RallyNorth.net

Panthers hard pressed to stop Bulldogs in loss

Saturday, December, 22 By Matt Williams
Staff writer

Eugene Turner and the Lynn English boys basketball team are quickly and efficiently serving notice that they are one of the teams to beat on the North Shore boys hoop scene this winter, which is quite appropriate since it's a quick and efficient defense that's putting them in that position to begin with.

The unbeaten hosts' suffocating press defense forced 24 Beverly turnovers and spurred a convincing 70-38 victory over the Panthers last night.

"They are a very good, very athletic team that forces you to take bad shots and turn it over," said Beverly coach Scott Lewis. "You just can't turn the ball over that many times." Beverly fell to 2-2, with both losses coming to teams from Lynn (English and Classical), while English improved to 5-0. The Bulldogs have been averaging 74.6 points per game and winning by an average margin of 28 points.

English dominated from the outset, jumping out to an 8-0 lead and holding that advantage from wire-to-wire. Turner, a 6-foot-3 forward, led all scorers with 20 points and also grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.

Michael Clayton scored eight points while Ismael Santiago and Brian Skerry added seven apiece to lead Beverly. On top of the turnovers, the Panthers were plagued by cold shooting throughout the night. To make matters worse, the bigger Lynn English squad held a decisive advantage on the boards, so Beverly misses seldom turned into second chance opportunities.

"They hurt us on the glass," said Lewis. "We're a bit smaller than they are and they were able to get a lot of second shots. A lot of our mistakes were mental."

To that end, Bulldog big man Jose Rivers came off the bench to add 14 points | all in the paint | and help the hosts build a massive 25-12 lead. A pair of Santiago free throws and a 3-pointer from Clayton helped the Panthers get it down to single digits just before halftime, 31-22.

"We actually had a nice run to get it to nine at the half and we felt good because we'd played horribly and were only down nine," said Lewis.

Former Panther Furcy Ferraris drained a trey to start the second half and Beverly would gain no more momentum the rest of the way. The lead quickly ballooned to 15 and the Bulldogs had a 22-6 edge in the fourth quarter to put the game away with ease.

With Christmas break on the horizon, Beverly has plenty of time to improve before a meeting with Salem (Jan. 4). The break gives the Panthers ample opportunity to work out the kinks, and at 2-2 they're far from out of the picture in the Northeastern Conference.

"It will be a tight race (in the league) all the way through," Lewis said. "We won't let one loss worry us."