LYNN — The Lynn English girls basketball team didn’t quite have its A-game on hand Tuesday afternoon, falling to Whitman-Hanson by a score of 59-38 in the Division 1 championship game of the annual Spartan Classic at Tony Conigliaro Gymnasium.
The Panthers’ offense was led by tournament MVP Abigail Martin, who had an astonishing 20 points.
What led to the loss for English was the sheer disadvantage in size going up against the Panthers. The size difference was a big enough factor that the Panthers were able to force the Bulldogs into poor passes and bad shot selections, which inevitably led to turnovers, and that’s where the Panthers were able to blow their lead wide open.
What started off as a single-digit lead to end the first frame turned into a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game.
While the Bulldogs did come up short in the 2022 Spartan Classic, that does not take away from the incredible season that first-year head coach Travonne Berry-Rogers and his team had. Leading the Lady Bulldogs to a 16-4 season, Berry-Rogers doesn’t just want to stop there.
“It just starts from day one,” said Berry-Rogers. “I knew coming in I wanted to put a program together that was going to be successful. I didn’t want to just set my goals for a couple wins in our league and build over the years. I wanted to get to it now and we were able to put the right pieces together with my amazing assistant coaches Lashaunda Hogan and Angel DeLeon.”
The state tournament is the next stop for Berry-Rogers and the Bulldogs. To prepare for the tournament, Berry-Rogers said he wants his girls to rest up and heal up some of the bumps and bruises the team has suffered throughout the season.
“We need to learn from the losses we had throughout the season,” said Berry-Rogers. “Out of 20 games, we only lost four, and some of those losses were coming from our own mistakes. We’ve got to sharpen them up. Playoff time is win or go home.”
The Division 1 state tournament seedings and brackets are set to be released Saturday.
