LYNN — After a tough, back-and-forth battle in the first half, the Lynn Classical boys basketball team pulled away in the third quarter en route to a 64-50 win over KIPP at home Monday night. The Rams came up big on the defensive end and on the glass in the second half to help pull away.
“I thought we started off the game really well, but we lost our composure at times,” said Classical coach Jasper Grassa. “Once we got into the second half, we started to settle down and find the open man, which really opened things up for us.”
Classical was led by sophomore guard Jeff Hill, who finished the game with 22 points. Senior guard Dyrrell Rucker was right behind with 21 points, while sophomore guard Jeff Barbosa added 14 points.
For KIPP, Wallace Reed was the game’s high scorer with 25 points. Pius Robert added six points, while Andrew Puati scored five points.
“We just had a lot of lapses in mental focus and we had no togetherness out there tonight,” said KIPP coach David White. “Once we hit some adversity there in the second half, we just couldn’t overcome it.”
The first half was as back-and-forth as a game could be. The Rams and Panthers traded shots all through the first two quarters, with Classical eventually taking a 21-16 lead with just over three minutes to go in the half. With the Rams leading by four points as the half drew to a close, KIPP’s Winfred Sanchez knocked down two free throws to cut Classical’s lead to just 25-23 at the break.
The back-and-forth nature of the game continued into the start of the third quarter. Over the first five minutes of the quarter, the lead changed hands five times and the score was tied once. With the score at 36-36 with just over three minutes left in the third, Classical began to take over. A flurry of 3-pointers, a couple from Hill and one from Rucker, helped propel the Rams to a 9-2 run to close the quarter and take a 47-38 lead into the fourth.
From that point, Classical was able to stretch its lead and get comfortable. The Rams went ahead by as many as 16 points in the fourth, mainly behind the hot hand of Hill.
“If we’re going to get played in zone defense, Jeff is going to have to be a guy to hit shots and I told him that,” said Grassa. “If they don’t respect the shot, they’ll just sit back there. And Jeff hitting his shots allowed for everything else to open up for the other four guys on the court, so it worked out well.”
The Panthers were able to get to within nine at one point in the quarter, but the Rams kept KIPP at bay and coasted to victory.
Despite the loss, White knows that playing against top competition like this will only help KIPP (12-3) as it makes a push toward a Division 4 title in its first season of MIAA competition.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to go against well-established programs to prepare ourselves for what we’re going to face going forward,” White said. “That’s one of the reasons why I scheduled all of these tough games on the road, so we can learn how to deal with these situations.”
KIPP doesn’t have much time to sit around, as the Panthers have a game against Nashoba Tech Tuesday night.
As for Classical (11-5), Grassa is starting to see his team come together at the perfect time of the season with just four games to go before the tournament.
“We’ve started to get into a rhythm and really figure out who we are over the past three or four games,” said Grassa. “So really, we’re coming together at the perfect time. We just have to keep working and keep getting better.”
The Rams also have a quick turnaround with a game against Danvers Tuesday night.
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BOYS HOCKEY
Bedford 5, Marblehead 3
The Magicians got goals from Charlie McGurrin and Lock Sheridan in the loss, while Tommy Woodfin, Eli Feingold and Zach Piersol each had one assist.
Marblehead (10-3-3) plays on the road against Haverhill Wednesday.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Danvers 74, Lynnfield 70
Lynnfield was in control for three quarters but had no answers for Armany Vlaun, who hit seven three-pointers (four in the final quarter) and torched the Pioneers for 26 points.
Lynnfield led 23-12 after the first quarter and took a 58-49 lead into the fourth only to be outscored by the Falcons in the final frame, 25-12.
With loss, the Pioneers fell to 7-10 and put their tournament hopes on life support. Lynnfield must win its last three games to qualify, starting with a road game at Georgetown on Tuesday.
Jack Ford (18 points), Tony Hunt (15 points) and Jack Cleary (13 points) were in double figures for Lynnfield, while Khad Connell (8 points), John Astrofsky (6 points), Clay Marengi (5 points), Max Boustris (3 points) and Steve Dwyer (2 points) also scored.