LYNN — The Lynn Classical Lady Rams were victorious on Monday evening defeating Everett 36-26 to defend their home court. Between strong defense and balanced scoring, the Rams, who were missing two starters in Kaleigh Bullock and Lauren Wilson, move to 2-1 on the season with the win.
“Really good high school game,” Classical coach Tom Sawyer said. “We were down two starters today so we asked the kids to step up and do more and they did. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Classical, who deployed a 2-3 zone, was active all game. So active that Everett didn’t score in the first quarter (8-0), much to the liking of Sawyer.
“We had good defensive energy all night long. They missed a few shots that eventually they made in the second half,” Sawyer said. “A combination of good defense and a little bit of luck regarding their misses. Tremendous effort from the team tonight.”
In the second quarter, the zone continued to give Everett trouble. The Crimson Tide scored just six points while Classical built on its lead taking a 14-point advantage going into halftime (20-6).
“We like our zone because we can get into passing lanes. A lot of people think you play zone to play lazy defense, but it’s the opposite. We want to get our hands on the ball and jump the passing lanes,” Sawyer said.
Between freshman Divine Egbuta (10 points) and senior Linda Jallow (7 points), the duo controlled the glass for Classical and got their hands on any loose ball that crossed their zone. Sawyer knew rebounding was going to be one of the keys to victory.
“Rebounding was huge tonight. Everett is a team that rebounds extremely well so if you don’t limit them to one shot, you’re putting yourself at a real disadvantage,” Sawyer said.
One Ram who dictated the pace of the game was Keisha Perez. The junior did a little bit of everything from scoring (7 points), rebounding, assisting, and making an impact on the defensive end. One negative in Perez’s game this season according to Sawyer has been picking up early fouls.
“I told her she could not be in foul trouble. In all of our games this year she picked up two quick fouls,” Sawyer said. “We couldn’t afford that tonight and she accepted the challenge. She wasn’t in foul trouble tonight and handled the ball 99% of the time. On defense, she has great anticipation skills which really helps us.”
With the ball, Perez got past her defender on several occasions and one of her favorite targets when the help steps to her was Egbuta. Perez assisted Egbuta on three occasions.
“We preach about vision all the time. We want to get downhill towards the hoop and then there’s a decision that has to be made. You have to make a split decision based on what the defense gives you. Sometimes it’s a shot and sometimes it’s a pass,” Sawyer said. “I think Keisha made the right decisions tonight.”
Despite a big lead at the half, the Crimson Tide started to make a comeback in the second half. Everett got the lead down to six (32-26) with 2:26 left in the game. Instead of panicking, the Rams continued to play their game.
Perez knocked down two free throws which was followed by a drive and score from Jallow to restore Classical’s double-digit lead (36-26).
“They scored six at half and I told the team at halftime that they were going to score more than 12 points in this game. I told them how we respond to their run will probably depend on if we win the game or not,” Sawyer said. “It got down to six, but we hit some big free throws and weathered their storm.”
Classical’s next game is on the road against Malden on Thursday with tip-off scheduled for 6 p.m.
