LYNN — Simply put, St. Mary’s and Lynn English gave the fans their money’s worth on Thursday. The Spartans squashed an 11-point second-half deficit to beat the Bulldogs in overtime, 68-64. 

With 6:20 remaining in the game, Denzell Guillen made a layup to put the Bulldogs ahead, 48-37. Then, the JJ Martinez show started. 

Martinez scored 13 of his team-high 29 points in the fourth quarter to start the comeback. His Spartans trailed by three with 30.4 seconds left, but Martinez grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back up to make it a one-point game. 

“He knows he’s our go-to guy,” said St. Mary’s coach David Brown. “I’m tough on him. I want him to rebound, I want him to score, play defense, and be a playmaker and, at times, he gets frustrated with me, but he’s the best player on the floor when we play. I don’t care who we play against… he knocked down some big shots.” 

While Martinez was shooting the ball well, English kept turning it over. 

“We had a lead down the stretch and we just didn’t make enough plays,” said English coach Alvin Abreu. “We got killed on the offensive rebounds and fouled off free throws. We had to rebound and had too many turnovers. You have to make those bang-bang plays.” 

St. Mary’s Devell Pamplin grabbed a rebound and got fouled with just 12.2 seconds left. He missed the first free throw – and even with the English faithful trying to distract him – buried the second to tie the game. 

When asked if he was confident that Pamplin was going to make at least one, Brown said he was “hoping for it.” 

“It’s a lot of pressure for a high school kid who has only been playing for a month-and-a-half. I told him to just give us one and he did, which was huge,” Brown said. “Devell had trouble in the first half and didn’t play much in the third quarter, but he gave us big minutes in the fourth quarter and in overtime.” 

English had a game-winning opportunity, but failed to get a shot off before the buzzer sounded. 

In overtime, the Spartans continued to force turnovers, which led to easy transition points. 

English’s crunch-time woes continued. With a two-point St. Mary’s lead and less than 20 seconds remaining, Rowan Merryman of the Spartans stepped in and drew a charge, forcing the turnover and essentially sealing the comeback.

Brown said he envisioned the play happening. 

“I told him during the timeout that I’m putting him on their weakest offensive player, and I said to him, ‘You’re going to take a charge on this possession,’” Brown said. “He’s taken three or four this year [and] he knows when to help. It was perfect timing and a great call by the ref – great execution from a freshman to take a charge in that situation.” 

Martinez knocked down both free throws on the other end to put a lid on the Bulldogs.

Despite the loss, Abreu believes his team can learn from the missed opportunities. 

“A game like this helps magnify how important each possession is,” Abreu said. “It magnifies how you have to value the basketball. It magnifies the little things like boxing out.”

He also praised the performances of Pauwill Deng (9 points) and Joshua Anderson Jr. (10) who stepped up for a team missing two of its starters.

“I was very proud of Pauwill Deng. He had his first start of the season. He got his opportunity and played very well defensively,” Abreu said. “Unfortunately, he fouled out, but he played one hell of a game. He hasn’t played a lot of minutes, but he stepped up big time.”  

“Joshua Anderson battled. He’s been battling for us. He’s a senior who plays like a senior,” Abreu said. “He plays with heart and gives it his all.”  

Brown hoped to face his cousin, Lynn Tech coach Corey Bingham, in the championship, and he’ll get his wish Friday at 5 p.m.

“This is why I came back to coach in Lynn 11 years ago. I loved coaching in Winthrop, but I wanted to coach in the city tournament,” Brown said.