LYNN — In the MIAA’s latest power rankings, Lynn Tech’s boys basketball team ranked No. 5 in Division 4. The Tigers started the season slow, but have returned to state tournament form with an 8-4 record.
“The beginning of the season was tough. The last few games, though, the guys have turned it around and started to play Lynn Tech basketball — ball pressure, forcing turnovers, and using our defense to lead our offense,” said coach Corey Bingham. “The most important thing is sharing the ball and I feel we’ve been making that extra pass that we weren’t necessarily doing early on in the season.”
Leading the defensive charge have been seniors Awan Awan and Brandon Antwine, both of whom take pride in guarding the best players on the court.
“We’ve got Awan Awan who, along with Brandon Antwine, have been our defensive leaders,” Bingham said. “Then, we have Gio (Jean), who’s been captivating our scoring. Andy Batista has been stepping up as our floor general and I think he’s about 52 points away from 1,000 points. As a team, we’re coming together at the right time and, hopefully, we’ll try and make a deep run to the championship.”
Earlier in the season, the Tigers suffered back-to-back losses against Swampscott and Lowell Catholic. Since then: a four-game winning streak.
When asked what was different about the team after those two losses, Bingham spoke about camaraderie.
“There wasn’t an NBA-like team meeting or anything, but they all came together and they understood that the majority of the team is seniors and juniors. For some of these guys, this is their last run and for our juniors, we’re trying to get them to understand that. There are no egos.”
You could say the Tigers are better than they were at the start of the season. Just ask Shawsheen Tech, which defeated Lynn Tech by 20 points in the season-opener. The teams met again last week, however, and the Tigers won by 22.
“That Shawsheen game was a get-back game. There are a couple games left on our schedule that we want to get back at,” Bingham said. “We’re trying to find our groove and get back to who we are and our identity. We just need to continue to believe in our defense, which will help our offense.”
Another player Bingham highlighted was Keith Chandler, who has been playing well during the winning streak.
“He’s been playing lights out,” Bingham said. “He’s been a big part of the team since the winning streak started.”
With big-game moments on the horizon, Bingham wants the Tigers to “stay hungry and focused.
“Our playoffs start now. We’re fighting for seeding. We don’t want to be the No. 8 seed again. We want to be as high as possible. This is our seniors’ last chance to try and win a state championship and we need everyone to be locked in.”
