LYNNFIELD — You just can’t teach height.
Friday night, the Lynnfield boys basketball team (5-1) took advantage of a significant size advantage to dominate the boards on both ends of the court, defeating visiting Essex Tech, 65-29.
Every Pioneer got into the stat column in this one with seven of them combining for 11 three-pointers. Senior Chris Daniels (2 threes) scored a team-high 11 points, while juniors Alex Fleming and Zach Pincus (3 threes) were right behind with 10 and nine points, respectively.
In addition to the height advantage, the Pioneers employed a stifling defense, causing numerous turnovers from start to finish.
“These kids all play hard. We have 11 guys and every single one of them gives their best effort every game,” said head coach John Bakopolus. “They’re a pleasure to coach and I know that no matter who we put in there, they’re going to play unbelievable defense like they did tonight. You saw that we had a bunch of steals and some easy baskets in transition.”
The Pioneer party started early with Lynnfield jumping out to a 17-0 lead with about three minutes left in the first quarter, which ended on a high note (24-6) when Daniels fired a long pass to a wide-open Ben Gazit for a layup to end the quarter.
Up by 20 with less than 30 seconds to go in the half, the Pioneers stretched the lead to 39-16 on an athletic save to keep the ball in bounds by Fleming, plus a three from sophomore Zahir Mitchell (5 points).
In the third, the Pioneers made only five buckets, but all of them were threes – two by sophomore Harris Hadzihasanovic (6 points) and three by Pincus to put the game out of reach at 54-24.
After that, it was just a matter of running down the clock to put the game in the books.
Bakopolus highlighted the defensive play of Fleming, Daniels, and junior Iain McCarthy.
“Those are the guys that make us go,” Bakopolus said. “They play incredibly hard and are tough to score against. They also are go-to guys on offense as well. We have a lot of tall kids getting on the glass and making things happen, too.”
McCarthy (2 threes, 6 points), sophomore Matt Tracy (5 points), freshman Grant Neal (5 points), sophomore Ben Gazit (4 points), junior Chris Fleming (3 points), and senior Paul Breslow (point) also scored.
Breslow also received high praise coming in off the bench.
“He’s a captain and played varsity last year and plays three or four positions for us,” Bakopolus said. “He’s a really competitive kid and another one of those kids who plays really hard whenever he’s in there.”
The Pioneers are back in action Tuesday night at Rockport (6 p.m.). After that, it’s on to Newburyport Friday, a team Bakopolus expects to be undefeated.
“That’s going to be a big challenge for us and that’s a pretty big game,” he said.