LYNN — The English girls basketball team jumped out to an early lead and never looked back Tuesday night, knocking off crosstown rival Classical 51-33 at Paul Cavanagh Field House. The Bulldogs played team basketball on both ends, moving the ball well offensively and forcing a number of tough shots defensively.
“You can always throw records out the window when you get to this game, so we knew we had to come out with some intensity and get an early lead,” said English coach Mackenzie Charles. “We did a great job of moving the ball around and getting good shots, which is key for our offense. The girls really committed to passing, which helped us out in the early minutes.”
Jessica Ruiz had a big game for English, notching 18 points and six rebounds. Rosie Chheang scored 10 points off the bench, while Mashayla Johnson had nine points and four rebounds. Nia Sams (four points, three rebounds), Maylin Echevarria (four points, two rebounds) and Stacy Abreau (four points) also played well.
Classical was led by Jean Gupton-Morrison (six points, eight rebounds), Ava Thurman (six points, two rebounds) and Kiara Edmonds (six points). Molly Mannion added five points and three rebounds, while Sajada Dean had four points and seven rebounds and Amber Crayton had seven rebounds.
“There’s a reason why English only has one loss, and that’s because they have a very talented team,” said Classical coach Tom Sawyer. “On our side, I really liked the effort we brought. We tried some new things out there and we were successful with some of them and not-so-successful with others. But it wasn’t for a lack of effort on our part.”
English opened the game with plenty of intensity on both ends, jumping out to an early 7-1 lead. Classical found a spark about midway through the quarter to make it 7-6, but English snatched the momentum back with a 5-0 run to close the first with a 12-6 lead.
The Bulldogs really extended their lead in the second quarter. English jumped ahead by 15 points before Classical went on a run of its own, but the Rams couldn’t slow things down completely. At the end of the first half, English still held a 15-point lead, 29-14.
“We just played good team basketball in the first half,” said Charles. “That’s the name of the game right there. When we’re moving the ball around on offense, getting good shots, and then defending on the other end, we can make some things happen.”
There wasn’t much action in the third quarter, as there were only 11 points total scored between the two teams. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs held a 35-19 lead.
English extended its lead out to as many as 19 points in the fourth quarter behind some strong play from Abreau, Sams and Chheang. While the Rams went on a small run to cut into the deficit, a late-game push by English sealed the 18-point victory.
Next up for Classical (4-7) is a home game against Gloucester Friday (7).
“We’ve got a bunch of games at home coming up, so hopefully we’ll be able to grab a few wins,” said Sawyer. “We’ve still got a chance at the tournament, and that’s not over until you lose the 11th game, so we’re still in good shape.”
English (9-1) will look for its tournament-clinching 10th win Friday (7) against Swampscott.
“My first two years at English, we won five games total, so we appreciate winning here,” said Charles. “Those seasons made us hungry and we’ve stayed hungry. Our first goal is making the state tournament, so hopefully we can lock that up Friday.”