LYNN — Four division championships were decided Saturday in the 42nd annual Lynn Elementary Basketball Tournament in front of a capacity crowd at Pickering Middle School.
The Drewicz boys basketball team took home its first championship since 1994, the tournament’s longest drought since it started 42 years ago, beating Tracy 40-37.
“These kids are unbelievable,” Drewicz coach Stephanie Mowry said. “They’re such a great group of kids and they work as a team. I don’t think anyone deserves to win more than them.”
A well-rounded attack helped the Dolphins get the job done with Javihan Martinez leading the way with 20 points. Steven Depina (nine points) and Jason De Leon (six) also hit key shots while Efosa Aimuanwosa (three) had a dominant defensive game with five blocks.
“We have Javihan Martinez, who is an unbelievable player,” Mowry said. “He takes over when he has to but we’re a team. We have so many other guys that play defense and can score. That’s our advantage against other teams.”
Cameron Weaver scored a game-high 26 points for Tracy.
The Dolphins got off to a 4-0 lead thanks to a pair of jump shots from Angel Reyes and De Leon. Tracy finally got its offense going thanks to Cameron Weaver who made a basket and dished a nice pass to Carmelo Weaver who cut the Drewicz lead to 5-4.
But the Dolphins defense stepped up from there. Aimuanwosa blocked a pair of shots toward the end of the first quarter and Martinez added a pair of baskets to push the Drewicz lead to 10-5.
Martinez started the second quarter with a quick steal and layup and later in the quarter hit a key 3-pointer to extend the Dolphins lead to 17-7.
Tracy went on a much needed 8-0 run to end the first half, highlighted by a pair of baskets from Johan Tavares and Cameron Weaver to cut the Drewicz lead to two before the half.
Cameron Weaver started off the third quarter with a pair of free throws to tie the game at 17-17, but Tracy couldn’t ever find enough momentum to take a lead.
The Dolphins held onto a small lead for the rest of the second half thanks to eight second half points from Depina.
Martinez took over the final few minutes of the game for the Dolphins, going three of four from the line and netting two baskets.
Tracy had one final chance down by three on its final possession, but Cameron Weaver’s shot sailed short and Tracy held on to advance to the finals.
The Callahan boys basketball team struggled in the first half, but an explosive second half led to a 51-33 in over Lynn Woods.
“We are very excited,” Callahan coach Alicia Burnett said. “They’ve worked so hard this season and they deserve everything they get. They’ve been determined, give it all at practice, it’s just a great group of kids that work well together.”
Kameron Rucker led the way for Callahan with 18 points while Jason Perry scored 10 points. Farhaun Abukar scored seven points and Daryll Reynolds scored eight.
Marvin Avery dominated on offense for Lynn Woods with 31 points.
Lynn Woods jumped out to an early 7-2 lead thanks to an and-one by Avery. But Callahan clawed its way back to tie things up before the end of the first quarter when Xavier Rodriguez converted an and-one of his own.
Both teams kept pace before Lynn Woods finished the first half with a 7-0 run. Avery added five straight points before Kyle Doney scored a layup and put Lynn Woods ahead 21-15.
“We just wanted to keep playing our game,” Burnett said. “This is a strong group of kids that play really well together. I think they needed to calm their nerves a little bit. They were good they just had to play their game.”
And things changed in the third quarter. With Avery on the bench for much of the third Callahan took over the game. Rucker grabbed a pair of steals and scored three straight baskets during Callahan’s run to push the lead to 27-23.
Callahan extended its lead to 15 in the fourth, with 3-pointers from Farhuan Abukar and Eddie Lewis putting the game out of reach for Lynn Woods.
The Division 1 girls title was captured by Harrington as it beat Drewicz 22-4. Jayleen Novas was Harrington’s high scorer with 11 points. Analycia Carrion chipped in four for the Hornets. Erichelle Lluveres and Marly Perez were the high scorers for Drewicz.
In Division 2 girls play, Lincoln-Thomson defeated Shoemaker 21-12. Dayana Hios Edwards had another stellar game for Lincoln scoring 17 despite not playing in the 4th quarter because of foul trouble. Bella Owumi and Amilya Morrison were the high scorers for Shoemaker.
Lincoln-Thomson will take on Harrington for the city championship next Friday at 5 p.m. The Drewicz and Callahan boys meet at 6:30 for the boys city championship.
