Lawrence lassoes SJP
Avenges Christmas loss to hit D1 semis
Luis Reynoso will tell you that he and his high-flying Lawrence teammates had one particular goal heading into the regular season.
“We only lost two games this season and we wanted to be undefeated,” said the dynamic 6-foot-5 junior who saw that lofty goal come to an end at the hands of yesterday’s quarterfinal opponent, St. John’s Prep, in Lawrence’s Christmas tournament.
Playing in front of an electric home crowd yesterday, however, Reynoso and the Lancers (20-2) more than evened the score as the No. 2 seeds left the seventh seeds shell-shocked, 80-64, to advance to the Division 1 North semifinals.
At the heart of the blowout was Reynoso, who played all 32 minutes and finished with 33 points, 12 boards and six assists.
“His IQ for basketball is really high and when he plays like that he helps his teammates out,” said Lancers coach Raymond Nunez. “He’s a gifted and talented young man who is really dedicated to making himself better — that’s the scary thing.”
And that should be a scary thing for the rest of the D1 field as Reynoso showed he’s equally adept driving the lane, spotting up for the 3, or setting up teammates like Chris Ruiz (18 points) and Juan Felix Rodriguez (16) for wide-open looks.
“He definitely came to play,” said St. John’s Prep coach John Dullea. “He’s a tough cover. You put a big guy on him and he takes him outside and you put a guard on him he takes him down low. He’s got a very impressive skill set.”
Leading just by five (3631) at the break, Reynoso and Co. turned things up by shooting 63 percent (12-for19) in the quarter. Reynoso’s trey from the top of the key made it 61-42 and when he drove the lane and dished the ball smartly out to a wide-open Alesandi Cruz for another trifecta, Lawrence had a 67-47 lead with a quarter still left to play.
“Everyone came in fighting and playing defense,” said Reynoso. “We played our hearts out.”
Prep senior big man Tommy O’Neil finished with a team-high 17 in his final game for the Eagles.
It was a busy week for Everett basketball.
First, the legendary John DiBiaso earned his 500th career victory. Yesterday, it was Ghared Boyce’s turn to make headlines.
The senior netted 15 points in the top-seeded Tide’s 84-51 win over No. 9 Waltham but it was his running layup early in the fourth quarter that sent him over the 2,000-point mark for his career.
“I knew it was going to be tough because (Waltham) made me the main target, but I just kept fighting to get there,” Boyce, the school’s all-time leading scorer, said. “I worked so hard all four years to get here and to be able to do it the last time that I will play on my home court is special.”
It looked early like Boyce may have to wait another day to reach the milestone as he ended the first half with just two points and three fouls. But his teammates more than made up for his lack of offensive production in the opening 16 minutes. Everett (21-1) raced out to an early lead behind the attacking play of seniors Isaiah Likely (13 points) and Caleb Jacobs (17) to take a commanding 24-5 lead into the second quarter before the Tide upped its advantage to 40-14 at halftime.
Boyce finally found his rhythm in the third quarter. A late-quarter bucket would leave him with 1,997 points to begin the fourth.
And the combo guard wasted little time in the final eight minutes; a jumper pushed his total to 1,999 before his layup with 6:38 remaining in the game gave him 2,001 points.
Ethan Wright scored 34 points, including a crucial four-point play, with 17 seconds left as No. 4 Newton North (18-4) defeated No. 12
Bridgewater-Raynham, 66-59, in a Div. 1 South quaterfinal contest. … In a shooting performance for the ages, junior Tyler Boulter went for 35 points on 8-of-10 from deep, and 13-of-17 overall as No. 1 Mansfield (22-2) defeated No. 8 BC High, 71-58.
Senior Jerrod Clark had 19 points, six rebounds and four blocks as No. 7 Brighton (157) downed No. 2 Arlington, 66-62 in overtime, in the Div. 2 north quarterfinals.
Panayiotis Kapanides scored 24 points as No. 4
Bedford (17-5) pulled away from fifth-seeded Whittier in the second half to win, 79-55, in a Div. 3 North quarterfinal.
In Div. 3 South quarterfinal action, Damien Perry led all scorers with 23 points as No. 2 Bishop Stang (21-1) knocked off No. 10 Wareham, 72-59.
In a Div. 4 North quarterfinal, Marcus Mompoint delivered the gane-winner with 5.7 seconds remaining to lift No. 2 Blue Hills (19-5) past No. 10 Avon, 60-58.