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Commonwealth Classic: Pinkerton keeps proving critics wrong

Thursday, January, 01 By Dave Dyer

NORTH ANDOVER — Junior guard Matt Rizzo and the Pinkerton boys basketball team continue to prove the doubters wrong.

When you’re coming off an 8-13 campaign, and lose your best player (Eagle-Tribune All-Star Luke Rosinski), there doesn’t seem to be much reason for optimism.

But Rizzo and the Astros thought otherwise.

“We knew it (losing Rosinski) would be hard, but we were very young last year and we improved a lot over the summer. Plus, we knew having Geo (Baker-Occeus) coming back (from BB&N) would help.”

Thus far, the Astros have proven that their optimism as well founded. After yesterday’s 48-39 victory over North Andover in the opening Hixon division of the Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic, they stand 3-0 and geared for Monday’s championship game against Watertown at 2:45 p.m.

Led by Rizzo’s career-high 20 points and an effective variety of zone defenses, the Astros dropped North Andover to 1-3 with one game remaining in the five-game suspension of Knights’ coach Paul Tanglis.

“This is great for us,” said Rizzo. “We love coming to this tournament.”

Pinkerton has never won the Greater Lawrence tournament and most people would have thought that North Andover would have the edge Saturday, but — even with starting center David Faulk missing the tournament for personal reasons — not Rosinski.

“This is not an upset,” he said. “Offensively, this was our worst game of the season, but we still pulled it out.”

Pinkerton’s defense seemed to frustrate the Knights throughout, providing too few open looks and forcing turnovers at key times.

Of course, North Andover’s defense was equally effective through three quarters, making for a rather uninspired offensive game.

North Andover converted just 7 of 29 field goal attempts during a 19-19 standoff in the first half. While the Astros shot better ( 9 of 23) they were victimized by turnovers.

The Knights forced three 5-second calls and once the 30-second buzzer went off without a shot taken.

With North Andover ahead 28-27 heading into the fourth quarter, Rizzo and the Astros finally got going, with a key 6-point swing being the turning point,

Trailing 30-29, Breannan Morris sank Pinkerton’s only 3-pointer of the game to provide a 32-30 lead. A steal and basket by Rizzo, accompanied by an intentional foul, resulted in three more points and a 35-30 lead with five minutes remaining.

Forced to foul, North Andover never recovered. The Astros converted 9 of 11 free throws down the stretch to protect their lead. Rizzo had nine of his 20 points in the fourth frame.

For North Andover, Wabissa Bede was the main offense, scoring 16 points, while Spencer Reeve added 10. But the Knights wound up shooting just 13 of 51 for the game and never got into a rhythm.