Desperately in need of a win after dropping its last two games, the Swampscott boys basketball team took the court against one of the top teams in the Northeastern Conference in Lynn Classical.Well, all the Big Blue did was shutdown one of the highest scoring teams in the NEC, holding the Rams to 54 points en route to a 66-54 victory.”Classical is one of the best teams in the conference and the kids responded to the challenge,” Swampscott coach Paul Moran said.Swampscott (6-3) got started on the right foot, taking a 19-9 lead after the first quarter and a 33-22 lead into halftime. Classical cut the gap to six entering the final eight minutes, where Swampscott outscored the Rams 21-15 to stave off the comeback.Trevor Wheeler had his best game of the season for Swampscott, leading the offense with 20 points. Scott Leffler had 17 points while Craig Rodenstein added 14 and Ryan Squires chipped in 13.Jarell Byrd led all scorers in the game with 23 points in the loss for Classical (7-2), who struggled to a 5-for-27 effort from behind the 3-point line.”We couldn’t put the ball in the basket,” Classical coach Tom Grassa said.Tech 79, Whittier 50At Haverhill, the Tigers (4-2, 3-1 Commonwealth Conference) bounced back from Tuesday’s loss to Greater Lawrence with a solid road win. Victor Smith’s 26 points led the Tech offense.CM 86, St. John’s 52At West Roxbury, the Eagles (4-3) were in a 20-20 tie after one quarter before the powerful Knights broke the game wide open.Lynn’s Brendon Felder led the Prep with 15 points and 10 assists. Ryan O’Connell had 13, leaving him 18 points short of the 1,000 mark for his career. He goes for the milestone on Sunday (5:30) at home against ClassicalNo. Andover 73,Lynnfield 43At Lynnfield, Mike Kennedy had 28 points as the Pioneers (4-5) ran into a tough North Andover defense.English 91, Saugus 59The Bulldogs’ got big games from some of their front-court personnel to blow open what had been a close game at halftime.Eugene Turner led English (8-1) with 18 points, while Charlie Rucker added 12 and Jose Rivera had 11. Rafael Perez and Ryan Woumn added eight points each.Dan Internicola led all scorers with 26 points for Saugus, while Ryan Anastos added 14.The Sachems led by one point at intermission, but the Bulldogs out-scored Saugus, 52-21, in the second half.Peabody 54, Danvers 39At Peabody, the Tanners (5-5) won their fourth game in a row behind 15 points from Kevin Skop and 11 points from Mark Linehan.The Tanners broke out to an early lead and poured it on in the second quarter, out-scoring the Falcons 22-6.Danvers cut its deficit to 12 points in the fourth quarter, but Peabody held on.M’head 70, Revere 54At Revere, Taariq Allen scored 20 points while Tom Powers added 14 and Damola Abu had 13 points to lead the Magicians (5-2).Marblehead jumped out to an 11-point lead after one quarter, but good defense by Revere allowed the Patriots to tie the game by halftime.The Magicians took the lead for good in the third quarter.Salem 62, Winthrop 57At Salem, Junior Lugo led all scorers with 22 points, while Chris Maxson and Chris Dunston added nine points each for the Witches (4-3), who have won three in a row.Jonathan Murdock led the Vikings with 17 points, while Mike Visco added 16 and Dino Mallios contributed 12.Beverly 80, Gloucester 41At Beverly, Brian Tobin led all scorers with 18 points at the Panthers (4-4) evened their record. Nate Knudsen added 17 points while Michael Clayton tossed in 14.