In tourney, Woumn takes it to the hoop

Lynn English's Ryan Woumn drives to the basket against Brockton during the Division 1 Eastern Mass finals. (David Kamerman/ Globe Staff)

Before the start of the Division 1 tournament, Lynn English coach Buzzy Barton asked junior point guard Ryan Woumn to take on more of a scorer's mentality. For Woumn, the switch from playmaker to scorer was odd - after all, he had spent most of the season setting up others.

But he got the reassurance he needed from his most important source: his teammates.

"The other players told me to start scoring," Woumn said. "Coming from them, that meant a lot."

English played St. John's of Shrewsbury in last night's state final.

Woumn averaged 22.2 points per game in the Bulldogs' first five playoff victories, including a magnificent 39-point effort in Tuesday night's EMass final, a 90-83 win over previously undefeated South champion Brockton at TD Banknorth Garden.

The 6-foot-2 Woumn was the MVP of the Northeastern Conference Large division this season as the Bulldogs (25-2) won their third straight league title.

But during the season, his job was to set up the offense. In the postseason, Barton has asked Woumn to take control.

"We told Ryan this is the big stage, and we needed some offense from him," Barton said. "Usually he's looking to get other people involved, so at times I had to grab Ryan and say, 'You have to take this game over.' "

Woumn wreaked havoc on Brockton defenders all night long.

In the first half, he stepped back and connected on a trio of 3-pointers. Then, when the Boxers crowded Woumn's shot after halftime, he got himself to the foul line, where he converted 18 of his 22 attempts from the stripe.

Perhaps the signature move for Woumn that night was the circus shot he converted late in the second quarter. After falling under the basket, Woumn grabbed a loose ball and found nylon from the seat of his pants.

"He came up and made all the big shots," Brockton coach Bob Boen said. "We didn't see anyone [this season] who played as well as he did."

Woumn has been the Bulldogs' captain for two years because of the steadying influence he provides for his teammates.

"He is the leader out there on the court," Barton said. "There's only so much a coach can do. A kid like Ryan, he does the things the coaches want. Ryan leads by example."

Woumn's play at the Garden continued his string of strong postseason performances. He scored 19 points against Lexington in the North semifinals and lit up defending state champion Central Catholic for 25 in the North finals.

A big reason for Woumn's emergence is the mentoring he received from Anthony Anderson, the all-time leading scorer at Lynn English who went on to play collegiately at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Anderson met Woumn at the Marian Gardens playground courts and has offered his protégé advice over the phone twice a week this season.

"He helped me with my jump shot over the summer," Woumn said. "He had me take 500 shots a day."

While Woumn's big games have arguably made him the breakout star of the tournament, he said he doesn't care how many points he scores as long as his team wins.

"I just let the game come to me," he said. "Whatever it takes to win, I'll do it. That's all that matters."