PHOTO BY BOB ROCHE
Erick Solis dribbles wide away from Malden Catholic’s Cameron Kelley.
By STEVE KRAUSE
BURLINGTON — For the first time since 2001, the Classical boys basketball team has made it to a sectional final.
Better, for the first time since 1994 — which is when Classical won the second of back-to-back state championships — the Rams have hit the 20-victory mark in a season.
Classical’s 62-54 win over Malden Catholic Tuesday night at a sweltering Burlington High gym means the Rams will play Saturday (site and time TBA) against No. 5 Brighton for the Division 2 North championship.
The last time Classical made the sectional final, they were in Division 3. Prior to this year, the Rams had made it twice to the sectional semifinal.
Tuesday, the Rams and Lancers played cat-and-mouse for most of the game, even though Malden Catholic never led after scoring the first bucket of the game. There were times Classical looked as if it would blow the Lancers — who were without top-scorer Michael Boyd, who was hurt late in their quarterfinal victory Saturday over Marblehead — right out of the building. And there were other times when the Lancers would mount a comeback. But each time the attack and counter-attack happened, the Lancers did not have enough.
“We had a lot to overcome,” said MC coach Jim McCune. “I don’t want to take anything away from Classical. They played great game. But our guy scored 1,100 career points.”
Malden Catholic was able to hang with the quicker Rams thanks to senior captain Jonas St. Clair, who poured in 20 points (and pulled down almost as many rebounds). But Classical had two hot hands to counter him — Jaylen Johnson (22) and senior Gilbert Minaya (20). Minaya, especially, was a back-breaker in the second half, scoring 13 points as Classical worked to keep the hard-charging Lancers at bay.
“It’s a game of runs,” said Classical coach Tom Grassa. “Every time we’d make one, they’d counter; and every time they’d make one we’d counter.
“We had to stay mentally strong,” said Grassa, “and we did.”
The game took on the characteristics that would define it almost immediately as Classical sprinted out to an early 21-10 lead before MC’s Jack O’Brien of Saugus hit a 3-pointer at the end of the period.
Malden Catholic countered early in the second quarter with a 7-0 spurt to climb to within a point (23-22) before Jonathan Nicosia broke the run with a hoop for Classical.
Before the half ended, Edwin Solis (9 points) and Minaya scored hoops to get the lead up to five.
Classical’s next spurt came early in the third quarter when Johnson and Minaya engineered a 12-4 run to give Classical a 41-28 lead. But St. Clair, who had been plagued by foul trouble, managed to score five straight points to close that lead to eight (41-33). Still, at the end of three, it was 46-35 Classical, and the Rams were looking mighty comfortable.
Not so fast. Inside of four minutes, the Lancers capitalized on some shoddy clock management by the Rams to creep closer. And when Christopher McDonald hit a three with under a minute to go, it was a 4-point game (58-54). However, the Solis brothers hit all their free throws down the stretch to account for the final score.
“The last three or four games,” said Grassa, “we’ve been excellent from the foul line.”
After starting the season at 2-2, Classical has gone 18-1 the rest of the way — its only loss coming to Revere.
“And I think that was probably good for us,” said assistant coach Jasper Grassa, Tom’s son. “It grounded us.”