LYNNFIELD — For nearly three quarters, visiting Pentucket did nearly everything right, while Lynnfield struggled to find its footing.
Turnovers and missed open shots put the Pioneers in an early hole, trailing 17-6 after the first quarter and 25-18 at halftime.
That changed in a hurry.
A decisive three-minute surge early in the fourth quarter fueled Lynnfield’s rally, as the Pioneers outscored Pentucket 28-15 in the final period to secure a 58-47 win.
“You have to credit Pentucket. They came out and played hard,” Lynnfield coach John Bakopolus said. “We’re a young team, and I think maybe we read the headlines a little bit. I told them nobody cares that you have seven wins. Teams are going to try to punch you in the mouth, and we got punched. This was a good wake-up call. They showed today why you have to play all 32 minutes.”
Pentucket coach Tim Kelly said the game came down to a three- minute spurt in the final quarter when the Pioneers went from a four-point deficit at 34-30 to a 48-34 lead in the span of just two and a half minutes.
“That’s why basketball is so fun because it can be a three-minute stretch that can make or break the game,” Kelly said. “We have a young team so one thing we’re working on is competitive stamina to be in a competitive mindset for all 32 minutes. That was certainly the difference in tonight’s game.”
Grant Neal led all scorers with 25 points, all but one coming in the second half. Freshman Brandon Doherty scored eight points and fellow freshman Ryan Barrett scored seven.
Senior Quinn Vuylsteke led Pentucket with 14.
The Pioneers have lived by the three-pointer for much of the season. Against Pentucket, they were stone cold over the first three quarters. That all changed in a heartbeat.
The fourth-quarter run started with a fast-break dish from Justin Flores (6 points) to senior captain Harris Hadzihasanovic (7 points), then Hadzihasanovic drained a three-pointer to give the Pioneers its first lead, 35-34 with 6:35 to play. Then Flores swiped the inbounds pass and laid it in to bump the lead to 37-34.
After a Pentucket miss, Neal connected on a three, then Flores stole another inbounds pass and dished to Neal to make it 42-34. A Flores free throw and another three from Hadzihasanovic bumped the lead to 46-34 with about five minutes to go. A Barrett bucket closed out the 14-0 run to put the game out of reach at 48-34.
Bakopolus had high praise for Neal.
“Grant has been our guy this year. He just makes plays when he has to,” Bakopolus said. “He’s like an Energizer bunny out there working hard every minute. He’s one of the better rebounders out there. I think he’s had like four or five double doubles. Tonight Justin and Grant had a few steals.”
Senior captain Luke DiSilvio (6 points), Junior Oliver Harth (5 points) and sophomore Cam Chisholm (point) rounded out the scoring for Lynnfield.
The Pioneers (8-1) look to make it nine straight at Ipswich on Monday at 1 p.m.
“I’m expecting it will be another tough game,” Bakopolus said.
Pentucket’s (3-9) next game is at Amesbury on Monday.
“They have a couple of players who do all of the heavy lifting for them and I know they are very physical,” Kelly said. “It’s going to be a game similar to tonight.”
