LYNNFIELD — If you hold a team to two points in the first quarter and nine in the first half, your defense must be clicking. The Pioneers (5-2) built a 14-point lead on Pentucket going into halftime (23-9) thanks to their superb defense and potent offense. Lynnfield won the game 46-21 at home on Friday.
The Pioneers initially started in man-to-man defense, but once they switched to the zone, it gave the Panthers problems.
“I’ve got to give their defense a lot of credit. We had a lot of turnovers tonight, we missed a lot of shots, but I have to give Lynnfield credit,” Pentucket head coach Ed Hickey said.
To start the third quarter, the Pioneers’ intensity never stopped. Their hard-nosed defense forced the Panthers to turn the ball over five times in their first six possessions.
“The kids were being active. They got their hands in the passing lane, [they were] rotating and talking. They played really well today on defense,” Lynnfield head coach John Bakopolus said. “These kids work incredibly hard. They are the ones who put the effort in. They worked super hard.”
The Pioneers spread the ball around with seven players getting on the scoresheet. One player who made sure the ball kept moving was senior captain Alex Gentile (13 points).
Gentile only scored two points in the opening quarter, but still made sure his presence was felt and was the initiator on offense.
Bakopolus was full of praise for his guard after the game.
“He’s [Gentile] our guy. The ball goes to him every possession, ” Bakopolus said. “He scores when we need it, he dishes it out when we need him to, he controls the game for us. We’re lucky to have him, he’s a great player.”
The offense got into gear in the second half with the Pioneers making extra passes to turn good looks into better ones. When Iain McCarthy (three points) got the ball on the baseline, he dribbled past his defender only to be met by two more. Instead of taking a tough shot, he dished it off to Gavin Deluties (nine points) who scored a wide-open layup, much to the Lynnfield faithful’s delight.
“I thought the ball movement was great. We didn’t hit all of them, but that will come. The ball movement was really efficient,” Bakopolus said.
The Pioneers put on a show for their supporters in a packed gym on a Friday night, leaving them with a performance to be proud of. Bakopolus described the home support as “awesome.”
“Lynnfield is a great community. The kids come out to support their friends. It’s always awesome to play here on a Friday night,” Bakopolus said.
