Beverly's high octane offense continues to impress in dominant win over Lowell
Jan. 18—BEVERLY — The Beverly High boys basketball team had beaten some solid teams during their seven-game unbeaten streak to begin the season. But the Panthers were still searching for that signature victory, that statement game to let the rest of the Massachusetts high school hoops world know 'We're here — and we're not going anywhere.'
With Division 1 foe Lowell in The Garden City Monday night, that opportunity for head coach Matt Karakoudas and Co. had arrived — and the Panthers made sure to deliver in a big way.
Led by a ridiculously fast paced, up-tempo style of play with tremendous transition offense, the Panthers exploded for a wildly convincing 97-74 triumph. It was the second time in three games that the Northeastern Conference-leading squad eclipsed the 90-point mark — they scored 88 points in the other — and they did so in impressive fashion in front of their home crowd.
"I tell my guys it doesn't matter who the opponent is, whether it's Lowell or it's Danvers. We want to push, push, push," said Karakoudas, his team now 8-0.
"Honestly, we just outran them tonight. We wore them down when normally they're the team that's wearing other people down with their pressure. I'm really impressed with how my guys played; you could see the energy from the start."
Sophomore sensation Ryder Frost finished with a career-high 35 points to go with 16 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal in the win.
"We're really trying to make him a complete player — the rebounding, the defense, the passing, the shooting — he's so talented and I know he can fill it up, and what's scary is he scored that many points without really being on fire from the outside," Karakoudas said of Frost, who knocked down three long balls on the night. "Lot of points in the paint, in transition, boards on both ends; he's tough to deal with out there."
While that energy and effort was certainly there from start to finish, it still took Beverly a while to separate themselves from a sharpshooting Lowell team.
The Panthers fell behind by a few possessions early before going on a mini-run to end the first quarter and seize an 8-point lead. By halftime it was still anybody's game, with Beverly holding a 38-31 edge.
But after the break, the Panthers continued to push the pace and were finally able to wear down its opponent with relentless offensive possessions and timely defensive rebounding. Frost was the catalyst, erupting for 19 points in the third quarter alone as Beverly built a 25-point advantage heading into the final frame. The hosts lead ballooned over 30 points on multiple occasions, and Lowell was never able to threaten down the stretch.
Frost did the bulk of his damage in the paint. Whether he was putting the ball on the floor and attacking off the dribble, or finding an open seam in the post and finishing off crisp dump downs and entry passes from the likes of Dylan Crowley, Rook Landman, Gabe Copeland or Nick Braganca, he simply couldn't be stopped.
Crowley turned in a tremendous all-around performance of his own with 23 points, six rebounds and six assists; Landman broke down the Lowell defense time and time again en route to a 16-point, eight-assist, two-steal outing; Copeland was terrific defensively and managed 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists; and Nick Braganca (7 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists) was all over the place.
Beverly's ability to box out, grab the defensive rebound, make the quick outlet and sprint up court was simply too much for Lowell to handle in a 32-minute game. Normally when you score 74 points at the high school level you're going to come out on top, or at least be within striking distance down the stretch. But Lowell's inability to keep the Panthers off the scoreboard nullified their ability to pile up points of their own.
"Even though Lowell's record was 1-3 (coming in), it's not indicative of how good they are," said Karakoudas. "They're a really talented team, they play in a very tough (Merrimack Valley) Conference. I think tonight was one of those games where everybody was like, "OK, Beverly's 7-0, but when are they gonna beat that big team?" I told my guys that and I think tonight was definitely a statement because it wasn't just a win ... it was a dominant win."
If there was one thing Beverly hopes to improve on moving forward, it would be the high pick and roll, getting out on the shooters and limiting the 3-point looks. Lowell knocked down 14 triples on the evening, led by five from Jeter Santiago, and had a number of open looks from beyond the arc that didn't fall, too.
Still, it was arguably Beverly's most complete and impressive performance of the year against a good team, one they hope to use as fuel for the fire moving forward.
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Beverly 97, Lowell 74
at Henry Cabot Lodge Fieldhouse, Beverly High
Beverly: Ryder Frost 14-4-35, Dylan Crowley 7-6-23, Rook Landman 8-0-16, Gabe Copeland 5-2-12, Nick Braganca 3-1-7, Joseph Parson 0-2-2, Griffin Francis 0-1-1, Lucas Aguiar 0-1-1. Totals: 37-17-97.
Lowell: Javien Kirmil 6-1-16, Jeter Santiago 5-0-15, Jonathan De Jesus 3-1-10, Jeremiah Mitchell 3-0-8, Javin Abreu 4-0-8, Juan Beltres Diaz 3-0-6, Dion Okonoboh 2-0-5, Jerome Pola 0-2-2, Alex Chau 1-0-2, Thomas Heinen 1-0-2. Totals: 28-4-74.
Halftime: Beverly, 38-31.
3-pointers: B — Crowley 3, Frost 3; L — Santiago 5, De Jesus 3, Kirmil 3, Mitchell 2, Okonoboh.
Records: B 8-0; L 1-4
Contact Nick Giannino at NGiannino@Salemnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGiannino_SN.
