RallyNorth.net

At some point, you have to put the ball in the basket or you just won't win.

It's a season-long lesson that stung Andover High one final time last night as Lynn Classical downed the Golden Warriors in the Division 1 North tourney opener, 53-44.

When Salem forward Chris Dunston got into second half foul trouble, Tommy Doyle needed to find a solution.

The Witches are undersized to begin with, but going small against a Lynn Classical team that features a pair of athletic big men in Jarrell Byrd and Tony Johnson just wasn't an option. So Doyle, on a hunch, went with 5-foot-11 widebody Danny Byors, hoping the junior could provide a little rebounding and toughness in the post.

For much of last night's game, the shots were not falling for St. John's Prep senior Ryan O'Connell.

Needing 18 points to reach 1,000 for his career, O'Connell was forcing shots that weren't falling early on. But with the contest on the line, the Bowdoin College-bound senior from Ipswich delivered.

Despite a strong performance against an unbeaten team, Peabody suffered another frustrating loss. At the end the breaks didn't go the Tanners way, and they fell to Lynn Classical, 63-62

After losing to English by 40 points three nights ago and not being able to practice Thursday because of the snowstorm, Peabody gave the Rams all they could handle and nearly stole the game at the end.