ROCKPORT –The Lynn Tech girls basketball team fell behind early and never recovered Tuesday night in the opening round of the Division 4 North tournament, losing to host Rockport 53-36.
Rockport, which had not hosted a tournament game in more than 40 years, fed off the crowd’s energy and took advantage of numerous Tech turnovers to jump out to a 30-12 halftime lead and coasted from there.
“The effort was there the entire game and I can’t ask for more than that,” said Tech coach Kaitlyn Wechsler. “They full-court pressed the entire game and worked their butts off. I barely subbed so they were all playing the entire game. They were playing exhausted and tired but they left their whole heart on the court. That’s all you can ask for.”
Tech had no answers for the Vikings’ dynamic duo of Kyle Schrock (29 points) and Lauren Ryan (17 points). Tech senior Alondra Sanchez had a double-double with 16 points and 17 rebounds, while fellow senior Iranis Julio was also in double figures with 12 points to go along with eight rebounds.
“Alondra is always the biggest threat for the other team and they always collapse on her, but she finds a way to work through it,” said Wechsler. “She gets great help from her teammates when she needs it. We definitely work through her, but we work as a team together.”
Tech had come into the tournament on the heels of its second-worst offensive performance of the season, a 47-17 loss to Essex Tech on Feb. 12. Against Rockport, Tech struggled from the get-go, falling behind 9-0 before Lilly Cote finally broke the ice with a free throw with five minutes to go in the quarter. Rockport answered right back, scoring the next six points to bump the lead to 15-1 before Cote converted another free throw to stop the bleeding, but it was only temporary.
With a 15-2 lead to start the second quarter, the Vikings went on an 11-3 run to extend their lead to 26-7 with three minutes left in the half. They took their largest lead of the half, 30-9 after Ryan drained a three-pointer, but a Sanchez free throw and a floater off the glass at the buzzer by Niyo Mwajuma cut Tech’s deficit to 30-12 going into the break.
While Tech finally found some offensive rhythm in the second half, it was too little, too late. Rockport took its largest lead of the game, 49-26, after a three-point play by Ryan.
Tech showed no quit, however, and closed out the game with a respectable 10-4 run to finish the game on a high note.
Wechsler highlighted the play of Nayelis Diaz (five rebounds), Nyari Lane-Benjamin (two rebounds), Mwajuma (six points,six rebounds) and Cote (two points).
“Nayelis and Nyari worked their butts off on defense and neither Niyo or Lily came out of the game,” said Wechlser.”I think sometimes they do the little things that people don’t always notice, but they are just so important to us as they never come off the court and just leave it all out there.”
The game was the end of the line for Tech’s two seniors – Julio and Sanchez.
“I can’t really talk about their worth to the program other than just saying we wouldn’t be here without them,” said Wechsler. “Not many people expected us to be here. They were in the entire game for us, they just leave it all on the court and are great role models and leaders. They helped us get to tournaments as freshmen and now as seniors, so that is pretty special.”
Rockport advances to the quarterfinal round against No. 2 seed Maimonides (10-2) at Maimonides on Sunday, March 1 (TBD).