As the state tournament begins, Tide boys basketball wraps up the regular season with 12 wins

By Joe McConnell

With the postseason approaching, the Everett High School boys basketball team (12-10) dropped three straight games, including the last two on the road against Beverly (87-57, Feb. 18) and Lynn Classical (47-41, Feb. 19).

A couple of days after the Classical nailbiter, the Division 1 state tournament pairings came out, but only after the final power rankings were adjusted, which affected the Crimson Tide. They went from 42 to 39 and were scheduled to go to Methuen to play the Rangers (9-11), the 26^th seed, on Tuesday night, Feb. 24, in a preliminary round game. But that too had to be adjusted to the next day, because of the Blizzard of 2026, causing it to be too late for this week’s print edition of the Everett Advocate. The winner was then heading to Attleboro to play the Bombardiers (20-2), the seventh seed, on Friday night, Feb. 27, at 6:30 p.m. in the Round of 32. A total of 42 teams qualified for the postseason this year from this division.

In the two games last week, they were both against playoff teams. Beverly (17-4) was ranked ninth in Division 1, while Lynn Classical (17-3) was sixth in Division 3. Everett coach Gerard Boyce referred to these game as “challenges that will prepare us for the postseason.”

The Panthers shot exceptionally well, but the third-year Everett coach saw flashes of his team’s defensive intensity that they need to sustain in the state tournament.

“Our guys stayed competitive, and never stopped working, even when the (deficit) started to grow,” Boyce said. “Despite the loss, we had solid individual efforts, but we need to execute and rebound better.”

The Everett boys then went up against the Rams, the Greater Boston League (GBL) champs, and their coach said afterwards that he “was incredibly proud of the defensive (effort) that held a high-powered offense to just 47 points.”

Going into the playoffs, the Tide had built up some momentum after winning 10 out of their last 14 games. In the regular season finale against Classical, Samir King Dacosta (14 points) and Jayden Alsaindor (9) led the team on offense.

“This group’s ability to trust the process and mental toughness helped turn our season around after a slow start,” said Boyce.

Prior to Wednesday’s tournament opener against Methuen, Boyce said that he feels confident that they can compete with anybody in their bracket, because he knows that in a single game elimination playoff anything can happen in the form of upsets.