Lynn English star suspended

By Dan Ventura | Tuesday, March 2, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com |

Lynn English survived the opening two rounds of the Division 1 North basketball tournament without suspended head coach Buzzy Barton.

Now the Bulldogs must beat St. John’s Prep tonight in a sectional semifinal contest minus star guard Ryan Woumn.

The MIAA ruled Woumn must sit out the game after picking up two technical fouls in a quarterfinal win against Lexington on Friday night, even though he was not ejected from the contest.

The controversy began in the first quarter when Woumn was assessed a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct. Later in the quarter, he was whistled for hitting the ball out of the hands of a Lexington player attempting to make an inbounds pass.

Lynn English athletic director Gary Molea said the second technical was described to him as an “administrative technical,” meaning it didn’t count toward Woumn’s technical total. The MIAA, however, adheres to National High School Federation rules which clearly state that any two technical fouls assessed to a player equals a disqualification.

As fate would have it, Woumn stayed in the game and keyed a huge fourth-quarter run by knocking down a pair of 3-pointers. That certainly didn’t make Lexington coach Bob Farias a happy camper.

“First of all, (Woumn) is a great player and (interim coach) Mike Carr is a good friend and I wish him well,” Farias said. “What bothers me is that the referee (should have) realized that this would have been Woumn’s second technical and (instead) comes up with some cockamamie thing. That’s what really goes unappreciated to me, that the referees did not do the right thing.

“Then we get it down to five and (Woumn) makes two 3s in a row. I don’t blame the kid. I blame the referees because this was a blatant mistake.”

Also, Lynn English superintendent Cathy Latham said the school would appeal Barton’s suspension. Barton was suspended by the MIAA for the remainder of this season and the first 10 games of next season as a result of recruiting allegations levied against his program.

The school’s argument is that Barton’s punishment was excessive given the fact that his name never surfaced in connection with recruiting.

“I support this decision (to appeal),” Molea said. “We’re working to try and put this behind us, and I think the fact that (Latham) has taken action on other things should help.”

One of those items was the suspension of principal Andy Fila for a week without pay after it was determined he played a part in recruiting former East Boston player Cory McMillan.

“I’m not happy about it,” Fila said yesterday. “But they made a decision and it’s time to move forward.”

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