LYNN — The Beverly boys basketball team had this one circled on its calendar since December.
The Panthers played that way.
Beverly turned a close halftime game into a third- and fourth-quarter runaway Tuesday night, leaving the Bulldogs in the dust, 85-54, in a non-league game at the Cavanagh Fieldhouse.
Until this year, both teams were in the Northeastern Conference. But English jumped to the Greater Boston League last year and because of that the teams had not met until Tuesday.
“Of course we were looking forward to it,” said Beverly coach Matt Karakoudas. “They’re one of the elite teams. We were looking forward to a good game.”
Beverly won thanks to its depth and its desire, Karakoudas said.
“These kids wanted this one badly,” he said. “We had guys who were hurting who stayed out there and played. I can’t say enough about our kids and how they played.”
On the other side, English coach Alvin Abreu knew what happened. The Bulldogs only had two players in double figures: Tyrese Melo Garcia with 19 points and Jesse Maggs with 15.
“We have to have more kids step up than that,” said Abreu, “especially on defense. I have to give Beverly respect. They played hard and they stopped us.
“In a game against a team like Beverly, you have to have everyone playing well on both sides of the ball. We did not.”
Beverly came into the game with a perfect record and left the game that way. Now, the Panthers are 19-0 going into this weekend’s pair of games in the Spartan Classic.
Beverly had four players hitting for more than 10 points, with Ryder Frost leading the way with 24. Also going for double figures were Gabe Copeland (18), Rook Landman (12) and Dylan Crowley (14).
The first half looked to be the nip-and-tuck affair everyone expected. The lead seesawed back and forth in the first quarter, with the Panthers up by one (18-17) at the end.
There was more seesawing in the second quarter. Each time one team would get a leg up on the other, the other team would roar back. Midway through the period, it was 21-21.
From that point on, however, Beverly slowly — at first — began to pull away. But halftime, it was 38-32, Panthers.
Immediately in the third quarter, Beverly began putting the pressure on. First, there was a 9-2 spurt by the Panthers, and later, between the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth, Beverly ran off 10 straight points. By then, it was 63-44 and the rout was on.
English, 12-4, is at Springfield Central Thursday and plays in the Spartan Classic over the weekend.
