LYNNFIELD — Something had to give.
The Lynnfield and Rockport boys basketball teams went into Tuesday night’s game with nary a win between them. But the Pioneers were the ones to get the monkeys off their backs with an emphatic 55-22 win over the Vikings.
“I’m happy for the kids,” said Lynnfield coach John Bakopolus. “They’ve been working hard, and they deserved this.”
The key to Tuesday’s win, Bakopolus said, was defense.
“We have been having trouble scoring points,” he said, “so they’ve bought into the idea that for us to win, we have to hold the other team under 50.”
The Pioneers have come close a few times this year, Bakopolus said, “but we’re a young team, and I think we just run out of gas in the fourth quarter. But tonight, we kept it up. We responded well.”
The game started out as if nobody really wanted to win. There were oversized lids on both baskets, as both teams hoisted up a slew of shots from the outside, with few of them falling. After the first quarter, the score was 9-4, Lynnfield.
“We had a lot of missed shots early,” said Bakopolus, “but we caught fire in the second quarter and that helped settle us down.”
There were so many outside shots attempted by both teams that the first layup — by Lynnfield freshman Gavin Deluties — didn’t fall until midway through the second quarter.
The Pioneers started two freshmen, and both factored significantly into the win. Deluties and Alexander Fleming each had nine points, and they triggered the second-quarter spurt with back-to-back hoops that gave Lynnfield a 15-5 lead. And the Pioneers never looked back after that.
Toward the end of the quarter, senior Mekhi Peters made his presence known with a couple of big baskets to stretch the lead.
“He came in and made a big impact off the bench,” said Bakopolus.
The half ended with a bang with Camden Marengi dunking before falling down hard to the floor. However, he was no worse for wear and played much of the second half.
In the third quarter, Lynnfield’s shooters finally found the range, with Fleming and Deluties sandwiching three-pointers around a bucket by Steven Draher to break the game wide open.
Bakopolus also had praise for junior Samuel Gazit, who had eight points and made his presence felt on the boards.
Lynnfield (1-3) will host Triton Friday evening (6:30).
