Pioneers get ready for playoff matchup
Published February 17, 2021
By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
LYNNFIELD — In their final game of the regular season last Friday evening, the Lynnfield High boys’ basketball team lost at Hamilton-Wenham 71-46. With that defeat, the Pioneers ended up at 4-6 overall as the Generals, who won the Cape Ann League Baker division, completed the season sweep.
“They pulled away in the second quarter,” explained Pioneers’ first-year head coach John Bakopolus. “They have a lot of size and shot the ball well.”
Lynnfield only trailed 16-13 after the opening quarter but the hosts broke the game open in the second outscoring the Pioneers 25-8 to lead by 20 at halftime.
Lynnfield was unable to really cut into the lead in the second half.
Luke Martinho was the Pioneers’ top scorer with 10 points while Dante Gesamondo had a team-high 11 rebounds.
Sophomores Cam Marengi and Steve Dreker both scored their first-ever varsity points as each player scored four. Both were call-ups from the junior varsity team and played the final two games of the season.
Ryan Hutchinson led the Generals (9-2) with 25 points while Markus Norden had 23 points to go with 13 rebounds and 10 assists.
As the third seed in the CAL Kinney division, the Pioneers will play at the second seed, North Reading, in the semifinal of the league playoffs on Wednesday afternoon at 5 p.m.
The Hornets won the regular-season meeting by 12 points..
If the Pioneers can pull off the upset, they would take on the winner of the Newburyport-Triton game on Friday at 5 p.m. for the CAL Kinney title (location unknown as of press time).
