Category Archives: Lynn Tech

February 27, 2018 · 11:16 pm

Newburyport gets past Lynn Tech 67-63 after twenty-four lead changes

The Clippers begin to celebrate their win over Lynn Tech

Casey McLaren led all scorers with thirty points.

(Newburyport MA) A year ago, in the same gym and on the same date, the Clippers led Lynn Tech 30-5 at halftime and won easily, 70-36.

Believe me, that was then.

Tonight, the Lynn Tigers did everything but win versus the same Clippers.

The final was 67-63 and there was little to choose between the two teams in this first-round battle in Division 3 North.

Both teams were 13-7 coming in and it took a coin toss to determine where this game would be held.

How close was the game itself? How about seven ties. How about TWENTY-FOUR lead changes! There were at least five lead changes in every quarter.

Both teams had high-scoring weapons. Casey McLaren (30 points) and his brother Parker (17 points) paced Newburyport while Robert Wallace (25 points) and Belmin Berilo (22 points) led the Tigers.

The last tie was 63-63 with 2:22 left in the game.

Casey McLaren stretches the NHS lead to four points with this jump shot in front of the student section.

The Clippers pulled in front, 65-63, on a George Coryell layup set up by Parker McLaren. After an empty LT possession, Casey McLaren nailed a jump shot from the foul line area with 1:27 to go that sealed this one for the home team.

No doubt Lynn Tech was exhausted down the stretch. In the final minute the Clippers ate the clock on two different occasions with LT unable to foul to stop the clock.

“Casey played terrific,” said Coach Dave Clay afterwards. “He has incredible instincts for the game.”

Casey had six three’s, getting at least one in each quarter.

His top crowd-pleasing moment? A steal in the final quarter that he turned into the only dunk of the game.

Plenty of defense played by both squads.

Robert Wallace led the Tigers with twenty-five points

“We needed to get the ball to the middle of the court and then look opposite,” explained Coach Clay on how to handle the press. “However, Lynn Tech was so well-coached that it was hard to do.”

The Clippers (14-7) will next face top-seed St. Mary’s on Thursday.

Newburyport led 21-20 after one quarter. Lynn Tech led 35-34 after two quarters. Newburyport led 53-52 after three quarters. There just was no true separation!

LT coach Stevie Patrick took his team to the locker room after the game without having his team participate in the normal post-game hand shaking. I’m not sure what that was about.

The Clippers had been 3-4 in February before tonight’s win.

Lynn Tech was 7-14 last season. You talk about improvement!

Lynn Tech box

Newburyport box

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge when you click on them.)

Casey McLaren blocks a shot

Belmin Berilo

Tre Baldwin guarded by Casey McLaren

Belmin Berilo (22 points) gets free

George Coryell

Jama Aroni chases Casey McLaren

Parker McLaren (17 points tries to drive on Tre Baldwin

Jama Aroni

Ryan Archie looks to pass

Newburyport drubs Lynn Tech 70-36 in D3 North First Round

Casey McLaren (18 points) had good looks most of the night.

Nick Rogers (14 points) guarded by Dantai Robertson

(Newburyport MA) Disappointing performance by Lynn Tech.

#2 Newburyport trounced #15 LT, 70-36, on Monday night in First Round action in the Division 3 North tournament.

The Clippers (18-3) scored the first eleven points of the game before the Tigers (7-14) finally made a basket (John Marino) six minutes into the first quarter.

The second quarter followed suit. Newburyport started it with a 14-1 run as the game reached the embarrassing level (30-5) with 3:40 to go until halftime.

The Clippers were very impressive all over the court.

The Tigers (winners of four straight coming in) tried to zone the Clippers but instead of shutting down the inside there were opening galore to the basket. Newburyport made sixteen layups in the game.

I saw the Newburyport game against Lynnfield and Casey McLaren struggled early but ended up with double figures. No struggles early this time for the talented sophomore. Shots from all levels seemed available and, versus Lynn Tech, Casey led all scorers with eighteen points.

LT coach Stevie Patrick had Marcus Taylor denying the ball to Casey in the second half but by then the game was well out of hand.

Noah Van Schalkwyk in the lane for Newburyport

In Lynn Tech’s disastrous first quarter the Newburyport man-to-man defense forced seven turnovers.

The Clippers usually take and make many three’s during a game but versus Lynn Tech the inside chances ruled the day. The Tigers had as many 3’s (four) as the Clippers did.

LT had three brutal scoring droughts. I have already referenced two of them. Here’s the third: in the final 6 ½ minutes of the game, Lynn Tech was held scoreless while Newburyport collected thirteen points.

Put those three droughts together and during sections of this game Lynn Tech was outscored, 38 to 1!

Belmin Berilo paced the Tigers with eight points.

Lynn Tech won the Commonwealth Athletic Conference Small division.

Good crowd of Newburyport enthusiasts in the house. Forget just being the sixth-man. Before the game, they turned into some type of choral group as they performed the National Anthem.

Newburyport box

Lynn Tech box

(All pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Casey McLaren shoots as Pentucket watches

Casey McLaren up for a rebound

George Coryell in the open floor

Battle for a rebound

Belmin Berilo was LT’s top scorer

Casey McLaren in the open court

Nick Rogers shoots from in front of the NHS student section

Robbie Shay

Cam MacRae shoots from in close

Brendan Powers hits the deck

Senior Aquemini Gaston and coach Stevie Patrick

Rich Warren’s 37 Points Not Enough in Lynn Tech Loss 74-71 to Newburyport in D3 North Semis

Eric Meyer (19 points) hit 9-of-10 free throws in the final quarter.

Rich Warren (37 points) hit two 3’s in the last minute.

(Lynn) Newburyport took a seven point lead with 1:12 left and made enough pressure free throws after that to offset a couple of Rich Warren 3’s and defeated Lynn Tech, 74-71, in Lynn on Thursday night to advance to the Division 3 North semi-finals.

Until Michael Duarte’s last-second heave from the backcourt fell short and the buzzer went off, there was no certainty of the winning team.

Lynn Tech’s Rich Warren (37 points) was awesome the entire game and the Clippers can be thankful that he wasn’t taking that last shot or we might have seen overtime.

Because of the Clipper free throws, that last-second shot was the only chance in the last five minutes of the game where Lynn Tech had the ball and a chance to tie with a made three.

On the road in front of a very loud Lynn Tech crowd, Newburyport made 13-of-16 free throws in the tense final quarter. Trailing by as many as seven, the Tigers were quick to foul after every missed shot and since Eric Meyer seemed to rebound every miss, he took most of the free throws. I don’t know how good a free throw shooter Eric was during the season but in the final quarter of a do-or-die game he was an amazing 9-for-10!

The celebrating begins on the Newburyport sideline as the game ends.

Eric’s last free throw gave Newburyport a 72-66 lead with twenty-three seconds left. Rich Warren cut that lead in half with his 6th 3-pointer. Chris Jayne made one of two free throws to keep the Clippers ahead, 73-69, with 16.6 seconds left. Michael Duarte took a long three that was well short but freshman Ronnie Williams alertly caught the air ball and laid it in with 4.5 seconds left and Lynn Tech trailed by only two, 73-71. Chris Jayne was fouled again and made the second of two free throws to put the Clippers up by three (74-71) with 3.8 seconds to go. Michael Duarte’s toss from the backcourt was well short causing normal breathing to return to a good collection of Newburyport fans.

There were thirteen lead changes in this game.

Trey Gallo (#1) takes the ball to the basket against Drew Carter.

Lynn Tech (13-6/#4 seed) made their “go-it-alone” approach work on offense. There were numerous coast-to-coast drives ending in layups. In some cases the Clippers were back on defense but quick-moving Tigers like Trey Gallo (13 points) and Michael Duarte (12 points) could still weave their way to the rim.

On the other hand, the Clippers (14-7) were willing to make passes to get open shots and did it ever pay off. Newburyport shot a sizzling 56% for the game (25-for-44) including an unreal 67% (12-for-18) in the second half. Add 14-for-18 from the foul line (also in the second half) and you can see how good the Clipper shooting was in this tourney win.

A last-second three by Matt Leavitt (13 points) gave Newburyport an 18-15 lead after one quarter. Luis Tavares (4 points) converted an offensive rebound with two seconds left in the second quarter to give the Tigers a 34-33 halftime edge. Rich Warren’s last-second three tied the score at 52-52 at the end of three quarters. So when you add on the way the last quarter ended you can see that the exciting moments just kept coming.

Eric Meyer (19 points), Brett Fontaine (15 points), and Matt Leavitt and Chris Jayne with 13 points each, topped the Clipper scorers.

Brett Fontaine (#24) lines up a three after getting a pass from Matt Mottola (#22).

One of the big final-quarter plays for Newburyport was Matt Mottala finding Brett Fontaine for a three that gave the Clippers a 61-55 lead with five minutes left.

#5 seed Newburyport now awaits the winner of the Pentucket at Hamilton-Wenham game tomorrow night. During the regular season the Clippers split with Pentucket and lost by five to Hamilton-Wenham. There were players from HW in the audience tonight.

Tiger coach Marvin Avery has coached Lynn Tech for twelve seasons. His teams have reached the post-season every year and have been to the Division 3 North finals six times. It might not be so easy next season as the players he calls, “The Little Three,” (Trey Gallo, Michael Duarte, and Rich Warren) are all graduating.