LYNNFIELD — It may not have been the prettiest win, but the No. 17 Lynnfield boys basketball team ramped up its defense in the second half against visiting Ludlow, holding the No. 48 Lions to just 15 points en route to a 57-47 victory in the preliminary round of the Division 3 state tournament.
Clinging to a 35-32 halftime lead, Grant Neal of the Pioneers strapped the team onto his back in the second half, dominating the boards on both ends of the court. He finished with game-highs in points (21) and rebounds (13).
“He’s been doing that all year, so it’s no surprise to me,” said Lynnfield coach John Bakopolus. “He’s been our guy all year. We rely on him and he always answers. He deserves all the recognition and credit he’s been getting, so I’m happy for him.”
“We played hard, but then had trouble finishing our shots, but credit to Lynnfield,” said Ludlow coach Cliff Zimmer. “Going into this game, we certainly didn’t consider ourselves a No. 48. Some of our seniors stepped up and we will definitely miss them next year.”
The Lions got off to a strong start, leading by as many as seven points midway through the first quarter.
The rest of the quarter belonged to the Pioneers, who went on a 9-0 run to close out the frame with a 21-17 lead. Junior James Pasquale (4 points) was key, tying the game 17-17 and giving Lynnfield the lead for good after grabbing an offensive rebound and connecting on two free throws.
Junior Oliver Harth (4 points) closed out the quarter with a layup, courtesy of a seeing-eye pass through the lane from junior Justin Flores (4 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists).
“Justin really fills the stat sheet for us night after night,” Bakopolus said. “He’ll get steals. He’ll rebound, make assists, and score. He’s a talented kid who has done a really good job for us this year.”
The Pioneers bumped the lead to 45-39 heading into the final quarter. Ludlow got to within four at 45-41 with six minutes to go.
Enter Neal.
All he did was polish off the game with the Pioneers’ last 13 points, three of them from a monster triple that had the hometown fans on their feet. It gave the Pioneers their largest lead of the night, 54-41, with about three minutes to go.
While Ludlow was the last team to make the bracket, Bakopolus said he wasn’t putting any stock in the Lions’ No. 48 seeding.
“This tournament is so weird because you just never know,” he said. “Everyone’s good and can beat anyone. We’re very young and we came out a little slow. With the exception of Harris (Hadzihasanovic), playing a lot of tournament minutes is new for most of our players, but all that matters is we won. The result is the result we wanted, for sure. There were definitely some jitters, but they settled down when they had to and they got the win.”
Freshman Brandon Doherty (10 points), senior captain Hadzihasanovic (9 points, 9 rebounds), and sophomore Cam Chisholm (5 points) helped the cause.
“Brandon is only a freshman, but a terrific player,” Bakopolus said. “He’s one of our best shooters. When he is on, we’re tough to beat.”
The Pioneers hit the road Saturday and travel to face No. 16 Greater New Bedford Regional Tech for a Round-of-32 showdown at 6:30 p.m.
“They’re good. I think they came in second in the vocational tournament and have a lot of talented guards,” Bakopolus said. “We have to get back in the gym tomorrow and figure it out and have a plan for Friday.”
