MARBLEHEAD — The English boys basketball team went to Marblehead shorthanded Thursday without key contributors Jarnel Guzman and Mukeba Jean-Baptiste.
Next man up.
The Bulldogs hit a bit of a snag in the third quarter but their offense rolled the rest of the night in an 81-60 win.
“Guys just had to step up,” English coach Antonio Anderson said. “(Jean-Baptiste) is a little banged up right now and Jarnel isn’t feeling well. We had to sit them a little bit. We don’t play again until Tuesday (at Classical) so we just wanted to make sure they were ready to go and had some rest.”
Aaron Vizcaino was one of those who stepped up for the Bulldogs, scoring 17 points. Ademide Badmus notched a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Jack Rodriguez (17 points) paced English in the fourth quarter with 13 points.
“Aaron is big time,” Anderson said. “Aaron is one of those kids on our team where he can do everything. You need him to score, he can score. He can play defense. He knew he had to score some points (Thursday) and he made it happen. Everyone filled in and did what they were supposed to do.”
A 21-point loss is obviously never the result the Magicians and coach Mike Giardi are looking for but once they settled down the second half looked a lot different. The Magicians outscored the Bulldogs 26-14 in the third quarter.
“They were down a few guys obviously,” Giardi said. “But I think once you get beyond that little bit of an intimidation factor, knowing that they’re a bomb squad, they’re loaded and they’re going to go out and really attack teams. Once we realized we could play a little bit with them I think we settled in just a bit. That’s good for us and our confidence. You’re happy with the effort but you can’t be satisfied with the outcome.”
Mason Jean-Baptiste (13 points) and Louis Rivera Jr. paced the Bulldogs offense with 3-pointers in the first quarter. Vizcaino converted an and-one as well and English carried a 19-6 lead into the second quarter.
English’s offense kept rolling in the second with Jean-Baptiste leading the way with eight points in the frame. Dylan Freddo helped Marblehead build some momentum with seven points, including a 3-pointer, in the second but the Bulldogs went into the half ahead 43-19.
The roles reversed in the third quarter thanks to Marblehead’s Cole Kronberg (17 points). The sophomore hit three 3-pointers in the third and scored 11 points to help bring the Magicians hole down to 57-45 before the fourth.
“We’ve been talking to (Kronberg) about attacking the rim and shooting a little bit,” Giardi said. “That’s a big thing for us, making sure that he got some shots. Our guys battled. Player for player English is a much better team than us but we just have to battle and hope sometimes that the ball bounces our way.”
Marblehead narrowed the English lead to as little as nine in the fourth before the Bulldogs turned the jets back on. Rodriguez started the quarter with an and one and never looked back, hitting a pair of 3’s in the final quarter to help the Bulldogs put things away.
“Marblehead wasn’t going away,” Anderson said. “They made their run in the third quarter, cut it to nine. Our guys were able to pick it up a little bit and get us the win.”
Both teams are back at it Tuesday. The Bulldogs (9-2) will have some time to get healthy before traveling to crosstown rival Classical (7) while Marblehead (4-7) hosts Danvers (7).