LYNN — If Thursday night is any indication, the Cavanagh Field House will be rocking on quite a few nights this winter.
The Lynn English boys basketball team put on a clinic befitting of a school that is the two-time defending Division 1 state champion, rolling over Malden, 60-41.
The win moves the Bulldogs to 2-0 in the early season, and also should further familiarize Greater Boston League foes with the name Tyrese Melo Garcia, a junior co-captain. Garcia got off to a strong start Thursday, knocking down 23 points as the Bulldogs pulled away early and stayed well out of the Golden Tornadoes reach.
“He’s a great kid,” said first-year coach Alvin Abreu, a former Classical star who knows a thing or two about having a team climb on his back. Abreu, as well as being a 1,000-point scorer for the Rams, is the third-leading scorer in University of New Hampshire basketball history.
“(Tyrese) is a gym rat,” said Abreu. “He’s always working on his game, and he’s very coachable.”
Garcia was English’s only double-figure scorer Thursday. Nelson Obarisiagbon had eight points, Mitchell Purter had seven and Jesse Maggs with six.
Malden took its only lead of the night (2-0) when Ransley Saint Jean broke a long scoreless stretch by getting the game’s first bucket. From there, it was all Bulldogs. Only a late surge by the Tornadoes, sparked by Luke Zubrzyck’s two quick hoops, brought Malden to within two. But by the end of the quarter, that lead had grown to 20-13.
Once the second quarter began, English began running away. A 7-0 run made it 27-13. That’s about where it stayed until the end of the half, when English went into the locker room up by 13 (34-21).
It was more of the same in the second half. The Bulldogs went on an 8-2 run to start the third quarter and it was 41-23. English had the lead up to 21, before the benches were cleared at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Abreu was on the staff of previous coach Antonio Anderson, who led the Bulldogs to their two state titles.
“We always collaborated, so it wasn’t as difficult to transition,” Abreu said. “But this is a new team. We have only three seniors and the rest are sophomores and juniors. We’ve all had to move forward.
“I picked up some things (at UNH),” he said. “Right now, I’m just interested in putting together a good team, and to give something back to the community.”
English (2-0) hosts Medford Tuesday night (7).
