits Swampscott Tuesday night (7), one win away from clinching a state tournament bid.
