LYNN — Lynn basketball is officially underway, as all five Lynn schools got a sneak peek of the season to come at the Ron Bennett Boys Basketball Jamboree.
Hosted by Lynn English, the pre-season tournament is a chance for coaches and players to get a feel of its new squads before kicking it into high gear for the regular season.
And Lynn Classical coach Marvin Avery is a big fan.
“We’re just getting familiar with where we stand, playing in a tournament-like atmosphere, getting ready for the real game,” Avery said.
However, things didn’t fall Classical’s way in the first run of the new season, falling to a very talented Charlestown team 39-27. Classical struggled to get to the rim early but stayed within striking distance in the first period thanks to the outside shooting of senior captain Almani Gerardo.
Gerardo’s three first-period three-pointers kept the Rams afloat, but a strong second period gave Charlestown the win.
Even with the loss, Avery is not worried about the scores this early in the season.
“You never look at the scores of the jamboree,” Avery said. “What I saw was the depth that we have, the size, the speed, the outside shooting, and the talent that we have…we’re onto Revere High.”
Speaking of Revere, KIPP opened the jamboree against Classical’s next opponent.
Panthers head coach Moody Bey enjoyed the event’s atmosphere.
“The jamboree is an awesome event. Lynn English does a great job hosting. The environment felt as close to a regular season game as you will get outside of the regular season,” Bey said.
The Panthers graduated four key seniors and Bey admitted that it’ll take a team effort to replace their production.
“This year’s team does not look like last year’s team, but from what I saw in the first week of practice and today, we are a tough bunch of players who play for each other,” Bey said. “This team is eager to continue to push the KIPP boys basketball program in the right direction.”
Lynn Tech and St. Mary’s were also in action, facing off in a battle of the titans that came down to the wire.
Tech’s Giovanni Jean’s three-pointer at the end of the first period gave the Tigers a 12-8 lead going into the half, but the lead didn’t last long to start the second half.
Jean and St. Mary’s JJ Martinez went toe to toe in the last frame, in a game that had five lead changes in the second period alone.
St. Mary’s took a timeout down 24-20 with 1:50 left to play, and from there, Martinez sparked his team’s comeback victory.
After a massive block on the defensive end, Martinez hit two free throws to cut his team’s deficit to just two points.
Martinez caused yet another turnover as Tech tried to inbound, leading to Kyle Rush’s go-ahead three-pointer with 18 seconds remaining, which was enough for the victory.
St. Mary’s was just one win short of an MIAA state championship banner last season, and even though they graduated nearly every player in its starting lineup, head coach David Brown Sr. was happy to see production from his new guys.
“It was great going against a rival in the city in Lynn Tech,” he said. “We had a bunch of kids playing varsity for the first time, playing in front of a big crowd, so it’s good for them to get a little taste of that.”
And just like everyone else in the gym, Brown was impressed with Martinez’s play.
“JJ Martinez, in my opinion, is the best player in the city,” he said. “He can score with the best of them. He’s one returning guy who played a lot of minutes for us last year…so we expect big things from him.”
As for Tech, coach Corey Bingham was also excited to see his team come together for the first time this season.
“This is a great opportunity to see the things you need to work on,” Bingham said. “You want to see what the kids are about, see if they handle the atmosphere and the crowd.”
After a strong season last year followed by a first-round exit in the state tournament, Bingham is hoping to see his team buy back into winning basketball for Lynn Tech.
“I’m excited to see how bad we want it,” he said. “Last year we had a good year, but you don’t want to have a hangover, you want to still be hungry. So I’m excited to see how hungry we’re going to be.”
Lynn English closed the event against Brookline. Bulldogs coach Alvin Abreu was pleased with the turnout.
“It was a really good turnout. It was packed for each game,” Abreu said. “It was an electric environment. It was a really good way to kick off the basketball season.”
One purpose for this event is to gauge what teams need to work on and Abreu is excited to get back to practice.
“We have a lot of work to do. We have to clean some stuff up but we’ve only had a few practices to work on stuff so I expected that,” Abreu said. “I’m happy with the team’s effort though. I’m looking forward to practicing tomorrow and getting ready for our season opener on December 12.”
There’s a lot of talent in Lynn and the jamboree is the best place to get everyone excited about Lynn basketball being back.
