LYNN — Blowouts.

That’s the only word that best describes Thursday’s opening round of the 2023 Walter J. Boverini girls basketball tournament at Lynn Tech.

After St. Mary’s opened the day by crushing Lynn English, 80-14, Lynn Tech followed suit, overpowering KIPP, 56-24, in a battle of 3-0 teams.

It punched the Tigers’ ticket to Friday’s championship game at 3 p.m. against the Spartans.

Tech’s Allison Morales, a freshman, and junior Engelyz Bingham led all scorers with 21 and 18 points, respectively. Seniors Saja Sulman and Katrina Fortes led the Panthers with six and five points.

Lynn Tech coach Kaitlyn Wechsler, now in her 11th season, said she always enjoys the Boverini tournament because it brings the city together.

“It’s friends playing against friends, but also, a lot of the time, we don’t always have as many people watching us, so it’s great to have so many people in the stands,” she said. “It’s a great city event and, today, I am excited for the girls about playing in the championship game tomorrow.”

First-year KIPP coach Mike McCarthy said, while it was not the result his team had hoped for, there were bright spots to take away – especially in view of the fact that KIPP (3-1) won just one game last year.

“It was very tough today and we had a lot of missed opportunities, but it was a big test for the girls as it was their first test against a high-level program,” McCarthy said. “They pressed us the whole game, so it was a good chance to see what they could do. We’ll get better the next game.”

“This year, the girls are putting the work in and are committed,” he said. “There was some talent there last year, so we need to find it and bring it out. Even though today didn’t work out, the girls are already ahead of where they were all of last year and are getting better every game.”

Tech started fast with a 12-1 lead after the first quarter, and took its largest lead of the game after outscoring KIPP 22-4 in the third quarter to lead 48-10. Truth be told, KIPP simply couldn’t buy a bucket until the final eight minutes when it outscored Tech, 14-8.

Wechsler described Morales (varsity last year as an 8th grader) as an “amazing player.”

“She loves playing and works on her game all the time,” Wechsler said. “We love the improvements we have seen from last year to this year and it’s amazing to see. It’s all because of the work she puts in.”

Wechsler said Bingham, senior Aliyah Valquez (5 points), and sophomore Isabella Walcott were key players in the win.

“Engelyz is just an offensive player for us. She’s a strong girl, but she plays point guard, so we look to her on offense a lot as she knows the game. Aliyah doesn’t really score for us, so sometimes she isn’t noticed, but she really starts everything we do. It starts with our full-court defense and without her, we can’t play that way. She was unbelievable today.”

“I don’t think Isabella scored today, but everything we do starts with our defense,” Wechsler said. “She really worked hard today on a couple of big girls.”

The Tigers’ Camila Rufino Santos (8 points)  provided a spark coming off the bench in the second half with eight points. Sophomore Amy Huynh also played well defensively, according to Wechsler.

McCarthy said Sky Delacruz (4 points) and Hailey Herrera (4 points) had strong games for the Panthers. 

“We don’t have a lot of point guards, but both of them played great today,” he said. 

KIPP will play English in the consolation game Friday at 11 a.m.

“All I know about them is what I saw watching their game today,” he said. “Playing St. Mary’s is a tough game for anybody, so I’m sure we’ll see some different things from English tomorrow and see their best game.”

McCarthy said his players will need to focus on how they finished the fourth quarter – when they finally began hitting their shots.

“I told them not to quit, so it was good that after the first three quarters, they have something to hold their heads up with in that fourth quarter. They didn’t quit and they had more points in the fourth quarter than they had up to that point,” McCarthy said. “The effort was there and I appreciate that they didn’t quit. They took some pride in themselves and played hard.”

According to Wechsler, the key to Friday’s game against the Spartans is rebounding.

“We need to box out and rebound, which we really didn’t do today,” she said. “St. Mary’s is an incredible team and has been unbelievable for a long time, so we hope to learn from the game and get better. We need the experience of playing these good teams to get better.”