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Final: St. John's Prep 64, Mansfield 55

Print | Comments () Posted by Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent March 15, 2011 06:57 PM

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St. John's Prep senior Pat Connaughton let his tongue hang after slamming home a huge dunk against Mansfield. He finished the game with 15 points and 23 rebounds. (Jim Davis / Globe Staff)

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe correspondent

With four minutes left in last night’s Division 1 state semi-final, St. John’s Prep desperately needed someone to step up as Mansfield was making a comeback.

But junior Steve Haladyna, who finished with 20 points, answered and scored 10 points late in the fourth quarter to lift the Prep (24-1) over Mansfield (24-3) 64-55 at the TD Garden last night.

“He won the game for us down the stretch,” Prep coach Sean Connolly said. “He hit some big shots and he always comes up in big games. Pat [Connaughton] and Mike [Carbone] were struggling, but he stepped up for us.”

With his team trailing 48-44 with 3:15 remaining, Haladyna knocked down a jumper to expand the lead to six.

After Mansfield’s Joseph Gracia hit a 3-pointer to pull the Hornets within three, Haladyna came back down the court and drained another jumper to make it 52-47.

“I had a tough first half, so I wanted to step it up in the second,” Haladyna said. “Mansfield’s a great defensive team and it’s tough to score on them, but we toughed it out at the end.”

Final: St. John's 64, Mansfield 55
- Prep fights off run by Mansfield as Haladyna scores 10 in final three minutes. Haladyna led the Prep with 20 points.
-Connaughton finishes with 15 points and 23 rebounds. Big dunk down the stretch.
- Robinson finishes with eight points and nine rebounds.
- Hill leads Mansfield with 20 points.
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End of the third quarter: St. John's 44, Mansfield 36
- Connaughton continues to clean up the glass, has 19 rebounds so far.
- Robinson and Steve Haladyna lead the Eagles with eight points a piece.
- Hill leads Mansfield with 16 points.
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End of the second quarter: St. John's 31, Mansfield 22
- Conaughton leads the Eagles with seven points and 14 rebounds.
- Prep sophomore Isaiah Robinson scores four points in the quarter. Robinson has grabbed six rebounds.
- Mansfield goes on 9-2 run to end the half.
- Hill leads all scorers with 13 points.
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End of the first quarter: St. John's 17, Mansfield 7
- Mike Carbone drains two 3-pointers.
- Pat Connaughton pulls in 11 rebounds.
- Jeffery Hill scores all seven Mansfield points.
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We're about 10 minutes away from the Division 1 Eastern Massachusetts final here at the Garden. Check back for quarterly updates.

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