SWAMPSCOTT — It’s been a long road for the Peabody boys basketball team this season, but all that hard work paid off Monday night. With a 51-39 win over Northeastern Conference foe Swampscott, the Tanners punched their ticket to the state tournament in their penultimate game of the regular season.
“I’m just so proud of these guys and how hard they’ve worked this season,” said Peabody coach Thad Broughton. “It’s been a grind for us all year and we’ve had plenty of ups and downs but this is what we did it for, to have a chance in the tournament. I’m especially happy for the seniors for all the work they’ve put in the past couple years. But it’s not over, we’ve still got work to do.”
Tyler Joyce led the offensive attack for Peabody, notching 17 points and three rebounds. Joangel Lugo added 15 points and six rebounds, while Alex Jean contributed eight points and five rebounds off the bench. Kyle Morfis (five points) and Chioke Onwuogu (four points, six rebounds) also had solid games for the Tanners.
“We had contributions from everyone tonight, which is how we want to play out there,” said Broughton. “Joangel had a big night, Choike and Alex made some big plays on both ends and Tyler hit some huge shots for us. When everyone is working together and hitting on all cylinders like that, we’re in good shape.”
The Big Blue had a tough time on the offensive end for the most part, but Andrew Augustin nearly recorded a double-double with 20 points and nine rebounds. Jacob Cooke added 14 points.
Swampscott opened the quarter strong with a 6-2 lead in the first few minutes behind baskets from Cooke and Augustin, but Peabody quickly found its footing. The Tanners then went on a 13-2 run to close the quarter — thanks in part to Joyce and Lugo — to jump ahead 15-8 after one quarter.
Peabody continued that momentum right into the second quarter, stretching its lead to 11 points in the early going. But Swampscott wouldn’t go down without a fight, rattling off an 8-0 run to get right back in the mix down 20-17. Peabody slowed the run as the half came to an end, walking into the locker room with a 26-20 lead at the break.
“Swampscott never went away,” said Broughton. “They worked hard the whole game and made a couple of good runs on us. But we were able to stabilize things and make big plays when they counted, and that’s what pushed us over the top.”
Peabody came out and extended its lead once again early in the third quarter, eventually stretching the lead to 13 points at 41-28 going into the fourth.
The Tanner still led by 10 points with just over four minutes to play, but a late run by Swampscott made things interesting. Big plays from Augustin and Cooke cut it to just a 4-point deficit at 43-39, Peabody, with about two minutes to play.
Two huge and-one plays from Jean pushed the Tanners back ahead by six points and helped seal the victory.
Swampscott hosts Winthrop Wednesday night (7).
Peabody (10-9) will close out the regular season Thursday night (7) at home against Saugus on Senior Night.
“We’ve got one game left and we’d like to end the season with some positive momentum,” said Broughton. “It might help us with seeding and it might not, but we’d love to grab one more win before heading into the tournament.”