LYNN — In front of its home faithful, the No. 3 KIPP Academy boys basketball team took care of business in the Division 5 Round of 32, defeating No. 30 Collegiate Charter School of Lowell 70-48.
The Panthers led 17-11 in the second quarter. From there, Viccee Howard — the Commonwealth Athletic Conference Upper Division MVP — took over. He netted 11 of his 24 points in the quarter.
“The CAC Large is a good conference and he won MVP. We’re talking about teams like Lynn Tech, Greater Lawrence, Shawsheen Tech, Lowell Catholic — some really good teams and the coaches voted him MVP,” said KIPP coach Moody Bey. “I think he showed why he’s the MVP today.”
Not only were the Panthers riding the hot hand of Howard, but KIPP’s defense stepped up and allowed just five second-quarter points. The hosts built a 34-16 halftime cushion.
The Panthers dominated on the glass, which was something Bey believed could be an advantage. Joseph Beato controlled the paint, finishing with a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds.
“It was something we saw in film . . . was our ability to get offensive rebounds. I haven’t seen too many guys who have the physique of Joseph Beato or Taleeb Lamina,” Bey said. “Having to deal with those two guys for 32 minutes, we felt that we could just wear them out and take advantage of that. We did a good job of getting second and third looks every trip down.”
In the third quarter, it was all Hernis Bethancourt. He was held scoreless in the first half, but netted 14 in the second half with four threes — three in the third quarter. Bethancourt also chipped in eight rebounds.
“Our assistant coach Kareem Octavien won a state championship with Cambridge and he’s a really good shooter. He always says Hernis is the second best shooter in the gym behind him. I think he proved that today,” Bey said. “He might give Kareem a run for his money [with] the way he was shooting today. That’s the advantage of having home-court advantage. We worked really hard to get the No. 3 seed and we’re home until a neutral site. The kids feel comfortable in this gym; they’ve been in this gym since middle school.”
It was a hectic end of the regular season for the Panthers, who played five games across six days.
“We haven’t had time to prepare for a team,” Bey said. “We played really good teams . . . today felt good.”
KIPP hosts the winner of No. 14 Fenway and No. 19 Libertas Academy Charter School (TBD by press time).
