Central Catholic star forward Carson Desrosiers has made a verbal commitment to attend Wake Forest University in the fall of 2010.

A 6-foot-10 post player from Windham, N.H., Desrosiers chose the Demon Deacons over Arizona State and Marquette after receiving a visit from Wake Forest coach Dino Gaudio on Tuesday afternoon.

“I’ve thought highly of the three schools for a while now, all three would be great for me, they’re great schools,” said Desrosiers, who helped lead Central Catholic to the Division 1 North final last March and was shared MVP honors in the Merrimack Valley Conference with teammate Billy Marsden.

“It was a tough decision, but Wake Forest was it.”

Rick Nault, his coach at Central Catholic, said that Desrosiers's versatility makes him a valuable commodity at the next level.

“He can do a lot of different things, I think that’s what’s attractive about him,” said Nault.

Desrosiers has yet to decide what he plans to study in college, but said that Wake Forest's academic reputation pushed the school to the top of his list.

“Ultimately the education I’m going to receive at Wake Forest is Top 25 in the country," he said. “They’re one of the top basketball programs in the country, and they have a great recruiting class coming in for 2010."

Wake Forest finished 24-7 a year ago in Gaudio's second season as head coach, losing to Cleveland State in the first round of the NCAA Division 1 tournament.

Former Newton North point guard Anthony Gurley was the last player from the area to commit to Wake Forest. he transferred to UMass after his freshman season.

-- BRADEN CAMPBELL

The New England Basketball Hall of Fame will honor over 100 former high school playing and coaching greats from the region at its annual induction ceremony on Oct. 9 at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut.

The ceremony has become one of the largest sports dinners in America, attracting over 1,000 attendees at each of the previous four gatherings.

High school boys' players
Jim Benedict, Hartford Public, Ct.
Lloyd Hinchey, Norwich Free Academy, Ct.
Steve Balkun, Northwest Catholic, Ct.
Donald Lewis, Cromwell, Ct.
Harold Pressley, Saint Bernard’s, Ct.
Chris Smith, Kolbe, Ct.
Jimmy Piersall, Waterbury, Ct.
Al Attar, Durfee
Andy Farrissey, Durfee
Mike Bradley, Worcester Burncoat
Dick Armstrong, Leominster
Robert Kovalski, Smith Academy
Jim Babyak, Easthampton
Joe Koz, Saint Mary’s
Matt Palazzi, Saint John’s of Shrewsbury
Lew Perkins, Chelsea
Dan Prince, Worcester Commerce
Steve Pound, Stearns, Maine
Nick Scaccia, Sanford, Maine
Jack Scott, Ellsworth, Maine
Andy Bedard, Mountain Valley, Maine
Matt Alosa, Pembroke, N.H.
Joe Drinon, Concord, N.H.
Rich Shrigley, Nashua, N.H.
Jack Allen, De La Salle Academy, R.I.
Joe Hughes, Central Falls, R.I.
Don Kaull, Rogers, R.I.
Brian McGovern, Coventry, R.I.
Andrew McGowan, LaSalle Academy, R.I.
Don Suggs, Tolman, R.I.
Gerry Suggs, Tolman, R.I.
Mike Evelti, Rice Memorial, Vt.
Todd Roberts, Fairhaven, Vt.

High school girls' players
Bethany Collins-Irwin, Branford, Ct.
Kelly Camp, West Haven, Ct.
Valerie DePaolo, Southington, Ct.
Kathy Curley Cochiss, Milford, Ct.
Anne Lindsay, Avon, Ct.
Jessica Mudry, Naugatuck, Ct.
Anna Kinne, Monument Regional
Jean Owens Peterson, Girls’ Latin
Kelly Barker, Billerica
Ann McInerney, Worcester Burncoat
Mary Ann Palazzi, Saint Peter Marian
Kim Cummings Singh, Brockton
Cyndi Meserve Bona, Livermore Falls, Maine
Liz Coffin, Ashland, Maine
Bri Fecteau, Westbrook, Maine
Linda Johnson Freeman, Scarborough, Maine
Julie Veilleux, Cony, Maine
Brenda Ginaitt, Warwick Vets, R.I.
Betsy Lang Zancan, Smithfield, R.I.
Kristen Mulholland, Cranston East. R.I.
Deb Pereira, Cumberland, R.I.
Allegra Schell, Central, R.I.
Pat White Gianunzio, Inter-Lakes, N.H.
Celeste Lavoie Blankenship, Nashua, N.H.
Lisa Russell, Manchester Central, N.H.
Libby Smith, Essex, Vt.
Rebecca Bright Pugh, South Burlington, Vt.

High school boys' coaches
Ralph King, McMahon, Ct.
Dave Shea, Bacon Academy, Ct.
Ken Smith, Windsor, Ct.
Pat Riera, Plainville, Ct.
Rollie Massimino, Lexington
Vic Ortiz, Brockton
Walter Perry, Somerville
Jack Lehane, Brockton
Jeff Hart, Camden, Maine
Charlie Katsiaficas Sr., Ellsworth, Maine
John Shaw, Rumford, Maine
Thomas Maines, Morse, Maine
Danny Parr, Saint Thomas Aquinas, N.H.
Al Simoes, Merrimack, N.H.
Jimmy Ahern, Mount Pleasant, R.I.
Jim Donaldson, Saint Raphael Academy, R.I.
Tom Sorrentine, Saint Raphael Academy, R.I.
Dan Sylvester, West Warwick High School, R.I.
Robert ‘Stretch‘ Gillam, Green Mountain Union, Vt.
Dan Gandin, U32 High School, Vt.

High school girls' coaches
Pam Childs, Putnam, Ct.
Kathy Rusch, South Windsor, Ct.
Chris Webster, North Branford, Ct.
Gertrude Fisher, O’Bryant (Boston Tech)
Kay Nehubian, Barnstable
Rick Clark, York, Maine
Roland Cote, Sanford, Maine
Joe Adamovicz, Manchester Central, N.H.
Rose Galligan, Pembroke Academy, N.H.
Sean Reddy, LaSalle Academy, R.I.
Jimmy Robinson, Central, R.I.
Jayne Barber, Bellows Falls Union, Vt.
Sue Pollender, Black River High School, Vt.

Prep school boys' players
Durelle Brown, Kingswood-Oxford, Ct.
Ed Cooley, New Hampton Prep, N.H.
Jack Phelan, Saint Thomas More, Ct.
Dick Stewart, Worcester Academy
Archie Tracey, Maine Central Institute
Paul Dufour, Phillips Exeter Academy, N.H.
Billy Lahart, Suffield Academy, Ct.

Prep school girls' players
Amy Belliveau, Thornton Academy, Maine
Brenna Chiaputti, Kingswood-Oxford, Ct.
Charde Floyd, Worcester Academy

Prep school boys' coaches
Rick Francis, Williston-Northampton
Rick Mahoney, Phillips-Exeter Academy, N.H.
Whit Lesure, New Hampton Prep, N.H.

Prep schools girls coach
Will Becker, Tabor Academy

* The annual Clark University high school tournament, held every year since 1939 in Worcester, will receive a special honor. Two of the major contributors to the success of the tournament, late Clark AD Russ Granger, and former Northbridge High boys' coach and AD John Doldoorian, will also be inducted, along with three of the finest players in tournament history, Paul Baker (Northbridge), Bill Herrion (Oxford), and Cliff Smith (Leicester), will also be honored.

* The next announcement from the hall, to be released on Aug. 10, will encompass college players and coaches, media, scholar-athletes, referees, team honorees and the newly-established "Perry Category".

* For information on the purchase of tickets, visit www.internationalsport.com/basketball or contact Dr. Mal Mackenzie at mmackenzie@internationalsport.com or 401-874-2673.

Newton North All-Scholastic forward Greg Kelley has given a verbal commitment to attend Yale. The 6-foot, 8-inch Kelley, who is entering his senior year at North, averaged 17 points and 10 rebounds per game for the Tigers. Kelley also plays for the Boston Amateur Basketball Club.

In another commitment, Brooks School defensive back Jordan Johnson has committed to play football at Brigham Young. He chose BYU over Connecticut.

Former All-Scholastic Gerard Coleman is headed to Providence. (Globe File Photo)

Former West Roxbury standout and Globe Super Teamer Gerard Coleman has committed to Providence College, according to published reports. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound shooting guard -- who now plays for the Tilton School in New Hampshire -- offered his verbal commitment to Friars coach Keno Davis this past weekend.

“I was all set with Providence and didn’t want to risk losing my spot with them,” Coleman told the Providence Journal. “I like the way they play. There’s a lot of good times to come at Providence.”

Coleman, who was also considering Clemson and UConn, will be a senior at Tilton in the fall. He is the 63d-ranked prospect on ESPN's Top 100 for the class of 2010.

Coleman earned Globe Super Team honors two winters ago when, as a junior at West Roxbury, he averaged 27 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists per game. He departed for Tilton the following season.

Some of the best high school basketball talent in the country will be on display Saturday and Sunday at the annual Boston Shootout basketball tournament. The tournament has two age goup competitions, under-17 and under-16 with teams from around the region competing at Boston University's Case Center.

In addition to the host Boston Amateur Basketball Club, other teams competing include the New York Gauchos, Albany City Rocks, Connecticut Select, Granite State Jayhawks, 518 Hustle (NY), Maine, and the Boston Warriors. Saturday's action starts at 9 a.m. The finals are scheduled for Sunday afternoon with the under-16 final at 4:10 p.m. followed at 5:30 by the under-17 championship.

After a promising first season as head coach of the Natick High boys’ basketball team, Darren Flutie has stepped down.

Flutie resigned last Thursday, citing problems juggling his duties as a head coach and his fulltime job as an orthopedic equipment distributor. The Red and Blue finished 6-14 this season after starting the year 0-7, thanks to the emergence of junior forward Scott McCummings.

“I’m not a teacher that does this while at school. I’m a guy that runs a company, and goes afterwards,” Flutie said this afternoon via cell phone. “I didn’t think it would be easy, but there were too many things away from the sport that come up that you end up having to deal with. It was a great thing, I loved the kids, it’s just hard to put my full attention into both.”

Flutie said he will “absolutely” remain in coaching, albeit at a more grounded level. He intends on coaching his son’s Babe Ruth baseball team, his daughter’s AAU basketball team, and will remain an assistant football coach at Natick High under head coach and athletic director Tom Lamb.

The coaching vacancy was posted today.

“We’re really excited by this (basketball) team coming back," said Lamb. "Hopefully, the new coach walks into a pretty good situation. We hated to see him (Flutie) go, but he said the two magic words – work and family – that you can’t argue with.”

Last week, Lamb filled two other varsity coaching positions for next year: Dan Hinnenkamp stepping in for Danielle Chaisson as girls' basketball coach and Liz Finocchi replacing Cara Chase as the field hockey coach.

Nate Lubick drives to the hoop. (Globe File Photo)

Nate Lubick of St. Mark's School in Southborough has been chosen the Gatorade boys' basketball Player of the Year for Massachusetts. The 6-foot-8-inch junior forward, who has verbally committed to Georgetown, averaged 17.6 points and 9.3 rebounds this season.

SPRINGFIELD -- It was an exciting afternoon yesterday at Springfield College's Blake Arena, as several local players participated in the first-annual New England High School All-Star Challenge.

In the Public School game, the South squad beat the North squad, 111-99, thanks to 19 points each from Windsor (Conn.) High teammates Adrian Satchell (seven rebounds) and Steven Samuels (six assists). The North team, which featured Watertown coach Steve Harrington as an assistant, was led by several locals -- most notably O'Bryant's Ike Azotam (14 points, six rebounds), Brockton's Louis Montes (12 points), Lexington's Danny O'Keefe (11) and Watertown's Kyle Stockmal (11).

In the Private School game, Worcester Academy's Yale-bound Sam Martin led the West team to a 107-100 victory with 21 points and five assists. Worcester's Austin Carroll had four 3-pointers for 12 points. Two West forwards just missed out on double-doubles -- Worcester's Vermont-bound Ben Crenca (12 points, nine rebounds) and Harvard-bound Brimmer & May forward Kyle Casey (11, nine).

UConn-bound Tilton forward Jamaal Coombs-McDaniel led the East squad with 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, while St. Sebastian's Greg Jacques also added 16.

After a three-point contest won by Tilton's Scott Tavares-Taylor (13 three's), Casey put on a show to win the dunk contest. In the first round, he jumped over 6-foot-9 Thomas Knight, a Dirigo (Maine) High senior bound for Notre Dame.

In the finals, though, he jumped over a group of eight kids to beat out Stamford (Conn.)'s Chris Evans, scoring a perfect 50 on the dunk to win.

We were there to witness the thunderous dunk, and you can check it out in the video at the top of this entry.

Some of the area's top seniors will travel to Springfield Sunday for the New England High School Challenge at Springfield College.

The event is billed:

To honor and celebrate the careers of the top senior basketball players in New England. The event will showcase the talents of New England's best and provide a basketball day for fans and players alike. Players must be a New England resident in order to be selected for both games.

Here's the schedule:

• Public school game, noon
• Slam Dunk contest, 2 p.m.
• Private school game, 3:30 p.m.

You can also check out the team rosters on the event's website.

With twin brother, Kyle, looking on Cory Stockmal drives to the hoop. (Jay Connor / Globe Photo)

Watertown High twins Cory and Kyle Stockmal have made a commitment to New York University.

The seniors, who are ranked fourth and fifth in their class, helped lead the Raiders to their second Division 3 state title in three years last Saturday. Earlier in the season, Kyle broke the school's all-time scoring record; the two combined for 2,804 points during their career (Kyle with 1,687). They were also considering MIT and a number of Ivy League and NEPSAC schools.

Two factors played heavily into this decision.

First, there was the relationship between the Stockmals and the Violets' associate head coach, Sean Grant. Together with head coach Joe Nesci, NYU was very active in recruiting the two from the get-go.

"I thought they were the most honest from the beginning," Cory said.

Added Kyle, "They're some of the nicest coaches who recruited us."

The other factor lies in their familiarity with the school. Their sister, Courtney, is set to graduate NYU in December.

"I've visited before, gotten a feel for it," Kyle said. "I knew a little more about it on a personal level than other schoosl."

Cory and Kyle, who are ranked fourth and fifth in their class respectively, will be enrolled at the school's prestigious Stern School of Business -- yet another perk in what has to be one of the best weeks of their lives, what with a state title coming five days ago.

"It's right up there," Kyle laughed about the week.

Milton celebrates its title victory.

WORCESTER -- Six games, one blog. We brought you all the hoops action from the DCU Center during the girls' and boys' basketball finals Saturday in Worcester. Check out the final scores and video highlights below, and watch a replay of our live blog while you're here.

• Division 3 girls: Swampscott 72, Quaboag 38 -- Video Highlights
• Division 3 boys: Watertown 68, Sabis 63 -- Video Highlights
• Division 2 girls: Notre Dame Academy 36, Millbury 33 -- Video Highlights
• Division 2 boys: Milton 81, Hoosac Valley 44 -- Video Highlights
• Division 1 girls: Central Catholic 67, Shepherd Hill 62 -- Video Highlights
• Division 1 boys: St. John's (Shrewsbury) 80, Lynn English 62 -- Video Highlights

Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir dribbles up court. (Michele McDonald / Globe Photo)

Gatorade today named New Leadership girls' basketball standout Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir its 2008-09 Massachusetts Player of the Year.

The 5-foot-3 senior guard became the all-time leading scorer in Massachusetts history this winter, surpassing Rebecca Lobo while finishing with 3,061 career points (the first 3,000-point scorer in state history). A five-year starter at New Leadership, Abdul-Qaadir averaged 41.8 points per game this season.

New Leadership finished 14-7 overall, falling to Sabis, 78-57, in the quarterfinals of the Western Mass. Division 3 tournament.

You can read more about the Memphis-bound standout HERE.

For the full press release, follow the link below.

We brought you all the action from the four exciting EMass boys' basketball finals Tuesday at the TD Banknorth Garden. Click the replay button below to check out our in-game play-by-play and analysis. Click the "full entry" link at the bottom of the entry to watch video highlights from the games.

Here's a rundown of the results:

• Division 1: Lynn English 90, Brockton 83 (OT) -- Video Highlights
• Division 2: Milton 70, Woburn 69 -- Video Highlights
• Division 3: Watertown 67, Abington 51 -- Video Highlights
• Division 4: Cathedral 67, NCC 65 -- Video Highlights

We brought you all the action from the four Eastern Mass. girls' basketball finals Monday at the TD Banknorth Garden. Click the replay button below to check out our in-game play-by-play and analysis. Click the "full entry" link at the bottom of the entry to watch video highlights from the games.

Here's a rundown of the results:

• Division 1: Central Catholic 75, Brockton 45 ... Video Highlights
• Division 2: Notre Dame Academy 46, AC 38 ... Video Highlights
• Division 3: Swampscott 67, Abp. Williams 51 ... Video Highlights
• Division 4: Millis 60, Georgetown 43 ... Video Highlights

The Globe's Andrew Mahoney is relaying updates from the South hoops finals at UMass-Boston. Some quarter-by-quarter breakdowns:

Girls Division 3

Card. Spellman -- 14 - 8 - 8 - 12 -- 42
Abp. Williams -- 9 - 11 - 8 - 9 -- 37

Boys Division 3

Abington - 19 - 9 - 28 - 24 -- 80
Scituate - 22 - 16 - 13 - 18 -- 69

Girls Division 2

Walpole - 22 - 5 - 15 - 8 -- 50
Notre Dame - 17 - 6 - 16 - 14 -- 53

For more, check out today's full scoreboard.

Central Catholic 47, Everett 44

READING -- Exciting finish here in Reading, as Central Catholic nailed four free throws with under five seconds to go to pull out a thrilling 47-44 win in a Division 1 North semifinal, at Reading High.

Take a wild guess who nailed those free throws...

Yep, Billy Marsden (17 points) came through in the clutch for what seems like the umpteenth time, rebounding an errant Jerome Cohen one-and-one and getting fouled to go to the line for two shots and give the Raiders a one-point lead. After the Crimson's ensuing inbound pass was thrown away, Marsden was fouled again for two more shots.

Central head coach called three timeouts with under 30 seconds to go -- including two to freeze Everett shooters. But at this point, Nault says he doesn't even tell Marsden anything in these situations.

"He just plays with a ton of confidence," Nault said.

Said Marsden, "I live for pressure situations, so that was good. Once I made that first one, I knew it was over."

Everett's length frontcourt of Jerome Cohen, Kyon Watkins and 6-foot-8 freshman Nerlins Noel played tough defense on Central's Carson Desrosiers, but the big man still ended up with a triple-double (11 points, 14 rebounds, 11 blocks).

Leading Everett was Diovani McCloud with 17 points.

"I thought we played a great game. I thought we held it together until four seconds left on the clock," Everett coach John DiBiaso said.

Colleague Andrew Mahoney and I hopped down to the South Shore tonight to check out two closely fought South semifinals. A quick recap of each:

Newton North rallies into Div. 1 final

The first half of Newton North’s Division 1 South semifinal played out like the final quarter in its last visit to Brockton High’s – overwhelmed by a lightning-quick backcourt.

But once the Tigers shook off the rust, and slowed the game to a crawl, they would not be stopped. They overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to Durfee and won, 61-57, to advance to their third South final in five seasons.

Newton North improved to 20-4, while Durfee ends its season at 18-4.

“Big time players step up,” North head coach Paul Connolly said. “It’s not about me, it’s about these kids in that locker room being resilient, stepping up, backs to the wall in the beginning…we’re going to UMass-Boston. I’m so happy for these kids.”

After getting torched by Durfee’s Mike Rivera (25 points) in the first half, the Tigers broke into a 2-3 zone to shore up the perimeter. The switch forced the Hilltoppers into an unfavorable tempo, and allowed guards Geoff Woodberry (10 points) and Craig Marriro to play a consistent high-low game with 6-foot-8 junior Greg Kelley (25 points, 12 rebounds, 11-of-14 field goals).

It finally paid off in the fourth quarter, where the Tigers outscored the Hilltoppers, 17-6. Johnny Pavao nailed a three from the right wing to give Durfee its final lead of the night, 57-54, with two minutes left, only to watch Kelley respond with a trey from the left wing on the next possession.
Woodberry then went 1-for-2 at the line after drawing a blocking foul, and then stripped Rivera of the ball for layup and 60-57 lead with 30 ticks to go.

Abington boys advance

It wasn't pretty, but the Abington boys basketball team earned a trip to the Division 3 South semifinals with a 41-39 win over Pembroke.

The Green Wave led for almost the entire game and had their largest lead at 35-26 early in the fourth quarter, but managed just one field goal the rest of the way. Pembroke took its only lead of the game at 38-37 on a drive by James Gaine with 2:03 remaining, but Brian Kurowski responded for Abington with a nice post move, giving the Green Wave the lead for good.

Trailing 41-39, the Titans had the ball with 13 seconds left, but Abington's Ryan Chambers (team-high 13 points) came off his man to steal the ball with 6 seconds remaining. After Abington missed the front end of a one-and-one, Pembroke had one last gasp, but the shot hit the front end of the rim as time expired.

Abington (22-1) will face Scituate on Saturday, at noon, at UMass-Boston, for the Division 3 South championship.

LEXINGTON -- The host Lexington boys' basketball team used overpowering middle quarters to run away from East Boston, 85-61, in the Division 1 North quarterfinals Tuesday night.

Lexington will face Lynn English in the semifinals in Salem.

Lexington outscored East Boston, 56-27, in those two quarters to widen a five-point lead at the end of the first frame to a 71-37 lead at the end of the third.

“I thought that our play in those quarters was brilliant,” said Lexington coach Bob Farias.

The offensive outburst by the Minutemen was sparked by the sage advice of Farias. He told his team to push the ball up the court.

“I’ve seen East Boston play and they don’t get back [on defense] quickly,” said Farias. “I knew we had to push the ball up the floor.”

His players took that advice to heart. Lance Greene (9 points, 4 assists), Lexington’s floor general, constantly penetrated into the lane before he kicked out to wide open perimeter shooters.

“We are very difficult to guard against,” said Farias. “Lance can penetrate and all of our players can hit 3-pointers.”

The Minutemen came out of the intermission and outscored East Boston, 9-0, in the first two minutes of the third quarter. That run put the game out of reach for the Jets.

Lexington employed a bevy of scorers in the game. Six players scored in double figures with junior David Miller leading the way with 15 points. Lexington also got contribution from the bench. Demetri Monovoukas had 11 points and JP Alexandre had 10 off the bench for the Minutemen.

“Everybody shot well today,” said senior captain Danny O’Keefe (10 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks). “We had a lot of help off the bench."

East Boston outscored Lexington, 24-14, in the fourth quarter but that was the only bright spot for the Jets. Stephen Samuels led Eastie with 13 points and Dimitry Coronel chipped in 10 points.

The Scituate boys basketball team advanced to the Division 3 South finals for the third straight year after a thrilling 84-79 win over No. 1 seed Wareham Tuesday night in Brockton.

The game was a rematch of last year's sectional final, also won by Scituate.

Junior guard Rodney Belbo poured in 38 points to lead the Sailors.

Needham is known for its rowdy cheering section at hockey games, but when the Rockets take to the ice for the first round of tomorrow's Super 8 tournament, school officials will be looking to crack down on student behavior.

From the Globe's Needham blog:

Needham High School Principal Paul Richards told parents and students Friday that school officials will use a breathalyzer to enforce anti-drinking rules at upcoming tournament hockey and basketball games.

School officials will privately screen students who appear to be intoxicated as part of the school’s ongoing effort to curb rowdy student-fan behavior at sporting events, Richards said in an email to the high school community.

“The school will continue its supervisory approaches into the playoffs and we hope to see both new fans and the die-hards in the stands. The administration will also bring a breathalyzer to the games and privately screen any students suspected of being under the influence (hopefully, we won't have to administer the test),” Richards wrote.

The principal also cited a state high school rule that bans face painting and other behavior at games. "The MIAA does not permit face painting, signs, noise makers, hat throwing, bare midriffs, and other behaviors or items that may distract the players or referees,'' Richards wrote.

Click HERE to read more.

By Evan MacDonald, Globe Correspondent

NEWTON -- After losing to Bay State rival Newton North twice in the regular season, Needham was only 20 seconds from the ultimate revenge with a playoff victory. Unfortunately for the Rockets, Newton North's Geoffery Woodberry stepped in and spoiled the result.

A jumper by Kerry Hecker had given Needham a 39-38 lead with 25 seconds left, but Woodberry raced up court and converted a layup to help third-seeded and host Newton North to a 42-39 victory over sixth-seeded Needham in a Division 1 South quarterfinal.

Woodberry led the Tigers (19-4) with 16 points, while teammates Craig Marriro and Greg Kelley had 11 apiece.

Hecker led Needham (14-8) with 15 points.

"At this point in the season, it comes down to big-time players making plays," Newton North coach Paul Connolly said. "We have three of them in Marriro, Kelley and Woddberry."

The first half was a defensive chess match, with each team struggling to find the bottom of the net. Newton North made just six field goals, with Needham connecting on only four.

"We worked on our matchup zone and tried to keep it within two or three possessions," Needham coach Paul Liner said. "In a man-to-man we didn't match up very well."

Woodberry scored nine points in the third quarter to help push Newton North to a 33-26 lead, but Needham came back strong in the final frame. Baskets by Hecker, Bobby Ernst and Nate Allison pulled Needham within 33-32 with five minutes remaining.

The two teams traded baskets until the final buzzer, with Woodberry's layup and a free throw by Marriro providing the final margin in the low-scoring contest.

"We hadn't played a game in 13 days," Connolly said. "We didn't shoot well, but [Needham] had a lot to do with that."

Alex Oriakhi, a Lowell resident and student at the Tilton (N.H.) School, has been tabbed to participate in this year's McDonald's All-American Game.

Oriakhi will travel to Miami and play for the East squad in a game that will be televised live on ESPN on April 1. He is the only hoopster selected from the entire New England region.

“It is a great honor and a privilege to be the only New England athlete selected play in the McDonald's All American game,” said Oriakhi. “I am excited to play hard, have fun and meet my teammates and future opponents.”

The UConn-bound Oriakhi is averaging 17 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game this season. Tilton is currently 21-2 and ranked No. 8 among national prep schools.

“Alex Oriakhi is one of the top players in the country and this is an enormous honor for him,” said coach Marcus O’Neil. “His love for the game is evident on and off the court. This recognition is a testament to his determination and growth as an athlete."

You can read the full press release after the jump.

Meet the state's first 3,000-point scorer: Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir. For more, check out this feature story.

Walpole's Sarah Roof goes for the block of Medfield's Amy Festa. (Jay Connor / Globe Photo)

WALPOLE -- Stopped by Walpole High tonight for the first day of the Rebel Hoop Classic. Four teams favored in Division 2 South girls’ bracket are taking part in the two-day event; the four squads – Walpole, Medfield, Dighton-Rehoboth and Oliver Ames – came into the tourney with a combined eight losses, and could very well be the top four seeds when the pairings come out on Friday.

That said, tonight’s games were lopsided. Oliver Ames down D-R, 54-28, in the first contest; the Rebels gave Medfield their first loss in stunning fashion, 63-36, in the nighcap.

A couple notes:

• Safe to say a lot of people were looking forward to the matchup between OA’s 5-foot-10 junior forward Lauren Battista and D-R’s Boston College-bound center (and returning Globe Super Teamer) Mary Nwachukwu, but it wasn’t meant to be. With ankle problems dogging her recently, the 6-foot-2 Nwachukwu came off the bench tonight and only saw 10 minutes before sitting out all but a minute of the second half with ice wrapped around her right ankle.

  Nwachukwu still had 7 points and 7 rebounds in limited action. But with a noticeable limp and struggles running up and down the court, head coach Mark Pacheco said it’s questionable whether she’ll go tomorrow night in the consolation game against the Big Blue. Don’t be surprised, though, if she sits out tomorrow night -– as the score might indicate, Nwachukwu is an integral piece of the Falcons’ offense, and would be badly missed in the postseason.

  With her absence, the Tigers took advantage inside. The guards worked give-and-go’s with Battista (14 points, 12 rebounds) all night, giving OA a 42-14 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The defense was also tenacious – D-R shot a dismal 3-for-20 in the first half, and had made just four field goals headed into that final frame.

  “I think everybody was tight, and I think probably the fact that she (Nwachukwu) was not able to play,” OA head coach Elaine Clement-Holbrook said. “They’re not accustomed to that. So, when you miss a player like that, it takes a little time to adjust.”

• Based on tonight’s matchup, you could make the argument that the Rebels are one of the most physical teams in Division 2. Switching between man-to-man and zone looks, the Rebels overwhelmed the Medfield lineup with immense pressure. We’re talking elbows flying, bodies slamming to the floor kind of pressure.

  Both Medfield coach Mark Nickerson and Walpole coach Stacy Bilodeau both called it their most physical game all year, and perhaps nobody embodied that type of game tonight more than Walpole forward Sarah Roof (10 points, 9 rebounds). With her left shoulder draped in ace bandage ever since nearly dislocating it last month against Dedham, the senior captain harassed the Medfield frontcourt, and was out and out overly aggressive.

  This game was closer than the score might indicate –- Walpole lead 29-24 at the half. But the Rebels’ transition game got going in the second half, and the Rebels took a 46-29 lead into the final frame.

Watertown jousts with Central Catholic. (Brendan Hall / Globe Photo)

Central Catholic downed Watertown, 77-72, this evening to win the championship game of the Comcast Officials Board 27 Tournament at BC High’s McNeice Pavilion.

As expected, CC used the height in its frontcourt to its advantage. Six-foot-11 junior Carson Desrosiers, who matched up against 6-1 Watertown twins Corey (22 points) and Kyle Stockmal (28), went for 29 points on 12-of-14 shooting and added 14 rebounds and six blocks to take home tournament MVP honors.

In the consolation game, Newton North staved off a late BC High rally to prevail, 84-82. With eight seconds left, the Eagles’ Mike Albanese (21 points) pulled down an errant North free throw and kicked it out to Bryan Hurley (22), who nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key for an 82-81 deficit with 1.8 seconds left.

BC head coach Bill Loughnane called a timeout, even though he had none, prompting a technical foul. Greg Kelley (26 points, seven rebounds) made both free throws, but Loughnane’s gamble almost paid off. A steal was made on the inbounds, and Jameel Galloway (10 points, 10 rebounds) chucked up a halfcourt shot that missed.

The All-Tournament team was as follows:

• Bryan Hurley, BC High
• Geoff Woodberry, Newton North
• Billy Marsden, Central Catholic
• Kyle Stockmal, Watertown
• Corey Stockmal, Watertown

A couple quick notes:

• Kyle Stockmal broke the school’s all-time scoring mark tonight, previously held by a former mentor of his, 2007 graduate and Wheaton College sophomore Anthony Coppola. The senior hit a 12-footer from the left wing with 37.5 seconds left in the second quarter to break the record. Play was stopped as Kyle received a standing ovation.

  And while he thought that the stoppage halted some of the Raiders' momentum, he appreciated the moment.

  “I’d rather have the win, but it’s an honor,” he said.

  Said head coach Steve Harrington, “Terrific kid, he deserves it. He’s been a warrior, a leader in every aspect –- on the floor, off the floor. I’m very happy for him.”

• The great thing about Watertown’s system is that, in a game like this, where perimeter shooting can counter such a size disadvantage, there are little adjustments. It was a typical 3-point shooting night for Harrington’s troops – 12 of 35, led by the Stockmals (five each) – and it kept the game close.

  In the end, though, size prevailed. Both Stockmals moved well switching off against Central’s bigs, but when your two tallest players give up 10 inches to a guy like Desrosiers – whom Kyle called “the most dominant player in this state” – there’s only so much you can do.

  "The matchups were bad. They had five guards," CC head coach Rick Nault said. "When we were in a zone we were giving them open looks. But Carson is a pretty good on-ball defender."

Boys and girls from 23 area high schools provided stiff competition in this morning's 23rd annual ProLogo Design Three-Point Shootout, which was held at Hopkinton High School. Both finals went down to the wire; Wellesley's Evan Kulak defeated Lincoln-Sudbury's Mitch Perez in the boys finals, while Medway's Katy Howard beat Algonquin Regional's Jen Ballen in the girls' finals.

Kulak frayed in the middle of the pack through the early rounds, but got hot late. In the final four, he connected for the day's highest single-round total (11 points). In the final round, he tied with Perez with eight points.

Perez trailed Kulak, 8-6, headed into the final rack, but made two clutch shots at the end to send it into overtime. In the first tiebreaker (one ball is placed on each of the four racks), Kulak hit three of four to best Perez, 3-1.

"I didn't think I'd make it past the first round," said Kulak, who averages 16.3 points for the 7-10 Raiders. "This is an amazing feeling. I'm really happy right now."

Howard, a senior committed to Assumption College, started off hot, and stayed consistent -- in the last three rounds, she totaled 24 points. She won by hitting the two-point moneyball on the final rack to beat out Ballen, 8-7.

"Once you get going, you're just in the zone," said Howard, who leads the Tri-Valley League in scoring (17.4 ppg). "I was pumped."

The Middlesex League champion Lexington High boys' basketball team (18-1 overall, 17-1 league) will close out the regular season this evening ( 7 p.m.) with its final regular season game at Burlington (11-7, 9-7). It was incorrectly reported in the Globe earlier this week that game was scheduled to be played in Lexington. In the teams' previous matchup on Jan. 16, Lexington won 69-52.

Kyle Casey was merely expecting to receive the results of his SAT II scores yesterday afternoon. But he was in for a surprise when, at 5 p.m., he got a call from Harvard University’s admissions office.

“They called and said they were giving me a likely letter, I just have to keep my grades up,” the Brimmer & May senior forward and McDonald’s All-American nominee said.

And with that, Casey called up head coach Tommy Amaker 10 minutes later and made what had become and all-too-easy decision. Casey verbally committed to the Crimson at around 5 p.m. yesterday.

Casey, a Medway resident, has made it known for a while now that he’d been throwing all his eggs in the Harvard basket. Stanford, Vanderbilt, Providence and Davidson have all come calling at one point or antoher, only to be pushed aside. The relationship between Casey and Harvard’s coaching staff was that strong.

“Harvard academics are Harvard academics. I had a lot of schools looking at me,” Casey said. “But Harvard expressed the most interest, they came to the most games to watch me. I just had a great relationship with coach (Will) Wade, coach (Brian) DeStefano and later Tommy Amaker. That was a huge contributor to my decision.”

Some, like Brimmer head coach Greg Kristof, consider the commitment “an absolute steal” for the Crimson. The Gators, behind Casey’s averages of 18 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks per game, are 18-2 following a loss last night to Tilton.

Others, like Scout.com national recruiting analyst Dave Telep, hesitate to use the word steal, but offer plenty of praise.

“The thing that sets Kyle apart, his body is so strong and he’s such an explosive guy, he’s going to be a problem for a lot of Ivy League schools,” he said. “I think Casey is a legitimate mid-major player who can play in leagues better than the Ivy League. They’re routinely getting guys better than their league, and eventually that’s going to see through.”

A steal?

“This is a guy who, if you’re in the Atlantic-10, you’re good with starting Kyle Casey," Telep said.

Boston Trinity head coach Rick Linet was one of the coaches on hand during last fall’s Reebok Preseason Tuneup sessions in South Boston and Canton, which Casey participated in. He notes: “I’ve really seen him come along. The thing about it also is that he’s got a really excellent work ethic. He was one of the kids there working hard, both in conditioning and skills. He’s one of the best leapers I’ve ever seen.”

Think you can shoot like Eddie House?

If you answered yes, then head to Hopkinton High School on Saturday for this year’s 23d annual 3-point Shootout. Registration and warm-ups begin at 10 a.m. Competition starts at 11 a.m. There is a $5 participation fee. Each school is allowed to enter one boy and one girl and players are required to wear their full home uniform and warm-ups.

Deadline for entry is Wednesday and you can register by emailing event coordinator Kenny Lee at tornadoes41@aol.com. Spectators are welcome. Admission is $7 for adults, $4 for students. Children under 12 are free.

For those looking to attend this winter's City Championships, here's a list of dates for this year's festivities:

• Indoor track: Feb. 9-10, 3 p.m. at the Reggie Lewis Center
• Swimming: Feb. 10, 3 p.m.
• Girls' basketball: Semifinals on Feb. 18, 4 and 5:30 p.m. at Madison Park; Final on Feb. 20, 5 p.m.
• Boys' basketball: Semifinals on Feb. 19, 4 and 5:30 p.m. at Madison Park; Final on Feb. 20, 6:30 p.m.
• Boys' hockey: Semifinal on Feb. 19, 10 a.m. at Matthews Arena; Final on Feb. 20, noon.

We'll pass along the matchups for basketball and hockey when they are released.

The nomination list for the 2009 McDonald's All-American game is out and 20 area standouts are among those being considered for the April showcases.

While 19 Massachusetts boys were tabbed, the biggest surprise might be that only one female -- Dighton-Rehoboth's Mary Nwachukwu -- appears on the girls' nomination list. Not even Memphis-bound Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir -- the state's new all-time leading scorer -- made the list.

Here are the boys' nominations:

Kyle Stockmal (Globe File Photo)

• Kevin Barr, Cushing Academy (Ashburnham)
• Austin Carroll, Worcester Academy
• Kyle Casey, Brimmer and May (Chestnut Hill)
• Darryl Cato-Bishop, Lawrence Academy (Groton)
• Mike Clifford, Bishop Fenwick (Peabody)
• Ben Crenca, Worcester Academy
• Tucker Halpern, Noble & Greenough (Dedham)
• Greg Jacques, St. Sebastian's (Needham)
• Dave Johnson, St. Mark's (Southborough)
• Matt LaBove, St. John's (Shrewsbury)
• Mike Marra, Northfield Mount Hermon
• Adam Marshall, The Governor's Academy (Byfield)
• Erik Murphy, St. Mark's (Southborough)
• Dan O'Keefe, Lexington
• Kevin Polanco, Andover
• Cory Stockmal, Watertown
• Kyle Stockmal, Watertown
• Hanell Velez, Woburn
• Allen Willamson, Pingree (South Hamilton)

In one of the most anticipated matchups in recent weeks, Brockton remained undefeated by knocking off Newton North, 81-60, the Tigers’ second loss in six days after starting the year 13-0.

The score might be a little deceiving – this was a game through three quarters. But after a third quarter that saw five ties and six lead changes, the Boxers (16-0) blew open the doors in the fourth quarter. Brockton’s deep corps of guards – led by Jarrad DeVaughn, Tim Young and Shawn Yard – forced five steals and seven turnovers overall in the first 3-1/2 minutes of the quarter, yielding a 20-1 run in the process.

Louis Montes led the Boxers with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Newton’s Greg Kelley had 20 and 11. A few more notes below:

-- Athleticism ruled out in this one. The Tigers’ three studs – Kelley and senior guards Craig Marriro and Geoff Woodberry – looked good early despite heavy defensive pressure from Montes (on Kelley) and Brockton’s rotation of guards. But by the fourth quarter, the Boxers’ backcourt defenders were consistently stripping the Tiger guards and forcing bad decisions.

“Those two guards (Marriro and Woodberry) are very nice guards, but going back and forth against five of our guards, they got pretty tired,” Brockton head coach Robert Boen said. “I think Kelley was pretty tired after having two of our guys (Montes and center Michael Neufville) on him. They got him the ball nice in the first half. Second half, I think we wore them down.”

-- Interesting quote from Tigers coach Paul Connolly about Louis Montes. Connolly called Montes “the second-best player in the state”, behind Central Catholic’s Carson Desrosiers, and thinks he is a Division 1 caliber athlete. Rumor has it Montes may do a year of prep school competition before heading to college.

“Louis Montes is really, really, really good,” Connolly said. “He’s the one player around here that I think people are missing the boat on. He is a stud.”

-- For those of you wondering why DeVaughn – a starter – spent the first half on the bench, the reasons were not major. Boen said DeVaughn, who was dropped off by a family member, arrived late to the game after the driver got a bit lost.

Winchendon School’s Luis Leao has had an eye on St. Michael’s College for some time, and vice versa. Over the last 24 hours, the Green Wave forward decided to make it official.

Leao, a 6-foot-5 senior, made a verbal commitment to the Colchester, Vt.-based school, which competes in the Div. 2 Northeast-10 Conference, late yesterday afternoon. And the southern Brazil native couldn’t be happier.

“I figured it’s a relief,” Leao said. “Now, I don’t have to wonder anymore if I’m playing well or not, who’s in the gym to see me. I can play a little more free now.”

The Purple Knights’ coaching staff – particularly assistant Ari Shapiro-Miller – and the school’s medical program played the biggest factors in his decision.

After Jan. 18’s win over Patterson (N.C.) in the Hoophall Classic, in Springfield, Winchendon head coach Mike Byrnes met with Leao and the senior decided enough was enough, and he wanted to commit.

Members of the Dallas Academy girls' basketball team that lost a game last week, 100-0. (AP Photo)

The head coach of the Dallas-area girls' basketball team that defeated an opponent, 100-0, has been fired.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Covenant coach Micah Grimes was dismissed Sunday, this after he posted a message on a Website that said he disagreed with the school's "apology, especially the notion that the Covenant School girls basketball team should feel 'embarrassed' or 'ashamed.'"

From the Dallas Morning News

The Covenant School fired its girls basketball coach Sunday, the same day he posted a message on a youth basketball Web site saying he disagreed with school officials who had publicly apologized for the team's 100-0 victory over Dallas Academy.

In reporting the firing, Kyle Queal, Covenant's head of school, emphasized that former coach Micah Grimes "now only represents himself" when discussing the game, which has become a national talking point. Queal said he could not say whether the firing was a direct result of the posting and declined to answer any questions.

In a statement posted Sunday on www.flightbasketball.com, Grimes offered his first public comment since the story was first reported.

"I respectfully disagree with the apology, especially the notion that the Covenant School girls basketball team should feel 'embarrassed' or 'ashamed,' " part of the post says. "We played the game as it was meant to be played and would not intentionally run up the score on any opponent. Although a wide-margin victory is never evidence of compassion, my girls played with honor and integrity and showed respect to Dallas Academy."

Grimes also included the quarter-by-quarter scoring on his post: 35, 24, 29, 12.

At the end of his post on the Web site, which identifies him as co-founder of Flight Basketball, Grimes wrote, "So if I lose my job over these statements, I will walk away with my integrity."

Grimes and his Covenant program drew national headlines after defeating Dallas Academy, 100-0, last week. The team was up 59-0 at halftime and didn't exactly let up in the second half. Here's more from the Associated Press:

A Texas high school girls basketball team on the winning end of a 100-0 game has a case of blowout remorse. Now officials from The Covenant School say they are trying to do the right thing by seeking a forfeit and apologizing for the margin of victory.

"It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened," Kyle Queal, the head of the school, said in a statement, adding the forfeit was requested because "a victory without honor is a great loss."

The private Christian school defeated Dallas Academy last week. Covenant was up 59-0 at halftime.

A parent who attended the game told The Associated Press that Covenant continued to make 3-pointers -- even in the fourth quarter. She praised the Covenant players but said spectators and an assistant coach were cheering wildly as their team edged closer to 100 points.

"I think the bad judgment was in the full-court press and the 3-point shots," said Renee Peloza, whose daughter plays for Dallas Academy. "At some point, they should have backed off."

Dallas Academy coach Jeremy Civello told The Dallas Morning News that the game turned into a "layup drill," with the opposing team's guards waiting to steal the ball and drive to the basket. Covenant scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and "finally eased up when they got to 100 with about four minutes left," he said.

Dallas Academy has eight girls on its varsity team and about 20 girls in its high school. It is winless over the last four seasons. The academy boasts of its small class sizes and specializes in teaching students struggling with "learning differences," such as short attention spans or dyslexia.

There is no mercy rule in girls basketball that shortens the game or permits the clock to continue running when scores become lopsided. There is, however, "a golden rule" that should have applied in this contest, said Edd Burleson, the director of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools. Both schools are members of this association, which oversees private school athletics in Texas.

"On a personal note, I told the coach of the losing team how much I admire their girls for continuing to compete against all odds," Burleson said. "They showed much more character than the coach that allowed that score to get out of hand. It's up to the coach to control the outcome."

Click HERE to read more from the AP.

Our take: Why was this game scheduled in the first place? When the disparity between two teams is this large, why would the programs even agree to play what appears to be a nonleague game? We do find it a bit ridiculous that someone lost a job over the whole matter, as the kids from Dallas Academy seem to be taking the loss in stride and enjoying their time in the national spotlight.

What's your take? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Here's the lineup for the 3rd annual Big 3 vs. City League Challenge, which will take place Sunday, Jan. 25 at Brockton High School:

• Madison Park vs. Durfee, 1:30 p.m.
• East Boston vs. New Bedford, 3:15 p.m.
• O'Bryant vs. Brockton, 5 p.m.

An exciting Saturday afternoon led to another two days of some of the nation's best high school basketball at Springfield College's Blake Arena during this year's Hoophall Classic. Below are some brief highlights:

A snowstorm in Winchendon made for a shaky bus ride to Springfield for the Winchendon School team. Green Wave head coach Mike Byrnes used the opportunity for inspiration, putting the film “300” on the televisions.

“Before the game, I put the word ‘phalanx’ up on the board. They had never heard the word before,” Byrnes said. “I said, 'They have seven guys on their team, all ranked higher than everybody here.' I said, 'but we play with 12.' The Spartans came together in a phalanx, and they were able to overcome.”

That they did. The Green Wave downed Patterson, 81-70, behind 19 points each from UMass-bound Sampson Carter and Hofstra-bound Yves Jules (10 rebounds). Junior Preye Preboye, a transfer from Springfield Central, also put up a double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds), in his hometown return.

“I couldn’t sleep last night,” he laughed.

Patterson was led in scoring by Vincent Council (17 points) and got a double-double from Georgia State-bound Rashanti Harris (14 points, 11 rebounds).

In the first game of the third day, Tilton capitalized on its height advantage with UConn-bound forwards Alex Oriakhi (23 points, 17 rebounds) and Jamal McCoombs-McDaniel (33, nine). They easily dispatched Hotchkiss, 98-79, despite a 30-point effort from Derrick Wilson.

“I wanted to take advantage down low, so I didn’t want to take any jump shots,” Oriakhi said.

Gonzaga College got 24 points and eight rebounds from hot-handed junior guard Cedrick Lindsay, while Princeton-bound forward Ian Hummer added 17, in a 60-53 win over St. Mark’s. The Lions’ two highly touted Division 1 prospects – senior Erik Murphy (Florida) and junior Nate Lubick (Georgetown) combined for 24 points and 21 rebounds.

In the next game, DeMatha Catholic’s Tennessee-bound Josh Selby did a number from the floor, shooting 75 percent (12 of 15) and totaling 28 points as the Stags downed St. John Neumann-Maria Goretti, 88-71. Texas A&M-bound forward Naji Hibbert also added 17 points in the win. Wake Forest-bound guard Tony Chennault paced Neumann with 20 points.

Snow troubles prevented Brewster Academy from making it to Springfield; its last-minute replacement was the St. Lambert, Quebec-based Champlain, which was on its way back from a tournament at St. Thomas More in Connecticut. The play of Hargrave and its five scholarship athletes was too much to overcome, though, as they went on to win 91-57.

Worcester Academy took advantage of its size advantage over St. Andrew’s, using the presence of 6-foot-9 Vermont-bound forward Ben Crenca (10 points, 10 rebounds). The Hilltoppers beat St. Andrews, 79-64.

A packed house saw some of the country’s top seniors hold court, starting with St. Anthony (N.J.) versus Putnam City (Okla.). Memphis head coach John Calipari had a front row seat to watch Tigers commit Xavier Henry (24 points, seven rebounds) lead Putnam, but it was the Bob Hurley-coached Friars and Devon Collier (19 points, 10 rebounds) who won out, 58-50.

Next up was Hurley’s son, Dan, manning the St. Benedict’s sidelines, and he was able to make it a Hurley sweep with a 77-67 win over Wheeler (Ga.), thanks to double-doubles from Pitt-bound Lamar Patterson (19 points, 15 rebounds) and Texas commit Tristan Thompson (20, 13).

In arguably the most anticipated matchup of the tournament, DeMarcus Cousins and LeFlore (Ala.) took the floor against Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and its much-hyped guard, 6-foot-6 senior Lance Stephenson. But it was Cousins, the No. 2 rated 2009 prospect on Rivals.com, that stole the show, getting 18 points and pulling down 20 boards (18 defensive). Stephenson ended up with 24, but needed a strong second half to get there. He had 20 in the second half after getting three fouls in the first.

Mater Dei and UNC-bound twins Travis (24 points) and David Wear (18) easily dispatched Whitney Young (Ill.), 86-61. Four Springfield schools closed out the tournament; Sci-Tech downed Putnam, 72-62, while Central beat Commerce in the nightcap, 61-49.

The All-Tournament Teams were as follows:

First Team

• Derrick Favors, Sr., South Atlanta/Atlanta, GA (Georgia Tech)
  
• Keith “Tiny” Gallon, Sr., Oak Hill Academy/Mouth of Wilson, VA (Oklahoma)
  
• Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Sr., Tilton/Tilton, NH (UConn)
  
• Josh Selby, Jr., DeMatha Catholic/Hyattsville, MD (Tennessee)
  
• Travis Wear, Sr., Mater Dei/Santa Ana, CA (North Carolina)

Second Team

• Xavier Henry, Sr., Putnam City/Oklahoma City, OK (Memphis)
  
• Demarcus Cousins, Sr., LeFlore/Mobile, AL
  
• Lance Stephenson, Sr., Lincoln/Brooklyn, NY
  
• Alex Oriakhi, Sr., Tilton/Tilton, NH (UConn)
  
• Kenny Boynton, St., American Heritage/Plantation, FL (Florida)

Third Team

• Carson Desrosiers, Jr., Central Catholic/Lawrence, MA
  
• Preye Preboye, Sr., Winchendon/Winchendon, MA
  
• Devon Collier, Jr., St. Anthony/Jersey City, NJ
  
• Erik Murphy, Sr., St. Mark’s/Southborough, MA (Florida)
  
• Justin Jackson, Jr., Montverde/Montverde, FL

After a late night last night, two Middlesex League teams kicked off the second day of the Hoophall Classic, at Springfield College, with impressive victories.

In the first game of the day, Lexington head coach Bob Farias was absent , tending to a family illness. But Farias would have undoubtedly satisfied with this win.

The Minutemen had a balanced scoring attack from Danny O’Keefe (12 points, 11 rebounds), Jeremy Moss (11 points, seven rebounds), Mike Igoe (11) and Lance Greene (10) to stay in control throughout the game. Lexington jumped out to a big lead early and made it stay, for a 61-37 win.

“We hadn’t scouted this team,” said assistant coach Tom Brincklow, whose team downed Middlesex League foe Burlington just 12 hours prior. “So our goal was…we’re pretty athletic, so we wanted to push the tempo. We wanted to go up and down, get the game running. I think for the most part we did that. I thought our defense played pretty well, too.”

Said O’Keefe, “We were ready to go this morning.”

Keeping things uptempo was the perimeter play Greene, the point guard.

“No one can keep the ball from him,” Brincklow said. “So that helps.”

Breaking the Cathedral press with speed and using Farias’ patented flex attack in the halfcourt, the Minutemen put together several solid spurts to keep the athletic Cathedral front at bay.

It started with a strong first quarter, Lexington starting the game off with a 15-4 run thanks to the interior presence of Danny O’Keefe (seven points), and the perimeter play of Lance Greene (four steals).

Jeremy Moss also went 3 for 3 from behind the three-point line in the first half, keeping Lexington ahead for a 28-18 halftime lead.

The Minutemen exploded for another strong run to start the third quarter, a 13-5 start, to take a 41-25 lead into the final frame.

Watertown came into the afternoon’s 2007 state title rematch with Sabis International missing two key starters – seniors Benyam Kerman (suspended indefinitely) and Cory Stockmal, the latter of whom sprained his ankle in a 61-44 loss to Belmont last night.

So today’s result, a 62-47 win, comes as a huge sigh of relief.

“Oh God, coming out like that?” head coach Steve Harrington said. “It’s hard to come back after you lose like we did last night, missing three of our guys. But having Ricky Morrissey back was huge.”

Indeed, Morrissey – who missed last night’s loss with an illness – provided spark in his return, scoring 14 points while Kyle Stockmal had 15 with seven rebounds. Two role players, guard Marco Coppola and reserve Tim Barba, each nailed four 3-pointers, the brunt of Watertown’s 12 treys.

The Raiders started the game off with an 8-0 run, capped with a Stockmal three from the left wing, and took a 24-10 lead after the first quarter. Sabis freshman Kamali Bey led the Bulldogs on a 10-1 run in the second quarter, before the Raiders closed out the half with a 9-0 run – capped with Barba’s three pointer from the left baseline just before the buzzer, for a 34-22 halftime lead.

“That was key for us,” Harrington said of Barba. “That makes it really hard to guard when you have four guys on the floor who can all knock down three’s.”

Bey continued his mean streak in the second half, but it wasn’t enough. He finished the afternoon with 28 points and eight rebounds.

“We usually take care of the ball. Because of the stage we’re on, that pumped it up a little bit,” Bey said. “But the coach told us that they could shoot the three.”

Said Stockmal of Bey, “That guy’s a beast.”

And now, at least for Stockmal, it’s time for a little rest. Stockmal says he got only six hours of sleep following last night’s loss, and arrived at Watertown High this morning at 8 a.m. for an informal shootaround with his teammates.

Fatigued?

“It’s starting to wear in a little bit,” Stockmal laughed minutes after the game.

Central Catholic scored themselves a moral victory when the Red Raiders bounced back from a 20-point halftime deficit and made a game of it, against an American Heritage (Fla.) team featuring two of the most electric guards in Broward Country.

At first, this game had all the makings of a blowout. Heritage led, 30-10, after one quarter.
They started the game with a 20-4 run, highlighted by a no-look pass from Florida Atlantic-bound point guard Raymond Taylor (21 points, five assists) to junior swingman Remi Barry. Behind the flashy play of Taylor and Florida-bound guard Kenny Boynton (28 points, seven rebounds), this game appeared to have the makings of a mismatched.

But Central stormed back with a terrific fourth quarter, behind the efforts of guard Billy Marsden (25 points, 7-of-26 shooting) and 6-foot-10 center Carson Desrosiers (23 points, 13 rebounds, three 3-pointers). The Raiders outscored Heritage, 31-8, in the final frame for an 82-77 loss.

“I knew the first quarter was a disaster, but we knew we could win,” Desrosiers told Globe Correspondent Sapna Pathak. “We knew we had to come back.”

Said Marsden, “We had to control the tempo, but had to back down and let the game unfold.”

Taylor came away from the game impressed by Desrosiers’ perimeter shooting. For the game, Desrosiers was 10 of 16 from the field, and 3 of 6 from three-point range.

“We didn’t know what to expect from them,” he said.

In the game following, Montverde Academy junior Justin Jackson had 24 points and 15 rebounds, as Montverde used its length and size to stay ahead of Mount Vernon, 75-64. Sherrod Wright scored 22 points in the loss for Mount Vernon.

Early on, it looked as if South Atlanta’s Derrick Favors – a five-star recruit who committed to Georgia Tech on Wednesday – was going to beat Oak Hill by himself. Favors (25 points, 17 rebounds) reached a double-double by the early second quarter. But it was the play of Oak Hill’s 6-foot-9, 290-pound power forward, Keith “Tiny” Gallon, that ruled the second half.

Gallon, a Humble, Texas native who is committed to Oklahoma, went 6-of-9 from three-point range and finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds, as the Warriors came back late for a 65-58 win.

The tournament’s first day saw New Leadership’s boys and girls teams put on quite a show.

Phillip Warrick kicked off the tournament by putting up 33 points in the Wildcats’ 71-64 win over Holyoke. Devonte Vanderpool also put up a double-double (17 points, 15 rebounds), while Eric Brown had 10 boards. Holyoke was led by Heriberto Rodriguez (24 points).

New Leadership’s Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir come just three points shy of setting the state’s all-time scoring mark. The mark of 2,710 points was set nearly two decades ago by Southwick-Tolland’s Rebecca Lobo. Abdul-Qaadir, a senior who will play for University of Memphis this fall, had 38 points and eight rebounds in a 69-51 loss to Millbury.

As usual, the Woolies ran and gunned their way out to a quick lead, and it was the tandem of sophomore Julie Frankian (22 points, 18 rebounds) and senior Cailin Bullett (13 points, five assists) leading the way.

In the next game, Mater Dei sophomore Kaleena Lewis (33 points, 11 rebounds) led Mater Dei to a 75-46 win over Northampton by going on a tear in the first half. The Monarchs took a 48-23 lead over the Blue Devils into the break. Allanah Driscoll-Sbar led Northampton with 18 points and five rebounds.

In the nightcap of the first game, Minnechaug’s girls downed Springfield Central, 65-60, behind scoring from Brianna Kelly (19 points), Julia McWilliams (16) and Breanne Dufault (12). Central was led in scoring by A’lece Mark (21 points) and Brisje Malone (20).

Some of the top boys’ basketball players in New England will come to Chelsea High this weekend for the 2009 Prep Classic. Hosted by the BABC, the event features schools from the prep school ranks, many with rosters loaded with local talent and familiar faces.

On Saturday, a doubleheader begins at 2 p.m. with Cushing Academy taking on Brewster Academy. Cushing, of Ashburnham, has two of New England’s top underclassman in 6-5 sophomore James Kennedy (Dorchester) and 6-3 freshman Dominique Bull (Worcester), who transferred from Burke and St Mary’s of Worcester respectively last year. Cushing competes in NEPSAC Class B and will face NEPSAC Class A power Brewster (Wolfeboro, N.H.). Brewster features sophomore Nadir Tharpe (Worcester, St Peter-Marian), who is considered one of New England’s top point guard prospects in the class of 2011. Brewster will send three members of their 2009 class to the Big 12 in September: Thomas Robinson, 6-8, (Kansas), Givon Crump, 6-7, (Baylor) and Andrew Fitzgerald, 6-8, (Oklahoma), along with Vermont signees Simeon Marsalis (6-0) and Luke Apfeld (6-7).

In the second game at 3:30 p.m., defending NEPSAC Class B Champion Tilton (N.H.), 10-0, faces St. Andrews (2007 NEPSAC Class B Champions from Barrington, R.I.). Tilton, with Dorchester residents Jamal Coombs-McDaniel (6-7, UConn signee) and 2008 Globe All-Scholastic and New England’s Class of 2010 top recruit Gerard Coleman (6-3, transfer from West Roxbury; Boston College, Providence, Clemson, Miami, Kansas, Louisville, UConn) and Alex Oriakhi, 6-9, Lowell/Boston native and fellow UConn signee.

Coombs, Oriakhi and Coleman were starters on the 2008 BABC team (72-8) that ranked among the top 3 club teams in the country. Other Boston area players of note for Tilton include 6-5 Georges Niang (sophomore, Methuen), 6-2 Alex Kershaw (Junior, Oliver Ames/Easton) and 6-0 Sam Malone (sophomore, Scituate). St Andrews features local Michael-Carter Williams, a 6-3 sophomore who is considered among the top New England Class of 2011 prospects, formerly of Hamilton-Wenham Regional.

Sunday’s tripleheader begins at 2 with nationally ranked prep schools No. 3 Notre Dame Prep of Fitchburg (14-2) vs. No. 4 Bridgton Academy (Maine) (12-3). Notre Dame Prep is led by three Big East signees: Providence signee Johnny Lacy (5-10, Milwaukee), Syracuse signee James Southerland (6-6, Queens, N.Y.) and Cincinnati signee Sean Kilpatrick (6-4, White Plains, NY). Local prospects Malik Smith (6-1 senior, Boston, Madison Park) and Ron Giplaye (6-6 junior, Lowell) are starters as well for Notre Dame Prep, which plays an independent schedule.

Bridgton Academy, defending NEPSAC Class A champions, feature 12 postgraduates led by George Washington signee Duane Smith (6-5, Toronto) and University of New Orleans signee Carl Blair (6-2, Houston).

The 3:30 game features two NEPSAC Class B powers. Brimmer and May (8-1) of Chestnut Hill is led by Kyle Casey (6-7, Medfield) who is currently being recruited by Harvard and URI. Marianapolis Prep (8-2) of Thompson, CT (2008 NEPSAC runner-up) features post grad Chris Flores, currently averaging 17.6 ppg (6-3, O’Bryant).
The final game at 5 features Lawrence Academy (Groton), a member of the ISL and 2007 NEPSAC Class C Champions against Boston Trinity Academy (Hyde Park), which advanced to the NEPSAC Class D tournament in 2008. Lawrence Academy is led by two Boston natives: Daryl Bishop, a 6-4 senior who signed a letter of intent to play ACC football at NC State and was invited to play basketball as well. He was heavily recruited for basketball nationally and was also a starter for the BABC along with the Tilton trio of Oriakhi, Coombs, and Coleman. Shabazz Napier, a 5-10 junior (Roxbury/Charlestown) is seen as a Division 1 recruit in the Class of 2010. Lawrence Academy and St. Marks will compete for both the ISL and NEPSAC Class C 2009 Championships.

NEPSAC features some of the most competitive high school age basketball competition in the United States. Recent graduates like Michael Beasley (Notre Dame Prep ’07, Miami Heat Rookie of the Year candidate), Antonio Anderson (Lynn, MA/Maine Central Institute ’04, University of Memphis), and Demetrius Nichols (Boston, MA/St. Andrews ’03, Syracuse ’07 and Chicago Bulls ’08) are among the many recent graduates of New England prep school basketball.

As you may have noticed when you picked up your Boston Globe this morning, all of our high school sports standings are moving online here at Boston.com starting today.

Hop over to High School Sports Central for all of today's content, which includes:

• Notebooks for boys' and girls' basketball and boys' hockey
• Standings for all winter sports
• Players of the week and leading scorers

If you don't see the standings for your favorite team or league, please get in touch with your coach, athletic director, or league representative and remind them to contact the Globe on Sundays to report the latest information.

The Globe's Amara Grautski checks in with a longer recap on last night's Reading-Lexington girls' basketball battle than we could stuff in Tuesday's roundup:

By Amara Grautski, Globe Correspondent

READING -- Redemption tasted sweet for the undefeated Reading girls' basketball team, which bested visiting Lexington, 45-26, last night.

Reading's Jaclyn Lyons

Although the home team was unable to beat the Minutemen all of last year, Reading handed the previously undefeated team its first loss of the 2008-09 season.

Guard Jaclyn Lyons set the tone for Reading (6-0) by putting the team’s first points on the board, sinking a 3-pointer to start the game. Lyons, the game’s lead scorer, followed with three more 3-pointers and totaled 22 points for the night, with 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

Lyons said she was happy with the win, but admitted it was -- at times -- an ugly game, with fouls and travels on both sides.

“We didn’t have our greatest game tonight, but we pulled through,” she said. “The first couple of periods we were playing as individuals, but if we play together we can beat almost any team.”

Although Lexington (4-1) never had a lead in the game, it didn’t seem out of reach at the end of the third quarter, with Reading ahead by eight. But as the Rockets’ teamwork clicked, they took off, tacking on 15 points in the fourth frame, when Lexington could only muster four.

Reading’s coach Kim Penney said her team came out to play hard, but hopes the Rockets will continue on their undefeated path by staying focused and taking each game at a time.

“The most important game is always the next one,” she said.

Framingham senior Pat O’Connell has committed to Holy Cross’s football program for the 2009 season.

O'Connell (Globe File Photo)

O’Connell, the Flyers’ first two-year captain under head coach Gary Doherty, made his decision last night. He was also considering scholarship offers from Sacred Heart and Assumption. Rhode Island and Colgate had also shown interest.

“The money’s a little bit of an issue, but getting a Holy Cross education, and playing football for Holy Cross, the opportunity seemed right,” O’Connell said.

O’Connell, a two-way starter at linebacker and center, made 108 tackles with two interceptions, two sacks and three forced fumbles as the Flyers went 10-3 and made their first trip to the postseason since 2000.

Framingham lost to Marshfield, 14-7, in the Division 1A playoffs.

On the offensive side of the ball, he provided the adequate pass protection needed for All-State quarterback Dan Guadagnoli to rewrite the Framingham record book.

“I’m a big believer in using your athletic ability to give the greatest academic possibility,” Doherty said. “He’s going to a great academic institution that just happens to have a fine athletic reputation.”

With the Crusaders, who went 7-4 this season under coach Tom Gilmore and just missed capturing the Patriot League title, O’Connell will most likely see time as a linebacker.

Check out the phenomenal user-submitted clip above, which features Newton North's Hallie Vitagliano hitting a halfcourt, buzzer-beater as the Tigers stunned crosstown rival Newton South during a holiday tournament. Newton North previously trialed by 2 with 2 seconds to play before Vitagliano's heroics.

Looking for winter schedules and results? We've got you covered.

Hop over to High School Sports Central to find all our schedules. In the upper right-hand corner of the page, you'll find a link for our latest scores (updated with daily results as they are reported to the Globe). Beneath that is a drop-down menu to find the schedules and results for all of your favorite schools.

For winter sports, only basketball and hockey (for both boys and girls) are online now. If you spot an error on your schedule (or would like to submit a missing result) use the link at the bottom of each schedule page. Remember that only scores reported nightly to the Globe are listed. If you don't see your team's results, encourage your coach or scorekeeper to call in to our sports desk at (617) 929-2860 after every game.

St. John's of Shrewsbury Athletic Director and head boys' basketball coach Bob Foley has confirmed that senior Matt LaBove has verbally committed to Dartmouth College for basketball.

LaBove, a 6-foot-9 center, averaged a double-double last season (15.3 ppg, 11.2 rpg) as the Pioneers advanced all the way to the Division 1 State Finals, where they lost to Central Catholic. There were other colleges in the running, but Foley said the Big Green were the front-runners from the get-go. LaBove had applied for early admission at the Ivy League school.

"That was kind of the one from the beginning," Foley said. "I know he wants to be an orthopedic surgeon, wants to be pre-med, and it doesn't get much better than Dartmouth. Others were interested, but he was very concentrated on Dartmouth. He really liked the head coach and the assistant coaches."

From the Sports Media column in today's Globe:

On Tuesday night, "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" (HBO, 10 p.m.) will air a feature on Andrew Lawson, a three-sport athlete at Norwell High School who has Down syndrome. Correspondent Frank Deford talks to Lawson about how his family, school, and friends made a difference in his life and helped him achieve his dreams.

The Globe profiled Lawson's senior season extensively in February. Check out the video below, or read more on Lawson.

A number of area senior student-athletes are making their college commitments official this week, with the early non-football signing period now in play (Nov. 12-19).

Correspondent Brendan Hall checks in with an updated list of commitments:

Baseball
Sahil Bloom, Weston (Stanford)
Kevin Brown, Algonquin (Bryant)
Peter Castaldi, St. John's Prep (Northeastern)
Jon Leroux, Auburn (Northeastern)
Derek Lowe, Lincoln-Sudbury (William & Mary)
John McKenna, Algonquin (UMass-Amherst)
Justin Quinn, Lincoln-Sudbury (Rollins College)
Fran Whitten, Westborough (Maine)

Basketball
Antoine Allen, Notre Dame Prep (Providence)
Russ Braithwaite, St. Mark’s (Babson)
Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Tilton/Boston (UConn)
Courtney Finn, Winthrop (Bentley)
Dave Johnson, St. Mark’s (Quinnipiac)
Erik Murphy, St. Mark’s (Florida)
Alex Oriakhi, Tilton/Lowell (UConn)
Dartaye Ruffin, Stoughton (Drexel)
James Southerland, Notre Dame Prep (Syracuse)

Field hockey
Kara Mackintire, Shrewsbury (Boston College)

Golf
Brittany Altomare, Shrewsbury (Virginia)

Lacrosse
Quinn Cully, Duxbury (Notre Dame)
Hakeem Lecky, Duxbury (Syracuse)
Colin O'Rourke, St. John's Shrewsbury (Wagner)
Alex Papoojian, St. John's Shrewsbury (VMI)
Chris Pellichero, King Philip (Providence)
Kristen Scopetski, Algonquin (UMass-Amherst)

Soccer
CC Jensen, Acton-Boxborough (Elon)
AJ Millet, Westford (Harvard)
Sarah Wooley, Duxbury (Siena)

Softball
Nicole D’Argento, Ashland (Boston College)
Jessie Bryant, Marlborough (Providence)

Edson Cardoso has officially been named the head coach of the Charlestown boys' basketball team after being hired for a teacher's position at the school Tuesday.

Cardoso played college ball at Eastern Nazarene and served as an assistant coach there after a stint as head coach at Fenway High.

St. Mark’s head coach David Lubick has confirmed that his son, Nate, verbally committed to Georgetown University.

Nate Lubick, a 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward at the Southborough school, averaged 16.5 points and nearly eight rebounds in his sophomore season. The Lions won the New England Class C Championship this past March, and have gone 76-13 over the last three seasons.

Now a junior, his suitors included UCLA, Virginia, Duke, Gonzaga, Boston College, Michigan and Florida. One of his teammates, 6-foot-10 senior forward Erik Murphy, committed to Florida last January.

When Natick basketball coach Tim Collins stepped down last month, athletic director Tom Lamb turned to a familiar face ... and name.

Natick yesterday named Darren Flutie as it's new boys' basketball coach. Out of 25 candidates, Flutie was selected for his passion and communication skills as a coach, according to Natick athletic director Tom Lamb.

Flutie, younger brother of former Natick and Boston College coach Doug Flutie, is “extremely excited” about his new opportunity at NHS.

“I was probably more excited when my two kids were born, but I couldn’t be happier right now,” Flutie said.

Lamb, who is also the football coach at Natick, is confident in Flutie’s ability at coach after seeing him in the role with a youth football league.

“We’re excited to have him, he’s a wonderful human being,” Lamb said. “He’s great with kids. He’s a winner.”

Flutie has worked as a volunteer with the Natick football team for several seasons.

Here's the schedule for the 2008 Agganis All-Star Classics:

• Awards ceremony -- Sun. July 13, 10 a.m. -- Fraser Field, Lynn
• 11th Softball Classic -- Sun. July 13, noon -- Fraser Field
• 14th Baseball Classic -- Sun. July 13, 2 p.m. -- Fraser Field
• 4th Women’s Basketball -- Mon. July 14, 6 p.m. -- Lynn English
• 4th Men’s Basketball -- Mon. July 14, 7:30 p.m. -- Lynn English
• 13th Men’s Soccer -- Tues. July 15, 5:30 p.m. -- Manning Field, Lynn
• 13th Women’s Soccer -- Tue. July 15, 7:30 p.m. -- Manning Field
• 48th Football Classic -- Wed July 16, 7 p.m. -- Manning Field

After the jump you'll find all the rosters that we've been provided for the event.

After going 36-10 in two years of coaching the Charlestown basketball team, Steve Cassidy has resigned from the post.

In a phone interview this evening, he said that he felt he was no longer in an ‘optimal situation’ with the team.

‘I’ve thought about it for the last couple of weeks,’ he said. ‘...I had a great staff and great kids, but sometimes, it’s time to move on to what you might feel would be a better situation.

‘[The team and I] met today and I think they understood...We sat, we talked about it and everybody’s ready to go forward and they understand that I’ll miss working with them.’

Cassidy, who led the team to the Div. 1 North semifinals last season, said that he hasn’t found out who will replace him as coach of the Townies.

‘I’ve just been kind of spending a lot of time thinking about whether I wanted to continue coaching at Charlestown,’ he said. ‘I haven’t heard about any possible successor.’

The final Top 20 polls for the winter season are now online.

Hop HERE to read about the final polls, or jump HERE to find all the rankings at High School Sports Central.

A reminder that the winter All-Scholastic teams will be unveiled on March 30. You can check out a sneak peek at what we have in store online for the section HERE. We'll give you a glimpse of what we did with some of our hoopsters this coming week.

After that we'll be shifting gears to the spring, where we have a bunch of new features planned, including daily and team schedules for baseball, softball, lacrosse, and other spring sports. We've also got some exciting rankings news that our lacrosse friends will be quite familiar with.

But more on that later. A huge thank you to everyone who made the winter season such an enjoyable experience. Happy Easter!

There's a lot of new video online from the past few days, so here's a rundown of what to look for:

Hoops

• Click HERE to watch the Championship Roundup

The clip above is a 15-minute highlight reel featuring clips from all six of the state championship games at the DCU Center in Worcester.

Hockey

• Click HERE to watch the Championship Roundup
• Click HERE to watch the Super 8 title game

The Championship Roundup is a 10-minute highlight reel featuring clips from the Divisions 1-3 championships at the TD Banknorth Garden, where Needham, Sandwich, and Westfield claimed state titles. The Super 8 title game shows Reading's 3-0 win over Malden Catholic.

Plenty more Super 8 video has been uploaded, including full-length highlight reels from many of the third round and semifinal games. Hop over to Super 8 Central and browse the video player there for the latest.

Lawrence Academy standout Steve Mejia has been named the Gatorade boys' basketball Player of the Year for Massachusetts.

Mejia, a 5-foot-9, 170-pound senior guard, averaged 19.7 points and 4.3 assists per game, while guiding the Spartans to a 23-4 record and the NEPSAC Class C title game (where Lawrence fell to Florida-bound Erik Murphy and St. Mark's).

Mejia will attend the University of Rhode Island.

Click the link below to read the full press release on Mejia's award.

We passed along Play of the Game highlights from each of Saturday's six state championship hoop battles at the DCU Center in Worcester. A longer highlight reel from the day will be available later.

• Click here for Central Catholic vs. St. John's (Shrewsbury)
• Click here for Northampton vs. Andover
• Click here for Catholic Memorial vs. Tantasqua
• Click here for Wellesley vs. Millbury
• Click here for Frontier vs. Scituate
• Click here for Archbishop Williams vs. Quaboag

division 1 boys' state championship
Central Catholic 68, St. John's (Shrewsbury) 47

His teammates battling foul trouble and his opponent making a feverish charge, Central Catholic senior Adrian Gonzales put his teammates on his shoulders and carried the Raiders to a 68-47 triumph over St. John's (Shrewsbury) in the Division 1 title game at the DCU Center in Worcester.

Gonzales and senior point guard Wilfredo Pagan combined for 23 first-half points, but a late St. John's charge only put the Raiders out front by seven at the intermission. The Pioneers soon made up that deficit, tying the game at 32 with 5:35 to play in the third frame.

Gonzales took over late. He hit back-to-back buckets before the break to push Central's lead to eight (45-37) heading to the final frame. He continued to pour it on in the fourth frame, fearlessly attacking the basket and converting layups above the St. John's frontcourt.

Central's 6-foot-5 forward finished with a game-high 28 points. His output helped soften the blow when teammates Carson Desrosiers and Billy Marsden (only a combined seven points) both fouled out in the fourth quarter. Pagan chipped in 21 points overall.

***

4th quarter

Central Catholic's Carson Desrosiers fouled out with 2:45 remaining. He finished with just two points, but added 12 blocks. Central Catholic's Billy Marsden fouled out with over four minutes to play. He finished with just five points. But what does that say about Central when they've played without one of their premier scorers and one of their finest underclassmen and still lead by double digits late in the game.

A lot of that credit goes to Adrian Gonzales, who is having himself an incredible game.

***

3rd quarter

Adrian Gonzales closed out the third quarter with a pair of buckets (one leading to an old-fashioned, three-point play) and Central Catholic will carry a 45-37 advantage into our final frame.

Central Catholic has the lead (40-35 with 2:00 to go in the third), but is battling foul trouble. Billy Marsden went to the bench with 2:18 to go after picking up his fourth foul. Carson Desrosiers is on the floor with three fouls to his name.

St. John's tied the game at 32 to open the second half, but buckets by Billy Marsden and Adrian Gonzales have Central out front, 36-33, with 3:33 to play in the third quarter.

***

2nd quarter

We got ourselves a game.

St. John's caught fire late in the first half and, despite trailing by as much as 16 in the second quarter, have pulled within seven at 32-25 at the intermission.

The Pioneers got a spark from bench players Richard Rodgers and Brandan Russell, who came in to score a combined 12 points.

Wilfredo Pagan keyed the Central offense from his point guard position, scoring 11 first-half points and setting up easy buckets for his teammates. Adrian Gonzales has a team-high 12 points for the Raiders.

St. John's chipped away at its deficit (mostly at the free throw line) and pulled within 11 at 27-16 with 2:23 to play.

Central Catholic had threatened to turn this into a laugher early in the second quarter. The Raiders scored the first 11 points in the frame and led, 23-7, with 5:43 to go.

Pagan is playing a masterful point guard, pushing the ball every time he touches it and creating easy opportunities for his teammates. Walston Constant deserves some serious credit, too, for stepping right in for Billy Marsden when he went to the bench with foul trouble.

***

1st quarter

Central Catholic's Wilfredo Pagan scored six first-quarter points to help the Raiders open a 12-7 advantage over St. John's (Shrewsbury) after eight minutes.

Central shooting guard Billy Marsden went to the bench with two fouls just 5:15 in. His replacement, Walston Constant made a nice steal/layup combo to give Central a lead.

Both teams seem to be shaking off a bit of nervous energy. Lot of up-and-down action, just not a lot of finishing around the basket. St. John's owns a 4-2 advantage about five minutes in.

***

The DCU Center is packed for this one and most of the fans are jammed on the Central Catholic side of the arena. We're told if the lower bowl is filled there's about 7,500 fans in attendance. We're almost at that level and there are plenty of others in the second level.

***

Starting lineups

Here are the starting lineups for the Division 1 boys' title game:

CENTRAL CATHOLIC

25 - Billy Marsden - 5-10 - Jr.
33 - Wilfredo Pagan - 5-9 - Sr.
34 - Tim Wheeler - 6-4 - Jr.
50 - Adrian Gonzales - 6-5 - Sr.
55 - Carson Desrosiers - 6-9 - Soph.

Coach: Ricky Nault

ST. JOHN'S (SHREWSBURY)

21 - David White - 6-0 - Soph.
24 - John Perron - 6-2 - Sr.
30 - Anthony Trapasso -6-1 - Jr.
33 - Chad LaBove - 6-6 - Soph.
44 - Matt LaBove - 6-9 - Jr.

Coach: Bob Foley

division 1 girls' state championship
Northampton 50, Andover 37

Northampton controlled the paint at both ends of the floor and forced Andover to rely solely on its outside shooting, which wasn't enough as the Blue Devils emerged with a 50-37 triumph in the Division 1 championship at the DCU Center.

The Warriors connected on eight 3-pointers on the day, but only mustered six other field goals from inside the arc. The Blue Devils bullied their way under the glass and came out with most of the caroms.

Andover's Laura Renfro poured in a game-high 20 points by connecting on six trifectas, but the typically high-octane Warriors only put four players on the scoring ledger overall with no one else in double figures.

Northampton got a game-high 20 points from Alannah Driscoll-Sbar, who seemed to live at the free throw line in the second half (she hit 9 of 10 freebies over the final 16 minutes), while Brighid Courtney chipped in 15 more for the Blue Devils.

Andover briefly cut its deficit to single digits in the fourth quarter, but Northampton scored the game's final four points to seal the triumph.

***

4th quarter

Andover carved its deficit to single digits following a 3-pointer by Megan Thomann with under three minutes to play, but Northampton has quickly pushed its advantage back into double digits.

The Blue Devils lead, 48-37, with 1:52 to go.

Another 3-pointer for Laura Renfro, who has six for the game, but the deficit remains 12 for Andover.

Time is running out for Andover and it's simply being outmuscled around the basket (with its outside shooting unable to loosen up the defense inside). The Warriors trail, 44-31, with 4:18 to go.

Megan Thomann connected on a 3-pointer -- he first bucket of the day -- but the deficit remains 12 for the Warriors with 6:11 to play.

***

3rd quarter

Andover can't hit with consistency from the perimeter and the Warriors are getting dominated on the glass (both in the defensive and offensive ends of the court) as Northampton takes a 39-25 advantage into the fourth quarter.

The Blue Devils's Alannah Driscoll-Sbar scored the final eight points of the frame (six at the free throw line and the other a buzzer-beating bucket) to pace her squad.

Laura Renfro splashed a pair of trifectas (she now has five on the day and 17 of her team's 25 points), but Northampton is getting to the free throw line and connecting (7 of 8 for the third quarter) and holds a 35-25 advantage with 1:15 to play in the frame.

***

2nd quarter

Brighid Courtney and Alannah Driscoll-Sbar combined for 14 first-half points to pace Northampton to a 23-15 halftime advantage over Andover.

The Warriors struggled mightily from the floor and it seemed only Laura Renfro (team-high 11 points, three 3-pointers) really got going. Camille Fantini kicked in the other four points for Andover.

Not a particularly crisp quarter of play in the early going.

Andover got its first bucket in more than seven minutes with a layup by Renfro with 3:51 to play in the half.

***

1st quarter

Lauren Renfro struck for two early 3-pointers, but the Andover offense was otherwise cold and Northampton leads, 12-8, after eight minutes of play.

***

Starting lineups

Here are the starting lineups for the Division 1 girls' title game:

ANDOVER

3 - Natalie Gomez-Martinez - 5-7 - Fr.
10 - Megan Thomann - 5-7 - Sr.
14 - Lauren Hughes - 5-9 - Sr.
23 - Laura Renfro - 5-7 - Sr.
33 - Camille Fantini - 5-8 - Jr.

Coach: Jim Tildsley

NORTHAMPTON

5 - Iris Santoni - 5-6 - Sr.
12 - Jamie Messer - 5-8 - Sr.
24 - Courtney Brighid - 6-0 - Sr.
25 - Jenny Belle - 5-9 - Jr.
32 - Alannah Driscoll-Sbar - 5-11 - Jr.

Coach: Tom Parent

division 2 boys' state championship
Catholic Memorial 74, Tantasqua 56

Catholic Memorial took out a year's worth of frustration on Tantasqua, denying the Warriors their bid for 50 consecutive wins and ripping the Division 2 state championship from their grasp with a 74-56 triumph at the DCU Center in Worcester.

Tantasqua defeated CM in last year's title game.

This year, Julian Colarusso poured in a game-high 24 points, 18 of which came in the first half where Catholic Memorial turned an early eight-point deficit into a 14-point halftime advantage.

Tantasqua tried desperately to stay close, riding the shoulders of big man Brian Vayda and his team-high 21 points and 11 rebounds. But the lead only briefly dipped from double digits and it was Colarusso who answered with a bucket that helped push the advantage to 20 before Tantasqua chipped away over the final four minutes.

***

4th quarter

Catholic Memorial is pulling this one open at the seams.

Tantasqua will make a basket at the other end and the Knights come racing up court for a demoralizing answer.The lead is climbing towards 20 as CM leads, 62-44, with 4:54 to go.

***

3rd quarter

Tantasqua scraped its deficit down to nine late in the third quarter, but Catholic Memorial responded with three quick buckets and the Knights will carry a 54-39 advantage into the final frame.

Julian Colarusso continues to come up big. His lone bucket of the third quarter came after the Warriors had pulled to within 48-39 as Colarusso calmly sliced the defense for an easy layup that pushed the lead back to 11.

David Grant and Brendan Monteiro added baskets before the break.

***

2nd quarter

Catholic Memorial limped sluggishly out of the gates, but kicked on the burners midway through the first quarter and the Knights lead Tantasqua, 42-26, at the intermission of the Division 2 boys' championship game.

Despite falling behind 11-3 early, Catholic Memorial embarked on a 20-2 run and led, 28-15, with 5:20 to play in the half. Tantasqua clawed to within 12 with 1:19 to play in the half, but a couple buckets by Julian Colarusso helped push the Kngihts' lead right back up.

Colarusso tossed in a team-high 18 points in the first half to pace the Knights.

***

1st quarter

Ho-hum. Just your typical Catholic Memorial start to tournament games.

For the third straight game, the Knights fell behind early (Tantasqua opened on an 11-3 run), but CM responded and carries a 17-13 advantage into the second quarter.

Six points for Julian Colarusso for CM, while Brian Vayda has six for Tantasqua.

***

Starting lineups

Here are the starting lineups for today's Division 2 boys' title game:

CATHOLIC MEMORIAL

5 - Brendan Monteiro - 5-11 - Sr.
11 - Julian Colarusso - 6-3 - Sr.
12 - Allen Harris - 6-4 - Jr.
21 - Jeff Tagger - 6-0 - Jr.
44 - Mike Ennis - 6-1 - Jr.

Coach: Denis Tobin

TANTASQUA

5 - Marcus Gaudet - 5-8 - Sr.
21 - Brandon Forcier - 5-8 - Jr.
32 - Dan Kemp - 6-3 - Jr.
51 - Brian Vayda - 6-5 - Sr.
52 - Ryan White - 6-5 - Sr.

Coach: Jeff Child

division 2 girls' state championship
Wellesley 65, Millbury 44

Whatever offensive woes might have plagued the Wellesley girls' basketball team at the TD Banknorth Garden earlier this week during the Eastern Mass. finals were nowhere in sight in Worcester.

The Raiders put 10 players on the scoring ledger and received balanced output from its starting 5 to emerge with a convincing 65-44 triumph over Millbury in the Division 2 state championship at the DCU Center in Worcester.

Lindsay Sydyness scored a team-high 16 points, while Jesse Miller (15) and Mary Louise Dixon (10) joined her in double figures.

Millbury's Sydney Bloomstein scored a team-high 11 points, all of which came in the second half.

Wellesley led by just five midway through the third quarter, but embarked on a 12-1 run to close out the frame and never looked back.

***

4th quarter

Wellesley is out front with a comfortable 17-point cushion and 3:27 to play.

The Raiders have enjoyed balanced output with nine different players on the scoring ledger so far.

***

3rd quarter

Wellesley's Blake Dietrick hit a pair of 3-pointers as part of a 12-1 run the Raiders produced to punctuate the third quarter and stretch their lead to 48-32 moving to the fourth frame.

Not a pretty quarter of basketball in the early going.

Wellesley stretched its lead to double digits with a couple of early hoops, but Millbury heated up a bit and trimmed its deficit to 36-31 with 2:43 to play in the frame.

***

2nd quarter

Wellesley dominated the early portion of the second quarter and an 8-0 run helped put the Raiders up by double digits, but Millbury responded with an 8-0 run of its own later in the half and trimmed its deficit to 31-26 at the intermission.

Jesse Miller chipped in a team-high nine points for Wellesley, Lindsay Sydness added eight points for the Raiders.

Millbury was paced by Julie Frankian with eight points, while Chelsea Perkins added seven more.

***

1st quarter

Senior Lindsay Syndness fueled a brief 8-2 burst late in the first quarter to help Wellesley build a 19-14 advantage over Millbury after eight minutes.

Jesse Miller kicked in five points for the Raiders in the first quarter.

***

Starting lineups

Here are the starting lineups for the Division 2 girls' title game:

WELLESLEY

10 - Mary Louise Dixon - 5-4 - Soph.
14 - Lindsay Sydness - 6-1 - Sr.
25 - Chelsea Sanders - 5-8 - Sr.
30 - Eleni Dixon - 5-8 - Sr.
33 - Jesse Miller - 6-0 - Jr.

Coach: Kristin Cieri

MILLBURY

11 - Julie Frankian - 5-9 - Fr.
14 - Sydney Bloomstein - 5-9 - Fr.
23 - Cailin Bullett - 5-9 - Jr.
33 - Chelsea Perkins - 5-9 - Soph.
42 - Kirsten Orrell - 6-0 - Jr.

Coach: Steve Reno

division 3 boys' state championship
Frontier 79, Scituate 65

Frontier utilized its perimeter game to open some space against Scitaute in the third quarter, then fended off the Sailors over the final eight minutes to emerge with a 79-65 triumph in the boys' Division 3 state championship game at the DCU Center in Worcester.

Twins Dan Clark (23 points) and Brian Clark (24 points) sparked the Frontier offense, but it might have been Gary Grandonico who came up biggest for the Red Hawks. The junior guard scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half, including 11 in the final frame.

Rodney Beldo paced Scituate with a team-high 23 points, while Blaine O'Brien added 20 for the Sailors.

Scituate trimmed its deficit as low as six early in the fourth quarter, but Grandonico got red hot and helped the Red Hawks fly away with the title.

***

4th quarter

This one might be slipping away from Scituate.

Frontier's Gary Grandonico has gotten hot from the floor. After hitting a pair of big 3-pointers earlier in the frame, he just knocked down back-to-back jumpers (one clanging off the glass and in from the lane) to give the Red Hawks a 67-56 lead with 4:18 to go.

Dan Clark banged home a big jumper with 1:06 to go for a 73-63 advantage.

***

3rd quarter

Six 3-pointers decorated a third quarter in which Frontier looked like it might be pulling away, only for Scituate to rally late.

The Red Hawks lead, 58-52, heading to the final frame.

Earlier in the third quarter, Brian and Dan Clark splashed trifectas on consecutive trips down the court and Frontier opened a 53-45 advantage with 2:34 to play in the third quarter.

***

2nd quarter

Some entertaining up-tempo basketball in the first half.

Twins Dan and Brian Clark combined for 25 points to pace Frontier to a 39-35 advantage over Scituate at the intermission.

Rodeny Beldo led Scituate with a team-high 13 points in the first half (including 3 trifectas), while big men Blaine O'Brien and Sean McCarthy chipped in seven points apiece.

***

1st quarter

Scituate and Frontier are knotted at 19 after eight minutes.

Twins Dan and Brian Clark are a formidable pair for the Red Hawks and combined for all but two of their team's points in the first quarter.

Scituate center Sean McCarthy is feasting under the basket and chipped in seven first-quarter points.

***

Starting lineups

Here are the starting lineups for the Division 3 boys' title game:

SCITUATE

10 - Blaine O'Brien - 6-6 - Sr.
11 - Rodney Beldo - 5-10 - Soph.
12 - Sam Malone - 5-11 - Soph.
32 - Keith Fluery - 6-1 - Sr.
54 - Sean McCarthy - 6-9 - Sr.

Coach: Matt Poirier

FRONTIER

4 - Brennan McKenna - 5-10 - Sr.
21 - Jamie Bell - 6-1 - Sr.
22 - Brian Clark - 6-4 - Sr.
23 - Dan Clark - 6-4 - Sr.
30 - Jon Pepyne - 6-2 - Jr.

Coach: Marty Sanderson

division 3 girls' state championship
Archbishop Williams 69, Quaboag 47

Archbishop Williams repeats as Division 3 state champions with a 69-47 triumph over Quaboag at the DCU Center in Worcester.

Bishops fans are chanting "back to back." Team members just carried the trophy over to the student cheering section to celebrate with their fans.

Casey Capello finished with a team-high 19 points for the Bishops, while Valerie Driscoll kicked in 18 more. Christine Duffy joined them in double figures with 11, but ran the show splendidly from her point guard position.

Quaboag got 13 points apiece from Macey Gaumond and Meaghan O'Keefe.

***

4th quarter

Quaboag tried to hang around, but Williams kept coming up with big baskets to prevent any sort of charge.

Alex Knowles needed three attempts, but got a putback and, next trip down the floor, Casey Capello splashed a 3-pointer as the Bishops lead expanded to 65-44 with 3:10 to play.

Capello and Duffy came out to a big hand with less than a minute to play.

***

3rd quarter

Quaboag embarked on a little 9-0 run late in the third quarter to cut its deficit as low as 14, but Archbishop Williams holds a comfortable 54-38 advantage moving to the fourth frame.

Archbishop Williams' offense fired on all cylinders early and the Bishops opened a 50-29 advantage over Quaboag with 3:20 to play in the third quarter.

The Bishops hit from all over the court and Casey Capello and Christine Duffy produced back-to-back trifectas on consecutive trips down the court to really help WIlliams open some space.

Meaghan O'Keefe -- Quaboag's big post presence -- has been forced to step outside and try to hit the perimeter shot to keep her team close. She had two trifectas in the quarter and 11 points overall.

***

2nd quarter

Archbishop Williams scored the first 20 points of the second quarter and held Quaboag without a basket until Macey Gaumond splashed a 3-pointer from the wing at the buzzer as the Bishops lead 32-19 at the intermission.

Williams quickly erased a four-point, first-quarter deficit with its big run. It looked like a potential shutout until Gaumond got off the last-second heave.

The Bishops were paced by Valerie Driscoll with 11 first-half points, while Casey Capello kicked in eight more.

Gaumond had a team-high nine points for the Cougars.

***

1st quarter

Whistles dominated the early portion of the first quarter, but the game opened up a bit more in the late going.

Quaboag got a pair of late trifectas from Macey Gaumond and Olivia Jankins and boasts a 16-12 advantage after eight minutes.

Gaumond paced her team with six points, while Casey Capello has a team-high five points.

***

Starting lineups

Here are the starting lineups for the Division 3 girls' title game:

ARCHBISHOP WILLIAMS

20 - Courtney McNamara - 5-7 - Sr.
21 - Casey Capello - 5- 8 - Sr.
24 - Christine Duffy - 5-6 - Sr.
25 - Alex Knowles - 6- 0 - Sr.
33 - Valerie Driscoll - 6-3 - Soph.

Coach: Jim Bancroft

QUABOAG

10 - Meghan Burns - 5-8 - Soph.
13 - Macey Gaumond - 5-9 - Sr.
14 - Meaghan O'Keefe - 6-2 - Jr.
15 - Olivia Jankins - 5-7 - Soph.
32 - Samantha McCann - 5-11 - Fr.

Coach: John Vayda

Welcome to the DCU Center in Worcester, site of today's six state championship basketball games. The schedule for today's games is in the entry below.

Archbishop Williams and Quaboag are on the court warming up. Back with updates throughout the day.

We'll be live from the DCU Center in Worcester Saturday, site of six state basketball championships. The action tips off at 10:45 a.m. and will feature the boys' and girls' title games for Divisions 1-3.

We'll have live updates from each game and video highlights throughout the day. Here is the schedule:

• Division 3 girls Archbishop Williams vs. Quaboag, 10:45 a.m.
• Division 3 boys Scituate vs. Frontier, 12:30 p.m.
• Division 2 girls Wellesley vs. Millbury, 2:15 p.m.
• Division 2 boys Catholic Memorial vs. Tantasqua, 4 p.m.
• Division 1 girls Andover vs. Northampton, 5:45 p.m.
• Division 1 boys Central Catholic vs. St. John's (Shrewsbury), 7:30 p.m.

We've never heard of the lines at the DCU Center box office being excruciatingly long on the day of the boys' and girls' state basketball finals, but if you're not one for waiting, you can order your tickets to Saturday's games online through Ticketmaster right now.

You just might want to check that limit on your credit card.

A typical $12 general admission ticket will cost you $18.65 online. See, there's the $12 ticket, the $6.15 convenience charge, and a $.50 building facility charge. A $7 student ticket will cost you $12.75 online after charges.

Oh, and you'll have to pay $2.50 for the TicketFast option to have your tickets emailed to you. Otherwise, you'll have to pick them up at Will Call, and probably stand in the same line that you'd otherwise pay just $7.50 or $12.50 to buy a ticket the day of the game.

Gotta love TicketMaster.

Colleague Andrew Mahoney checks in with some thoughts following the Eastern Mass. hoops championships at the TD Banknorth Garden, including the long wait Cohasset coach John LeVangie endured to secure his first state title.

Click HERE to hop over to his Varsity Views blog.

Springfield Central standout Felicia Barron has been named the Gatorade girls' basketball Player of the Year.

Barron guided the Golden Eagles to the Division 1 state championship last year. Click HERE to watch our highlights from Springfield Central's win over Central Catholic at the DCU Center in Worcester.

Click the link below to read the full press release on Barron's award.

We posted short Play of the Game clips from all eight Eastern Mass. boys' and girls' basketball title games at the TD Banknorth Garden over the past two days. Click a link below to see a clip from each game.

Girls

• Click HERE for Andover vs. New Bedford
• Click HERE for Wellesley vs. L-S
• Click HERE for Abp. Williams vs. Pentucket
• Click HERE for Cohasset vs. Manchester

Boys

• Click HERE for Central Catholic vs. BC High
• Click HERE for Catholic Memorial vs. Reading
• Click HERE for Scituate vs. Watertown
• Click HERE for NCC vs. Avon

The boys' stormed the dance floor first last night, but it's Ladies' Nights at the Garden this evening with four Eastern Mass. girls' basketball championship tilts on tap.

We'll be live from the TD Banknorth Garden, once again, providing live updates on all four games and distributing video highlights from every contest.

Here is tonight's schedule:

• Division 1 Andover vs. New Bedford, 7:45 p.m.
• Division 2 Lincoln-Sudbury vs. Wellesley, 6 p.m.
• Division 3 Pentucket vs. Abp. Williams, 4:15 p.m.
• Division 4 Manchester-Essex vs. Cohasset, 2:30 p.m.

With no Division 4 outside of Eastern Mass., today's game is also the state championship tilt. The remaining winners in Divisions 1-3 advance to Saturday's state finals at the DCU Center in Worcester to meet the Central/West champions.

Here are the starting lineups for Game 1 (Avon vs. North Cambridge Catholic):

North Cambridge Catholic

1 - Eddie Maiben - 5-8 - Jr.
2 - Paul Rose - 5-10 - Sr.
5 - Allen St. Surin - 6-2 - Sr.
12 - Paul Kielb - 6-3 - Sr.
14 - Clyde Francis - 5-9 - Sr.

Coach: Daniel Salazar

Avon

12 - Shawn Brown - 5-9 - Fr.
14 - Saleek Marshall - 6-0 - 8th
21 - Mark Chapelle - 5-10 - Sr.
22 - Akeem Williams - 5-7 - Jr.
25 - Deric McCottrell - 5-2 - Soph.

Coach: Richard Gifford

We'll be live today from the TD Banknorth Garden, site of four Eastern Mass. boys' basketball finals.

Call these teams the other super 8, because we've got eight squads vying for four titles. Here's today's schedule:

• Division 4 North Cambridge Catholic vs. Avon, 2:30 p.m.
• Division 3 Watertown vs. Scituate, 4:15 p.m.
• Division 2 Reading vs. Catholic Memorial, 6 p.m.
• Division 1 Central Catholic vs. BC High, 7:45 p.m.

With no Division 4 outside of Eastern Mass., today's game is also the state championship tilt. The remaining winners in Divisions 1-3 advance to Saturday's state finals at the DCU Center in Worcester to meet the Central/West champions (to be decided later this week).

We'll have live updates from the Garden, along with video highlights throughout the day.

Stay close.

It will be Archbishop Williams and Cardinal Spellman in the Division 3 girls South sectional finals.

Both Catholic Conference squads prevailed in the semifinals last night at Norwell High, with No. 2 seed Spellman defeating No. 3 seed Fairhaven in the opener, 62-41. Junior Reilly Poirier led the way for the Cardinals with 27 points and 13 rebounds. She was clutch from the foul line as well, going 13 for 16 from the charity stripe.

The Cardinals are still getting used to life without Jade Santos, the talented senior who sustained a brutal knee injury in the last game of the regular season. Santos remains a fixture on the Spellman team, going through warm-ups before each game and then cheering on her teammates from the bench.

"Jade's grown up so much as a person," said Spellman coach Pat Lamb. "She could be feeling sorry for herself, like it's the end of the world. But she's here, still being a leader."

Junior Kate Chuili got the start in her place and scored 10 points.

"We tell the girls all the time, 'You may not know when you're going to get your chance, but you better be ready.' Kate's done a great job," said Lamb.

Archbishop Williams advanced with a 68-38 win over No. 1 seed Westwood in the nightcap. The Bishops had a balanced attack, led by sophomore center Valerie Driscoll's 20 points and 18 rebounds. Guard Casey Capello poured in 19 points, while point guard Christine Duffy had another solid all-around game with 14 points, seven assists and five steals.

The loss marked the end of a brilliant coaching career for Westwood's Bill Riley. The long-time mentor of the Wolverines had decided earlier that this would be his final season.

"Boy, is that a good team," said Riley of the Bishops. "We knew what they wanted to do, but we just couldn't stop them."

Senior guard Jill Greenberg scored 18 points for the Wolverines, and managed to finish with over 1,000 for her career.

After splitting a pair of games in the regular season, Spellman and Archies will square off on Saturday at UMass-Boston at 10 a.m. It will be about more than just bragging rights, as the winner will get to move on to the TD BankNorth Garden.

boys' basketball > division 3 south
Abington 57, Norton 44

The Abington High boys' basketball team used a balanced scoring attack to defeat Norton, 57-44 in the first round of the Division 3 South tournament. Brian Kurowski had 15 points to lead the Green Wave, while Ryan Chambers added 14 points, Kristian LaPointe scored 12, and Chris Tighe chipped in 11 to go with 10 rebounds.

The game was close through most of the first half, and was tied at 30 early in the third quarter before Abington took control with an 11-0 run. Norton, which entered the game with a 13-7 record, seeded 10th, would never get closer than seven points for the rest of the game.

The key for the Green Wave was defending Norton center Darren Doucette. The 6-foot, 4-inch center torched Abington for 15 points in the first half, but was held to only four points in the second half. He finished with 12 rebounds.

“We did a much better job of identifying Doucette in the second half,” said Abington coach Don Byron, whose squad entered the tournament as the seventh seed and a 14-6 record. “Our defense really set up our offense.”

Making the win even more impressive was that Abington graduated 12 of 13 players from last year’s squad that went 19-1 and captured the South Shore League crown.

“The kids came out and responded really well,” said Byron. “They weren’t tentative. They didn’t play cautious.”

The Green Wave finished second in the SSL this year behind 19-1 Norwell. The Clippers entered the tournament as the second seed and also won their first round match last night, 64-41, over Bellingham. Abington will travel to Norwell Friday night for a Division 3 South quarterfinal. The Clippers swept the season series.

A pair of upsets at the City championships this afternoon. Our correspondents report that East Boston shocked top-ranked Charlestown, 71-69, in the boys' final, while Brighton bested 20th-ranked New Mission, 61-55, in the girls' final.