SAUGUS — This was one the Saugus boys basketball team won’t soon forget. After trading leads with visiting Classical all night, the Sachems hit just about every shot they needed down the stretch, shocking the Rams with a 72-65 win at John Towers Gymnasium Friday.
“This is a huge win,” Saugus coach Mark Bertrand said. “This is my third year as head coach and this is probably the biggest win in that time at Saugus. Anytime you take a Division 1 team, and Classical is a good team too. Jasper does a great job and his dad (Tom). They have a great staff over there and I give them credit they came right back at us and never gave up. But my guys, their backs were against the wall, they were down and they stepped up and hit big shots and big free throws.”
The free throws proved to be key as the Sachems went into the bonus late. Saugus nailed 10 free throws in the fourth quarter, including six from Christian Correia (20 points, 10 rebounds) to ice the win.
“(Free throws) were our achilles heel for a while and we really worked hard at improving that,” Bertrand said. “My assistant coaches, Billy Cahill, Matt Williams, Joe Bertrand, they come in everyday and we’re getting about 80 to 90 free throw shots off. We really kind of changed over the last four weeks on how we’re doing on that. That’s been the main focus for us.”
Saugus’ starting five in the final eight minutes finished the night perfectly. Myles Manalaysay (17 points) and Correia led the way. Mason Nickolas scored 13 points and Nick Israelson (four points) grabbed some key rebounds down the stretch. Joseph Lusson erupted for 14 points and three steals, all in the second half.
“Joey was picking the pocket at the end of that game,” Bertrand said. “Myles was going to the basket. Mason and Christian were hitting free throws. Nick Israelson had a big rebound at the end. Those five on the floor, I’m proud of the whole team, but they really stepped up.”
Classical had its fair share of big performers too. Jeff Barbosa (15 points, 10 rebounds) and Raynel Nunez (13 points, 11 rebounds) each posted a double-double. Jeff Hill Jr. had a team-high 20 points.
But in the end, foul trouble and an inability to solve Saugus’ defense cost the Rams.
“I think we struggled to get good shots down the stretch against their zone,” Classical coach Jasper Grassa said. “(Saugus) certainly took advantage of every point they could get though.”
The first half was as tight as it could get. Nickolas and Correia each hit 3-pointers in the first quarter to give Saugus a slight 17-16 edge before the second.
Four different lead changes highlighted the second quarter before Hill Jr.’s layup at the buzzer tied things up at 30-30 at the half.
The Rams knocked down five 3’s (two from Barbosa) in the third to get ahead by as much as 12 points.
That’s when the Sachems started to take over the game. Some clutch 3-pointers by Correia and Manalaysay mixed in with steals and layups in transition by Lusso helped Saugus crawl back to tie things up at 60-60.
Already in the bonus in the final minutes, the Sachems finished the night by building an 8-point lead almost entirely at the line and Classical’s last ditch-efforts at a comeback fell short.
“It’s tough,” Grassa said. “There’s only one way to go (from here). We’re hitting a little stint here and we’ve gotta get out of it. We have to dig ourselves out of this.”
Classical (9-7) travels to Salem Tuesday (7). The Sachems, who have already qualified for the state tournament, improve to 6-9 and host another tough test Tuesday (7) with English.
“We’re pretty fired up,” Bertrand said. “That locker room, I haven’t seen that in a long time. Those kids are fired up and ready to play. We got a big one again on Tuesday. The best in the state is coming in so it’s another measuring stick for us.”