Lynn English head coach Fred Hogan is pictured with players Catherine Stinson, Taylor Newhall, Diondra Woumn, and Deidra Newson following the NEC All-Star Game Friday night at Swampscott High School.
The Lynn English girls basketball team will be missing two key players when it meets Everett High in its opening game in the State Tournament tonight at the Paul Cavanagh Fieldhouse.
Top reserve forwards Makayla Everette, a sophomore, and Dolores Latimer, a junior, will sit out the post season due to injuries. Everette is out with a knee injury [ACL] while Latimer has a fractured ankle.
Everette sustained the injury in the consolation game of the Spartan Classic. Latimer broke her ankle during a practice session Friday.
“We’re definitely going to miss these two players,” said Hogan. “We’re just going to adjust our style a little bit.”
The Lady Bulldogs are also waiting word on the status of All-Star center Taylor Newhall who was injured during the NEC All-Star Game Friday night. Newhall apparently took an errant elbow to the mouth.
“She’s having difficulty putting in her mouthpiece,” Hogan said Monday. “We’re going to find out about her condition and determine whether she’s able to play.”
Everette is usually the first forward off the bench followed by Latimer. The two players average about eight rebounds a game.
“We’re having some bad luck right now,” said Hogan. “We made some personnel adjustments in our scrimmage [versus Swampscott] Sunday and played well so that’s a good sign.”
Hogan said he expects seniors Tyeisha Lewis and Shadaye Imadiyi and freshman Samantha Holey to play additional minutes as a result of the injuries.
The English football team fell to Everett High in the Super Bowl in December at Manning Field. Hogan is the special teams coach for the Bulldogs.
“I was on the wrong end of that game,” said Hogan. “That was not a fun day in the MIAA playoffs.” Hogan was on hand at the NEC All-Star Games Friday night when his son Fred Hogan Jr. won the three-point contest at halftime, hitting eight of ten shots from beyond the line at five different stations. Hogan hit six consecutive shots at one point.