Shootout goes to BABC

You won't find their names on the rosters of most MIAA schools. They hail from the Boston area, but play at various prep and private schools, Cushing Academy, Notre Dame Prep, and Winchendon among them.

But step foot in any gym playing host to a high level AAU tournament , and the safe money would have you catching sight of Leo Papile's BABC 16-and-under team vying to add another championship notch to the program's distinguished belt.

The setting yesterday was Case Gym at Boston University, the final was the 2007 Boston Shootout, and BABC overcame a sluggish start to claim the title, 73-64, over N.E. Select.

BABC was caught off guard early by N.E. Select's high-tempo transition game and fell behind by as many as 14, 33-19, with a little over six minutes left in the first half.

"We're not very athletic but we're very bulky, we're made for a half-court game," said Papile, whose team improved to 47-5 this year. "These guys [N.E. Select] are like track guys. They were just beating us down the court, beating us in transition."

N.E. Select took a 45-38 lead into halftime, and there was a feeling in Case Gym that an upset was possible. But BABC turned up the pressure in the second half, and used its overwhelming size advantage to wear down N.E. Select.

"In the first half they were clearly superior," said Papile. "When we went to our full-court pressure, it really changed the game."

With Winchendon teammates Alex Oriakhi (6 feet 9 inches) and Jamal Coombs (6-6) patrolling the paint with Lawrence Academy's Darryl Bishop (6-4), BABC used a 7-0 run over a two-minute span to push a 2-point lead to 9, 66-57, with just more three minutes to go.

Coombs (12 points) added 5 points and an assist during the span, but the true catalyst for BABC was not its frontcourt bruisers, but its smallest player.

Tournament MVP Phil Pressey of Cushing Academy struggled with his shot all game. But the 5-9 point guard forced N.E. Select out of its 2-3 zone and into a man-to-man with his penetration.

"I just got a feel for the game in the second half," said Pressey, who finished with 18 points. "I knew we were going to come back, we always have. If we were hitting our shots it wouldn't even have been a game."

Oriakhi scored 16 points, mostly on dunks, including a no-look alley-oop from Pressey early in the first half, and blocked six shots. Brimmer and May's Kyle Casey led N.E. Select with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

Division 2 South: Brad White had two hits and two RBIs and Chip Rodenbush went 3 for 4 as Foxboro beat Hanover, 4-2 . . . Hopkinton shut out Dighton-Rehoboth, 1-0, behind righthander Bryant Guilmette's seven-inning, five-strikeout performance.

Division 1 South: Jocelyn Abaray pitched a complete-game one-hitter and struck out 17, lifting New Bedford past Braintree, 2-1, and into the semifinals.

Division 2 South: Freshman Kerry McDonough pitched a complete game as Abington defeated second-seeded Hanover, 5-3, in eight innings. In the eighth, the Green Wave's Samantha Gulinello led off with a double and was knocked home by Kendra Fisher's ground-rule double.

Division 2 North: Senior attack Brianna Cronin scored seven goals and junior midfielder Kelly Curran added four goals and an assist to lead Arlington past Pentucket, 15-9.

The MIAA All-State boys' pole vault finals will be held today at 4 p.m. at Holy Cross, weather permitting. Lightning and rain postponed Saturday's scheduled final.