LYNN— It didn’t seem like the No. 7 Classical boys basketball team would get tested by No. 10 Medford in Tuesday’s Division 1 North first-round game when the Rams led by 22 in the second quarter. But the pesky Mustangs fought their way back in and made Classical work.
The Rams answered with key runs of their own, hit crucial shots when they needed to and walked away with a 63-46 win at Classical.
“We played Medford during the regular season,” Classical second-year coach Jasper Grassa, who earned his first state tournament win, said. “We noticed we had some success with that 3-2 (defense) that first game. Both games were actually pretty similar. We didn’t have a big lead the first time around. They had a lot of success with our man (defense) and then we went 3-2 and did a good job on them.”
Dyrrell Rucker shot 10-of-10 from the free throw line and led Classical with 21 points. Jeff Hill shot 7-of-8 from the free throw line, hit three 3-pointers and finished with 18 points. Jeff Barbosa scored 12 points, while Malik Anderson scored seven points with five rebounds and four steals.
Attacking the basket, Classical worked its way to an ideal start in the early minutes. The Rams sprinted out to an 11-2 lead, forcing Medford to use a timeout. Hill netted the first 3-pointer of the game and Rucker followed suit with his own three, boosting Classical’s lead to 19-2. Barbosa sealed Classical’s first-quarter scoring with a smooth hook shot off the glass. The Rams were in full control at the end of the first quarter with a 21-4 lead.
Anderson’s 3-pointer two minutes into the second quarter stretched the Rams’ lead into the 20s at 28-6. But that lit a fire under the Mustangs and they reeled themselves back into the game over the next six minutes. Back to back 3-pointers from Riley McBrine and Michael Murphy made it a 31-15 game. Alex Valera proceeded to score the Medford’s next 11 points. Classical’s lead was down to seven, 33-26, at halftime.
“I’ve learned to always expect it at this point,” Grassa said. “Basketball’s a game of runs. Once we got that lead, we got comfortable with the intensity on defense. All the sudden they were coming off screens ready to shoot instead of protecting the ball. Medford did a good job at the same time.”
Medford came to within six points of Classical at the start of the third quarter. A Classical rally, when the Rams needed it most, gave them breathing room. Hill’s 3-pointer made it a double-digit lead again at 42-31. The Rams led 45-32 at the end of the third quarter.
Again, the Mustangs stepped up when they had to. Kester Dorestant highlighted a 7-0 Medford run with a 3-pointer and the Mustangs were back in the thick of things, down 45-40, with 6:08 remaining. It became a free throw game down the stretch. Classical hit its freebies (12-of-14 in the fourth quarter, six of them from Hill) to put Medford away for good.
“I was preaching composure,” Grassa said. “Down the stretch, any time they hit a couple baskets in a row we didn’t lose our composure. I thought that’s why it looked so bad in the first half. We lost our composure when they made that first run.”
With the win, Classical advanced to the Division 1 North quarter finals. The Rams will travel Friday night (7) to No. 2 Lowell, the team that ended Classical’s season last year. Lowell defeated No. 15 St. John’s Prep, 66-60, in its first-round game.
“We have Lowell coming up,” Grassa said. “We faced them last year and they knocked us out last year. They had a really talented player in Alex (Rivera), he’s at UMass Lowell now. They’re a very athletic team. They’re a team that we won’t afford to let make a couple runs.”
Medford finishes the season 13-8.
