SENIOR CAPTAIN Alex Gentile had 13 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists to lead the Pioneers to a 46-21 win over Pentucket on Friday night for their third consecutive win. (Kristine Marengi Photo)

 

By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI

LYNNFIELD — Last Friday night, the Lynnfield High boys’ basketball team won its third-straight game as they knocked off visiting Pentucket 46-21. With that victory, the Pioneers improved to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Cape Ann League. The Panthers fell to 1-7 overall and 1-3 in the CAL.

The Pioneer defense was outstanding allowing only nine points in the first half to lead by 14. They then increased their lead to 33-16 at the end of the third quarter.

“The defense was really impressive,” said Pioneers head coach John Bakopolus. “We got our hands in the passing lanes and had a ton of deflections.”

Bakopolus did acknowledge that the offense has to have better accuracy from the field.

“We can do a better job shooting,” he said. “They weren’t falling that night.”

Alex Gentile led the Pioneers in points (13), rebounds (10) and assists (seven).

“He had another great game,” said Bakopolus, about the senior co-captain.

Alex Fleming added 12 points while Gavin Deluties added nine.

On Jan. 3, the Pioneers edged guest Essex Tech, 50-46, in a non-league game.

Lynnfield trailed after the first three quarter in this nip-and-tuck game as they trailed 13-12 after the first quarter and 27-23 at the half. They were down, 38-34, after the third quarter before outscoring the Hawks, 16-8, in the final eight minutes to pull out the hard-fought win.

“It was a back-and-fourth game all night,” recalled Bakopolus. “The biggest lead by any team was only six points but we did just enough in the fourth quarter to hold on.”

Deluties led the team in points with 13 while Gentile added 12. Chris Daniels was the team’s rebounding leader with 11 and he was third in points with 10.

Shawn O’Keefe led the Hawks with 15 points while Christian Federico added 13.

On Jan. 13, the Pioneers visit Triton for a 6:30 p.m. start. They then host Amesbury on Martin Luther King Jr. Day with tip-off coming at 1 p.m.