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.