Lexington Boys' Basketball Team Falls to Rival Burlington, 74-66

The boys' basketball team fell to rival Burlington 74-66 in its final Middlesex League game of the season Friday night.

Lexington got a boost when it brought highflying junior Chris Lee off the bench, who provided the offense with a spark. 

After a low scoring first quarter, shots started falling in the second. For Burlington that meant that Ryan Putney got on track and Mark Melanson found his stroke from outside.

Lexington hoped to use its size by driving to the hoop, but Burlington stepped up to take charges from its bigger opponents. This frustrated Lexington, and made it tough for the Minutemen to get going. 

Burlington took a 34-27 lead at the half with Melanson leading the way with 13 points and Putney with 11. Melanson did most of his scoring from outside connecting on four three-pointers. 

The third quarter proved to be a back and forth battle with Lexington finally getting some buckets inside. A monster dunk by Matt Sharma really got Lexington going emotionally, but just as they have all season, Burlington battled back and hit shots of its own to put a stop to the momentum. 

Lexington cut the lead to 53-48 going into the fourth quarter, and seemed to be within striking distance.

The teams traded buckets in the fourth quarter until Greg Sheridan hit a three pointer with two minutes to play to give Burlington a 10-fpoint lead which secured the win. 

Putney finished as high scorer with 28 points, followed closely behind by Melanson who had 22 points, 21 of them coming from beyond the arc as he hit seven three pointers. 

For Lexington, Lee ended the game as the team’s high scorer, finishing with 16 points. Chris O’Keefe also finished in double digits with 12 points. 

Lexington has one more game in the regular season against Franklin on Monday night before they get ready to play in the state tournament.