BOSTON – The second annual Black History Month Classic was held on Monday, a set of four high school games in row. Basketball X-Perts is hoping to grow the event each year, and it didn’t hurt that Mayor Thomas Menino declared February 16, 2009 to be Basketball X-Perts Appreciation Day. Helping even more is that a standing room-only crowd witnessed much of the action at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center.
Below are some notes from the day’s games, starting with the four scores.
Scoreboard
Cathedral 58, Lynn Tech 53
Winthrop 57, New Mission 54 (OT)
Lawrence 63, Charlestown 48
Lawrence Academy 71, East Boston 46
Notes
- In Winthrop’s win, no one was more clutch than Robert Swanson. The junior guard hit a three-pointer with about four seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime, then hit a big three-pointer in the extra session.
- Winthrop got a big second half and overtime from Swanson’s classmate Dino Mallios, who scored 21 points. Mallios showed a nice feel for the game and made a few good passes as well.
- In the losing effort, New Mission guard Samir McDaniel impressed with 27 points. He has a mature body and is active, but the sophomore will need to improve the skill set as he didn’t handle the ball very well and the release on his jump shot is shaky.
- The last game of the day was never really a competitive game, as Lawrence Academy scored nine of the game’s first ten points and led 36-22 at halftime. With the Boston City League being down, a matchup with one of its teams and a prep school was sure to look like a mismatch, although the young Jets could make a matchup like this look different in another year or two.
- Lawrence Academy point guard Shabazz Napier shot the ball well from long range, but the question for the 5’9″ sophomore is how he runs the team. He showed some positive signs here, making a few good passes along the way.
