An effective press, a two-handed dunk, and unselfish play highlighted an exciting night at the Paul F. Cavanaugh Field House on Thursday. The Lynn English boys basketball team (2-0) remained perfect after defeating Malden (3-1) 80-41.
On the offensive end, Warren Keel Jr. had 31 points and Tyrese Melo García added 23 for the Bulldogs. Malden was held to three points after the first quarter, and didn’t reach double digits until 3:56 remaining in the second.
English head coach Alvin Abreu gives credit to his players for their non-stop effort in executing a full-court press.
“We were able to turn them over and turn it into points, so I was very happy with our effort on the defensive end,” Abreu said.
The moment English stepped onto its homecourt through a tunnel of Bulldog cheerleaders, it was all business. Melo García stole the ball and ran three quarters of the court for a layup for the first points of the game. Then, off a stolen inbound pass, Keel Jr. capitalized with the easy finish.
He didn’t stop there. With no hesitation, Keel Jr. connected on a catch-and-shoot three, then stole the ball before feeding a teammate under the basket for two as English jumped out to an early 11-3 lead.
The press troubled Malden. Backcourt lob passes were stolen, and layups were given up. When asked what his defense was doing from a technical standpoint, Abreu responded by saying his team just “played hard.”
“It starts with your effort. Since day one, it starts with how hard we go,” Abreu said.
Then, the crowd went wild. Josh St. Jean got the ball with no one in front of him and threw down a two-handed dunk, followed by a thunderous applause from the English faithful on ‘blackout’ night.
Malden’s weaknesses were turnovers, an inability to rebound, and failing to establish a set offense. The first quarter ended with the Bulldogs ahead 23-3.
Opening with five unanswered points to start the second, it was another dominating quarter for English. The Bulldogs did a little bit of everything, connecting around the rim and from distance.
The half ended with English ahead 46-14, and Abreu said he enjoys seeing his team execute the defense-turns-to-offense approach.
“It’s a fun style,” Abreu said.
The intensity never passed. Just 49 seconds into the third quarter, English already had a steal and a block. The first Bulldog bucket of the quarter was as unselfish as it gets, with Keel Jr. bouncing it to Jeary Barbosa for a layup under the basket.
To Malden’s credit, its energy never left, but the final score favored English 80-41. The Bulldogs have 80-pieced opponents in each of their first two games, which Abreu says is all because of the chances the full-court press creates.
“It’s a hard game for our guys, defensively, because you have to sell out, you have to be in shape, you have to rotate,” Abreu said. “That’s what helps us score the points that we do.”
With final scores of 86-42 and 80-41 in its first two games, English looks poised to cause damage as the winter progresses. The Bulldogs return home on Tuesday against Medford with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
