LYNN — The KIPP Academy boys basketball team made its debut in Lynn’s Walter J. Boverini Tournament Friday, and the Panthers made sure to leave their mark right from the jump.
KIPP came out playing its best basketball in the first half and never trailed in a 52-41 win over Tech at Tony Conigliaro Gymnasium.
“We played early with a lot of energy and when we do that we’re a pretty good team,” KIPP coach David White said. “As the game went on we did lose some energy. Our bench lost energy and we kind of let (Tech) hang around. There were definitely some negatives and positives but overall we’ll take the win.”
Winfred Sanchez led the way for the Panthers with a game-high 15 points and eight rebounds. Algha Barry (12 points, five rebounds) had a big fourth quarter and Joel Aguero added 10 points.
The loss stings for Tech and head coach Stevie Patrick, who noted a lack of effort as the most disappointing part of the Tiger’s performance.
“I believe (KIPP) wanted it more,” Patrick said. “A lot of 50-50 balls we didn’t get that we should have had. I didn’t see the effort I thought I should’ve seen. Kudos to KIPP, they played hard, were ready and prepared for everything.
“This is a tough one for us to be honest. It really hasn’t sunk in yet. This was very important for me, I haven’t won a (Boverini) game yet. I felt like if I was ever going to be a chance we had one (Friday). I don’t think (KIPP) was that much better than us man for man but the effort on their end, they wanted it more than we did.”
Carlos Mateo led the Tigers with a double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Aguero got the Panthers off to a fast start, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers to help KIPP build an 8-2 lead. From there, some aggressive defense helped KIPP take a 13-6 lead into the second quarter.
The shooting kept coming in the second. After a quick Tech basket Barry and Sanchez knocked down 3-pointers to give the Panthers a 19-8 lead. Then, 3’s from Luis Pinero and Julian Peralta helped the Tigers chip at the lead but KIPP matched Tech point for point and took a 32-20 lead into the half.
“We’ve played four games so far and in all four we had bad starts,” Patrick said. “So the emphasis (Friday) was to have a bad start. I told them, if we have a bad start, we’re going to lose this game.”
Tech never did recover completely, but to the Tigers credit they did win the second half. Mateo scored six third-quarter points and Tech looked to gain some momentum when it went on a 6-point run in the fourth to cut KIPP’s lead to 43-34.
But Barry helped the Panthers take back control in the final frame, scoring seven points to cap off the win.
KIPP (2-0) moves on to the tournament championship were they will play St. Mary’s Sunday (5:45). Tech (1-3) plays Classical in the consolation game Sunday (2:30).
“It’s a shout out to our guys,” White said. “They work hard, they’re doing the things that we ask to help them be successful. It’s a great opportunity, I told them we get to play for a championship our third game of the year. That’s special and we have to embrace that. It’s a culture we’re trying to build. It’s good for the young guys to see.”
