LYNN — There was no quit in this Georgetown boys basketball team until the clock finally struck midnight.
And man, did the Royals hold on for dear life at 11:59 p.m.
In what was one of the more exciting high school basketball games you’ll see, in front of an epic crowd to match, No. 9 Georgetown saw its season come to an end on Wednesday night. With what felt like the entire City of Lynn packed into a full gym, No. 8 Lynn Tech was clutch down the stretch and held on at the buzzer to eliminate the Royals, 60-56, in the Division 4 Round of 16.
“We fought really hard,” said Georgetown coach Josh Keilty. “It was unfortunate because I thought we played really well defensively against them, it’s just the ball didn’t go in today. We didn’t hit shots, we obviously turned it over a decent amount and a lot of times it was unforced. But that’s just how it goes.”
One stat to sum up the game: No team ever led by more than seven.
And that lead came with only 1:38 left in the fourth quarter, after the two teams had traded body-blows the entire night. It started when Cesar Reyes finished a transition layup off a dime from Ederick Gonzalez (18 pts, 15 rebs), ultimately giving Lynn Tech a lead at 51-49 that it wouldn’t give up. Jayden Welch followed with a 3, and after Gonzalez — the Commonwealth Athletic Conference MVP — added a layup with just over 90 seconds left, it looked all but over at 56-49.
But Georgetown (16-6) just kept on grinding.
Sophomore Brendan Loewen got fouled and made both from the line, and a turnover resulted in freshman Jomar Terrero (9 pts, 9 rebs) getting hacked in transition and making a pair from the stripe. The Royals still had to foul down 56-53 with less than 20 seconds left, and Lynn Tech sophomore Travis Sanchez confidently stepped to the line, and made them both. But even still, a 3 from Jalen Andujar with 9.8 seconds on the clock made it a 58-56 game, and forced the Tigers (18-2) to win it making their freebies.
Sanchez, though, had ice in his veins.
The lightning-quick guard ended up making all four of his pressure free throws down the stretch, with the last two essentially sealing the game and sending the Tigers to the Division 4 Quarterfinals.
“We set goals and, as a team, you want to put yourself in situations to achieve those goals,” said Lynn Tech coach Corey Bingham, a former 1,000-point scorer with the program. “We’ve been doing that.”
After the handshake line, many Tigers made sure seek out one guy: Jackson Lasquade.
The wanted to make sure to give him a fist bump and some extra praise, after Lasquade nearly willed Georgetown to victory by himself. The 5-foot-11 senior captain is the de-facto “center” on the team, but even though he’s undersized in most matchups, he uses his supreme athleticism to play far above his height. He’s both the team’s leading scorer (15.4 ppg) and rebounder this year, and was sensational on Wednesday night with a game-high 24 points to go along with 10 boards.
Lasquade scored 10 of his points in the first half to give Georgetown a 23-21 lead at the break, and only got better in the second. As the two teams were trading baskets, it was Lasquade — on multiple occasions — going up over the Lynn Tech bigs to grab an offensive rebound before finishing a layup. A 3 from Jack Duggan (9 pts) gave the Royals a 35-34 lead late in the third, and a Lasquade basket at the buzzer tied things up at 38-38 heading into the final frame.
Quite simply, Lasquade gave everything he had.
“He’s probably the most unique player we’ve ever coached,” said Keilty. “He’s under 6-foot tall, but he rebounds like he’s 6-5. He’s the best athlete on a team that I’ve ever had in here, and he’s able to just do so many things. When he started to go, that’s when our season really took off. We’re really going to miss him next year.”
Man, next year.
Wednesday’s loss certainly stings, and the loss of Lasquade and fellow senior captain Noah Rosario will hurt. But if we can briefly look ahead to the 2024-25 season, Georgetown should be in excellent shape. Between the (current) junior class of Duggan, Andujar, Brady Kent and Marcos Yones, sophomores Loewen and Irvin Zapata, and the excitingly-talented freshman Terrero, the Royals have the ingredients to be in this exact same position next winter.
And maybe have the firepower to make it further.
Lynn Tech 60, Georgetown 56
Division 4 Round of 16
Georgetown (56): Jackson Lasquade 11-2-24, Jalen Andujar 1-0-3, Marcos Yones 1-3-5, Brady Kent 0-0-0, Brendan Loewen 2-1-6, Jack Duggan 3-0-9, Jomar Terrero 3-3-9, Noah Rosario 0-0-0, Irvin Zapata 0-0-0. Totals 21-9-56
Lynn Tech (60): Andy Bautista 3-4-10, Giovanni Jean 0-0-0, Brandon Antwine 2-0-6, Jayden Welch 3-4-12, Ederick Gonzalez 8-1-18, Travis Sanchez 2-6-10, Cesar Reyes 2-0-4, Didlaire Jacques Jr. 0-0-0. Totals 20-15-60
3-pointers: LT — Antwine 2, Welch 2, Gonzalez; G — Duggan 3, Andujar, Loewen
Georgetown (16-6): 10 13 15 18 — 56
Lynn Tech (18-2): 8 13 17 22 — 60