The inner-city rivalry between Lynn English boys basketball and Lynn Classical was renewed early Saturday afternoon at Classical High. The Bulldogs imposed their will on the Rams en route to an 86-43 English victory.
Classical won the opening tip and sprinted out to an early 6-3 lead in front of its home faithful. Senior Kenaaalii Cohen Elison converted a contested left-handed floater in the lane with 6:02 remaining in the first quarter. Then, it all changed.
English head coach Alvin Abreu called a timeout immediately after the play, and that’s when the game started to change.
“We did not come out to play at the beginning of the game – we just were not ready,” Abreu said. “I challenged the guys to play with the correct intensity that we always play with, and they did from that point on.”
The Bulldogs played inspired after the timeout, finishing the final six minutes of the quarter on a 16-2 run. The biggest reason for the run, other than the change in intensity from English, was its three-point shooting. The Bulldogs made three from downtown during the run – two of them from sophomore Denzell Guillen and the other from fellow sophomore Warren Keel. English led 19-8 at the end of the first.
Classical piled up the turnovers and English led 43-15 at halftime, largely because of senior captain Tyrese Melo Garcia who scored 13 points in the quarter.
Classical’s defense did a better job in the third quarter, not allowing English to make a single three in the quarter. But the Bulldogs, as they’ve done all season, responded. Keel took over, scoring 10 of the Bulldogs’ 20 points in the quarter as English led 63-26 by its end.
Classical played hard throughout the entire game, and the fourth was its best. The Rams’ Daryll Reynolds scored eight of his 10 points in the fourth and freshman Marvin Avery Jr. had a solid performance, finishing the game with a team-high 11 points.
For English, Melo Garcia led the way as he finished with 26 points and six rebounds. Keel finished with 28 points and Nelson Obarisiagbon recorded an impressive double-double (12 points, 16 rebounds) on top of four blocks.
The Bulldogs improved their record to 10-0 and look to remain undefeated Tuesday night when they take on Chelsea.
Jerry DiStefano can be reached at [email protected]
