ITEM PHOTO BY KATIE MORRISON
Erick Solis (right) looks for a shot as Charlie de Rochmont defends.
By KATIE MORRISON
LYNN — The Classical boys basketball team is tough to contain.
Tuesday night, the Rams sunk Beverly behind nine three-pointers. On Wednesday night, Classical did the most damage on easy layups in transition to top rival English, 69-46, at the Paul Cavanagh Field House.
“To be honest, we really prefer the transition game,” Classical coach Tom Grassa said. “It’s kind of gravy. As the expression goes, you live and die with threes, and we’ve had some nights, like against Beverly, when we’re 9-for-17 (behind the arc), we were terrific. But then we’ve had nights when we’ve been 3-for-22.”
Classical was in control from the get-go in this one, and left English searching for its 10th win which will boost the Bulldogs into the tournament. The Bulldogs have one game left on the season.
“We have to go after it,” English coach Steve Stranahan said. “If we don’t come out with energy, we’re not going to play well. If you can’t get up for your inner-city rival, then shame on you. There’s no excuses, just go out and get it.”
The energy was high in the Cavanagh gymnasium on English’s Senior Night, and the game was fast-paced right off the bat. Jaylen Johnson opened the scoring on a breakaway layup, and added another in similar fashion after Edwin Solis forced English to turn the ball over on the full court press. Tommy Rijo got the Bulldogs on the board with a three, but Classical responded with layups from Dyrrell Rucker and Johnson to open the lead to 8-3. Stranahan called a timeout to get his team back on track.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they weren’t able to slow down the Rams, and Classical ran the lead up to 17-8 at the end of the quarter.
“We like to set the tone with teams to be very up tempo,” Grassa said. “A lot of time we press not to get a steal, but just to force the other team to be uncomfortable. A lot of teams have terrific half court offense if you allow them to walk the ball down.”
The opening period was a sloppy quarter, as each team turned the ball over five times, but it was Classical that was able to capitalize on the messy play.
“They were getting after the rebounds, (Edwin) Solis he throws it long and beats us up the court for some easy baskets,” Stranahan said. “They’re a very good team. In order to contain them, our shots shouldn’t be flying way out and letting them get rebounds. Our shots weren’t falling, they were getting rebounds and getting up the court and getting baskets.”
English cut the lead down to four, 19-15, midway through the second, as Angel Soto put back offensive rebounds on two straight possessions. But that’d be as close as the Bulldogs would get, and the Rams went on a 7-0 run to open it up. Classical led 36-21 at the half.
Johnson put up 15 points in the quarter, most on layups in transition. For English, Ivy Lopes did the heavy lifting with nine points, all coming in the second.
The Bulldogs were unable to gain any ground in the third. A couple of bad turnovers allowed Classical to up the lead to 20, 48-28, with three minutes left in the quarter.
The Rams never let up on the gas, and held English at bay to cruise to the win. Other than a three from Edwin Solis early in the game, Classical’s only baskets from behind the arc came late in the fourth quarter when both teams had emptied their benches.
Johnson scored a game-high 22 points, adding three steals. Erick Solis scored 19 to go with five rebounds and three steals, and Edwin Solis (8 rebounds) and Rucker each added seven points.
For English, Lopes led the way with 17 points, and Javonte Edwards scored seven. Frank Perry chipped in with six points and five rebounds.
The Bulldogs close out the regular season Friday in Swampscott, and need to beat the Big Blue to make the state tournament. Classical has a huge matchup against Marblehead Friday night.