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Whittier starts postseason with Vocational title

Friday, February, 24 By Jeff Hamrick

HAVERHILL — Hours after learning it had earned the top seed in the upcoming Division 3 North Sectional, Whittier went out and won what the Wildcats hope will be just the first of their postseason titles.

Last night, the Wildcats remained undefeated at home with a convincing 68-37 victory over Commonwealth Conference rival Greater Lawrence to win the school’s first State Vocactional crown. It was Whittier’s third win this season over the Reggies, who will enter the sectional with the No. 9 seed.

“Winning (the Voke title) wasn’t really a goal, but it’s definitely something that gives us a taste of what we could possibly do,” said Whittier junior Justin Reyes, who had 16 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots. “The No. 1 seed is great because we get a bye and a home game (in the quarterfinals).”

In addidtion to winning the Voke title, Whittier also got a chance to play the past two nights (including a victory over Greater New Bedford in the Voke semis) when the rest of the Division 3 field was sidelined following the end of the regular season. The Wildcats won’t play again until they put their 14-game winning streak on the line March 3.

“It’s a bonus for us to get two games,” said Whittier coach Tom Sipsey, whose squad is 8-0 against teams in the Division 3 field. “We won’t be playing until next Saturday, so we would’ve been off since earlier this week (Tuesday) and we would’ve been off for almost two full weeks. So it’s a good bonus, and we were able to go out and play a lot of guys and get a win.”

Sipsey was able to go deep into his bench because the Wildcats (20-1) ran away from the Reggies (11-11). Whittier scored the first 14 points of the third quarter to open a 25-point lead with 4:47 left in the frame.

Leading the way were Reyes, who scored 10 second-quarter points, and Ryan Grant, who scored a team-high 18 points and added eight assists. While the Wildcats were making 29 of their 55 field-goal attempts, they also held the Reggies to only 11 field goals, including one in the first quarter and two in the fourth.

“(Whittier) executes very well,” Greater Lawrence coach Dan Habib said. “But defensively we just didn’t step up our game, and they absolutely killed us. We have to make some stops before we can worry about offense.

“It’s nice to be here, but we didn’t come just to be here, we wanted to win it. So it’s disappointing in that sense, but to play in the finals is rewarding for the kids.”

Oscar Reynoso came off the bench to pace the Reggies with 18 points.

Greater Lawrence, which had won four straight to earn a postseason berth, will play at ninth-seeded Saugus at 7 p.m. Wednesday for a chance at a fourth game against the Wildcats — this time in the quarterfinals.