In the semifinal round of the State Vocational Tournament, the Lynn Tech boys basketball team fell short at Blue Hills with an 83-80 overtime loss.
Tech was led by a monstrous performance from forward Rob Wallace, who recorded a double-double. Wallace led Tech in scoring with 27 points and grabbed 20 rebounds. Guard Belmin Berilo scored 22 points and guard Tre Baldwin scored 16 points.
Despite the loss, Tigers coach Stevie Patrick was proud of his team for putting together a valiant effort on the road.
“It was a tough game in a tough environment,” Patrick said. “We were happy to play in it. Unfortunately we couldn’t get the win but now we’re focusing on the state tournament. Hopefully we can do well.
“The guys played hard. They gave it their all. Now we have to get ready for the next game.”
Tech’s currently locked in a tie with Newburyport, a Cape-Ann League team, for the No. 8/No. 9 seeds in the Division 3 North state tournament bracket. The Tigers will take part in a coin toss today to decide which of the two teams will be granted home court advantage when they meet in next week’s first round game.
“I hope we can get the home game,” Patrick said. “We’re tied with Newburyport. We’ll go up for the coin toss and we’ll see what happens.”
St. Mary’s 43, Matignon 28
In the championship game of the Spartan Classic, the Spartans and Warriors battled it out until there were 28 seconds to play in the third quarter on Wednesday night. The initial plan was to continue the game Thursday night but both teams agreed to end the game at 43-28. Junior guard Jalen Echevarria led all scorers with 20 points and senior forward Stephen Fama added 9 points. Echevarria was named Spartan Classic MVP and Fama was named to the all-tournament team.
With the win, the Spartans closed their regular season at 17-3. St. Mary’s now awaits the Division 3 North state tournament pairings, which will be announced today.
BOYS HOCKEY
Pope Francis 3, St. Mary’s 2
The Spartans dropped their second game in a row in the consolation round of the Cardinal Classic at Olympia Center in West Springfield. St. Mary’s finishes the regular season at 12-6-4 and awaits Saturday’s state tournament pairings.
Central Catholic 1, Malden Catholic 0
In the championship game of the Cardinal Classic, the Lancers battled but were blanked by Central Catholic. Malden Catholic finished the regular season at 9-9-3 and awaits the state tournament pairings which will be announced Saturday.
GIRLS HOCKEY
St. Mary’s 2, Braintree 2
Aylah Cioffi and Jenna Chaplain each scored a goal for the Spartans. Goalie Maddy Delano finished with 17 saves. The Spartans end the regular season 15-3-2 and await Saturday’s tournament pairings.