THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2023 Page 11 Saugus girls battle unbeaten Rams in preparation for playoff s By Greg Phipps C oncluding the regular season with consecutive games against the undefeated Lynn Classical Rams, the Saugus High School girls’ basketball team may have received a worthwhile prep course for the upcoming Div. 3 playoff tournament. The Sachems lost both contests but showed their grit in Wednesday’s second meeting at the Saugus gym, losing a hardfought 48-42 aff air. The Rams got out of the gate fast by pulling away to an 18-7 lead early in the second quarter. Saugus struggled on off ense in the fi rst half before eventually settling down and coming back to take a lead in the second half. “It was a back-and-forth game. We were playing well, I thought [in the fi rst half] but were just unable to fi nish our shots,” said Saugus Head Coach Mark Schruender. Three-pointers from Saugus’s Ashleen Escobar connected for 11 points in Wednesday’s loss to Lynn Classical in the regular-season fi nale. Saugus’s Ana Silva nailed a big three-pointer in Wednesday’s game against Lynn Classical. Peyton DiBiasio (a teamhigh 14 points) and Jessica Bremberg (seven points) helped the Sachems climb to within four at the break. The second half mainly consisted of both teams trading hoops and the lead. At various stages of the fi nal 16 minutes, a basket by Ashleen Escobar (11 points) and a hoop from beyond the arc from Ana Silva gave the hosts the lead. Schruender said the Rams, who went 20-0 in the regular season, always came back with an answer any time the Sachems were able to pull in front. “They made the last run of the game and were able to prevail,” he pointed out. Classical defeated the Sachems by a 47-28 margin in the fi rst meeting between the two squads last Thursday. Wednesday’s loss left Saugus with a 13-7 overall regular-season record. The Sachems, who have no senior players on this year’s team, fi nished as co-champions of the Northeastern Conference’s Lynch Division. The state’s Div. 3 power rankings had Saugus as the 22nd ranked team with the playoff brackets — and the Sachems fi rst-round opponent — yet to be determined as of midweek. Schruender said Saugus could see tourney action as early as later this week. Sachem boys ready for playoff s after win at Triton C By Greg Phipps oming off a modest twogame slide, the Saugus High School boys’ basketball team was determined to finish the 202223 regular season on a winning note before entering this year’s state Div. 3 playoff tournament. The Sachems succeeded in earning a 51-48 win last Friday night at Triton to close out the regular campaign. But it wasn’t easy. Despite jumping on top 6-2 early, the Sachems found themselves on the short end of a 28-18 margin at halftime. Saugus was able to regain its offensive punch in the second half by outscoring the hosts by 12 in the third quarter and entering the final eight minutes with a twopoint edge. It took a clutch steal and lay in by Max Anajjar in the final 15 seconds of the game to give the Sachems a three-point lead they would not relinquish. “Triton called a timeout [but] our defense was able to get the Isaiah Rodriguez chipped in with nine points in last Friday’s victory at Triton. stop,” observed Saugus Head Coach Joe Bertrand. “[Triton] really picked it up on defense, slowing us down as we went into halftime. We made the adjustment to a full court press [in the second half] and our speed caused some turnovers.” Josh Osawe had another productive outing by finishing with a teamhigh 19 points for the Sachems. Ben Tapia-Gately added 16 and Isaiah Rodriguez chimed in with nine. The win gave Saugus a fi rst-place finish in the Northeastern Conference’s Lynch Division, the fi rst fi nish of its kind for Saugus boys’ basketball since 1991. The victory also left Saugus with a 13-7 overall record heading into the postseason tourney. Bertrand said that, as of Tuesday, the team was ranked 12th in the Div. 3 power rankings, meaning the Sachems would likely host a round-of-32 playoff game at the Saugus gym. Bertrand added that another set of rankings are going to be released on Friday. The fi nal playoff brackets will be determined on Saturday. “We are going to work hard in practice and focus on sharpening our skills until we know who our opponent will be,” the coach said about his team’s postseason preparation. Senior captain Ben Tapia-Gately scored 16 points in last Friday’s regular-season fi nale at Triton.
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