READING — This one just got away – in a hurry.
The Lynnfield Pioneers (7-3) trailed by as many as 15 points twice in the first half to their Division 2 host Reading Memorial (2-9) at Walter Hawkes Field House, but turned things around in the second half, largely on the back of Madux Iovinelli. He came out of the halftime break on fire in the third and put on an offensive show, scoring 14 of his game-high 22 points to help turn a 34-21 halftime deficit into a 43-42 lead with eight minutes to play.
The Pioneers kept their foot on the gas in the fourth, building a 60-49 lead after Grant Neal drained a pair of freebies with 2:46 to play. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.
The Rockets refused to die, going on an 18-7 run to close out the game. The final was a dagger of a 3-pointer by Jamal Palmer with six seconds to play that sealed the 67-64 win.
“Things evened out I guess. They made plays, we made plays, but they made that one at the end obviously to win the game,” said Lynnfield coach John Bakopolus. “We struggled with their press. That one was on me. I have to do a better job there drawing stuff up. I’m proud of the fight. It’s just too bad we couldn’t get the job done. Madux is a tremendous player and he really sparked us in that third and I thought Justin Flores also sparked us in the second half. Grant Neal had an awesome game. We just couldn’t get it done.”
The Rockets put on a shooting clinic in the first half and were deadly from behind the arc, making seven of nine 3-pointers to put the Pioneers in a hole.
But the Pioneers flipped the script in the third with Iovinelli leading the charge. He polished off a Kelan Cardinal (9 points, 4 steals) dish to open the quarter, then, after Reading matched the hoop, the Pioneers went on a 20-8 run to take their first lead at 43-42 with 23 seconds remaining in the quarter.
The Pioneers kept up the pace in the fourth. An Iovinelli hoop from Justin Flores (7 points, 4 steals), an Alex Fleming (11 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals) hoop from Iovinelli, and a Fleming steal and old-fashioned 3-pointer extended the lead to 49-42 just a minute-and-a-half into the quarter. A gutsy drive by Grant Neal (11 points, 4 steals), an offensive rebound and free throw from Iovinelli (9 rebounds, 5 steals), and a Neal 3-pointer extended the lead to 11, 56-45, with about four minutes to go.
The teams traded a pair of buckets to bump the lead back to 11, 60-49 with less than three minutes to go. But that’s when Reading went back to its bread-and-butter that had worked so well in the first: a stifling trap and deadly shooting from 3-point land.
“We’ve lost too many key players and have struggled this year, so, tonight, to be able to win a game like this was huge for us,” Rockets’ coach Paul Morrissey said. “It was great to see a kid like Palmer, who hasn’t played much at all for us, make that shot. We had success with the trap in the first half, but then in the third quarter, we couldn’t make any shots. You can’t press when you don’t make shots and I think that allowed them to get back in the game.”
Reading, which finished with 10 threes, was led by Will Chute (17 points), Cooper Dean (13), and Will Monteiro (11).
Lynnfield struggled from the charity stripe, making only 16 of 32 free throws.
“In a game like this, you can’t have that. Every point matters, especially against a Division 2 team like Reading,” Bakopolus said. “The schedule they play is one of the toughest in the state. Their opponent rating is like an eight. They are playing some of the best teams in the state and the Middlesex League is just so strong. We knew they’d be tough coming in here.”
Fleming was held in check for much of the game until midway through the second half. Bakopolus said he always attracts lots of attention.
“I think they probably keyed on Alex. He gets doubled most games, so I think that was the case tonight,” he said. “I feel badly for the kids. I just didn’t do a good enough job in the game.”
The Pioneers’ next game is Friday at Pentucket beginning at 6:30 p.m.
“That’s always a good game and they always play us tough, so I expect it’s going to be a tough one,” Bakopolus said.
