SWAMPSCOTT – Lynn Classical avenged its early-season loss to the Big Blue of Swampscott with a 69-62 victory in enemy territory on Monday. Freshman Marvin Avery Jr. led the Rams with 24 points.
Down 15 going into the fourth quarter, it looked like Classical was going to stroll to victory. The Big Blue, however, did not go down quietly.
The Swampscott run started with an offensive rebound and putback layup from senior center Andrew Templeman (seven points) to cut the lead to nine with four minutes left.
Swampscott’s Max Brodsky picked off an erred pass on the following possession and made the fast break layup to cut the Classical lead to seven.
Despite the fight to get back into the game, the Rams were in the bonus for most of the fourth quarter and just had to make their free throws to close the game out – which they did.
“Basketball is a game of runs. Swampscott is a team that doesn’t quit,” Classical head coach Marvin Avery said. “I take my hat off to them, but we deserved to win tonight.”
“I liked the fight from our team, but the fight needs to happen for four quarters, not one,” Swampscott head coach Jason Knowles said. “I’m glad that they did fight back to show some resilience. We need to show up in all four quarters.”
In their last meeting, the Big Blue held the Rams to just seven points in the second half. This time, the Rams scored 23 points in the third quarter alone.
“We talked about that [scoring seven points in half]. Our offense translates to defensive points. We were able to cause a lot of turnovers,” Avery said.
The first half was a high scoring affair with both teams exploiting weaknesses in the opposing team’s defense. The Rams jumped out to a 17-16 first quarter lead after a buzzer beating layup from the Big Blue was waved off.
“They came with it today. Offensively, they were much sharper than they were the first time around. I feel like, today, we got outworked,” Knowles said.
Conversely, Avery left the building satisfied.
“We moved the ball and we executed. We made some great adjustments in the second half and that is what good teams do. That’s a big win for our program,” Avery said.
The win snaps a five game losing streak for the Rams. Avery said he is proud of the way Avery Jr. is playing in addition to the entire team.
“What can you say about Marvin Avery Jr.? He finally stepped up, he’s been a leader and that is why he’s one of the best freshmen in the state,” Avery said. “Our role players did a nice job today. We made some adjustments from the first game and the kids worked hard.”
Classical will be back on the court Tuesday when the Rams travel to Somerville with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m. Swampscott travels to Winthrop with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
