Several tough finishes, defensive intensity, and one posterizing dunk headlined the action between Lynn English (17-1) and Malden Catholic (17-2) in the Spartan Classic. In a Saturday matinee, the Bulldogs lost a hard-fought battle to the Lancers 57-50 at Lynn Tech.
Malden Catholic led 47-36 heading into the fourth quarter, but as you’d expect from a team that was undefeated heading in, English never quit.
After a short jumper from English’s Tyrese Melo Garcia (11 points), the lead was cut to 52-50 late in the fourth. But from there, the Lancers rattled off five straight to escape with the victory.
English head coach Alvin Abreu said it was a game of runs. Unfortunately for his team, the Lancers made the last one.
“It’s two teams going blow for blow, and they just got an extra blow on us,” Abreu said. “We didn’t make enough plays.”
With the Bulldogs on the brink of a come-from-behind finish for the ages, Malden Catholic head coach John Walsh said his plan of attack late was all about ball security.
“We didn’t turn the ball over,” Walsh said. “It was just turnovers… Lynn English is a good team [and] they forced them.”
If you’re a fan of defense, Saturday was for you. Straight from the tip, both teams went for traps and stood strong on the perimeter. The score was just 5-5 with 3:36 remaining in the first.
“You’ve got two teams that go and play some defense,” Abreu said. “It was uptempo with two teams getting after it.”
Then came the jaw-dropper. In the final two minutes of the first, English senior Joshua St. Jean (nine points) got the ball in transition before throwing down a monster one-handed dunk – plus the foul over the outstretched arm of a Lancer.
English led 18-12 after the first with the dunk making the most noise – literally and figuratively.
“That dunk was a big-time dunk,” Abreu said. “He’s an athlete; he has the ability to do that.”
That said, Malden Catholic flipped the script and won the second and third quarters. English scored just six points in the second and 12 in the third.
Walsh called the English backcourt of Warren Keel Jr. (17 points) and Garcia the “two best guards in the state.” When asked about a gameplan for the duo, Walsh pointed to help defense.
“I think we trapped ball-screens well [and] we trapped handoffs well,” Walsh said. “We tried to get the ball out of Warren’s hands; we tried to face-guard Tyrese.”
“The kids did a good job,” Walsh said. “We can preach it all we want… but unless they do it, it doesn’t matter.”
Despite the Lancers finding their rhythm in the third, English showed up in the fourth. A scooping and-one from Keel, a corner triple from junior Kyle Kemembin, and a drawn charge from St. Jean highlighted the comeback.
“We knew they wouldn’t go away,” Walsh said.
But a layup from Malden Catholic sophomore Matthew Gaffney (17 points) with one minute remaining was the icing on the cake. He, alongside senior guard Nicholas Martinez (20 points; Revere) led the way for the Lancers.
Despite the final score, Abreu said the game will help English “a lot.”
“Man, the environment here was what our guys needed to see,” Abreu said. “As a team and as a unit, we’ll regroup… you need games like this heading into the state tournament.”
English takes on Springfield Central on Monday at 1:45 p.m. while Malden Catholic takes on St. Mary’s at 3:30 p.m. Both games will be held at St. Mary’s High.
