English, Eastie prove up to a Big Three Challenge

The first ever Big Three-Boston City League Challenge served as a proving ground for the BCL, which asserted its basketball dominance yesterday at UMass-Boston.

Boston English began the afternoon by posting a 66-54 victory against New Bedford, handing the Whalers their fourth consecutive loss. Then East Boston improved to 10-1 overall by capping the event with a convincing 90-68 victory over Brockton.

The Boxers (7-3) trailed by only two points at the half thanks to a 10-2 run going into the break. But then East Boston exploded for 53 points in the second half, including a 14-8 run to start the new half.

“We came out in the second half and decided to share the basketball a little, and Tyrone Hughes was the catalyst,” Jets coach Malcolm Smith said.

The Boxers, trailing by 11 with 6:17 remaining, scored only one point over the next four minutes. East Boston netted 16 points during the same span as the Jets built a commanding 86-60 lead.

“They are one of the best teams I have seen in a long time, and they just took us out of our game completely,” Brockton coach Victor Ortiz said.

The Jets were led by junior forward Elezar Clayton, who had a game-high 21 points. Four other Eastie players reached double digits.

Brockton was paced by Kyle Jerry’s 18 points, but the junior guard had only five in the second half.

In the early game, the Whalers also used a late first-half run to get back into the game. After scoring 10 of the last 12 points of the half, the Whalers were surprisingly ahead, 31-28.

Matters deteriorated in the second half for New Bedford. Boston English was down 37-34 with 14:23 remaining, when the Bulldogs rattled off a 19-4 run over the next four minutes to build a 53-41 lead.

Boston English senior Darryl Simpson scored seven of his 20 points during that four-minute stretch. His 15-point second-half effort was a nice complement to junior Danquah Rawlins’ game-high 25 points and 12 rebounds.

“He’s been averaging over 20 points per game, and I’ve been trying to tell him that he needs to develop the kind of confidence to play like that all the time,” Boston English coach Barry Robinson said of Rawlins. “When he raises his game, other players on the team follow.”