Happy returns for Napier in Lawrence win

By Bruce Lerch | Tuesday, February 16, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com |

City basketball fans were treated to a sight they haven’t seen in a couple of years - Shabazz Napier filling up a scoresheet.

The former Charlestown star now suits up for Lawrence Academy, and Napier put on a big show in his return to Boston. He drained seven 3-pointers and scored 30 points to lead Lawrence Academy to a 78-66 victory against East Boston last night in the final game of the Black History Month Classic at the Reggie Lewis Center.

“It feels real good to be able to perform like this here in the city,” Napier said. “This is where I came from. I went to a prep school to help improve myself in life, but to be able to come back here and help support the city is great. It’s an honor to play here.”

East Boston (16-4) threatened to pull off a major upset thanks to a 9-2 run in the third quarter that shaved the Spartans’ lead down to just five points at 56-51.

Napier helped put an end to that, however, burying back-to-back 3s from well beyond the arc to open the fourth, and Lawrence Academy (22-0) was able to push its lead as high as 15 before the final buzzer.

Denzel Brito scored 15 points for the Spartans, while Sarkie Ampim added 14 points and eight rebounds. Elijah Chisholm led the Jets with 16 points and 10 boards, and Jeff Amazan contributed 15 points.

The opening game of the Classic pitted the Herald’s top-ranked Madison Park against Rivers. After trailing most of the game, the MP Machine cranked up a 15-2 run to open the fourth quarter and pulled away for a 61-55 victory.

Carlin Haymon (17 points), Taariq Allen (16) and Ben Patrick (14) carried Rivers (10-7) most of the way, but the Cardinals (17-1) turned on their vaunted pressure defense, which in turn ignited a balanced offensive attack.

“I have a saying here that pressure creates turnovers and leads to points,” said MP coach Dennis Wilson. “Once we were able to start forcing them to make bad decisions, our offense got a little spark from it.”

David Campbell and Spencer Brathwaite each scored 14 points to pace the Cardinals, and Kevin Stokes had eight of his 10 points in the second half. MP took the lead for good (51-50) following a Rivers turnover that led to a beautiful bounce-pass from Stokes through two defenders to a streaking Campbell for an easy layup.

Boston Trinity scored the first eight points of the game and never looked back, cruising to a 74-62 win against Lawrence. Sophomore Rodell Wigginton was unstoppable for the Lions (20-5), tossing in 26 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Vello Lukic chipped in with 15 points. Jaylen Alicea paced the Lancers (12-8) with 13.

In the only girls game of the day, La Salle (R.I.) got 17 points and 15 rebounds from Liann Raup to slip past New Mission, 58-52. The Titans (15-2) were led by Cherese Miller, who scored 21.

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