By Andrew MacDougall, Globe Correspondent

Cardinal Spellman senior Joey Glynn has verbally committed to play basketball at Bentley University this fall.

“I’m very excited this whole process is over,” said Glynn. “[This is] definitely very exciting to me.”

According to Spellman head coach Mike Perry, Bentley offered Glynn a full, four-year scholarship to continue his basketball career with the Falcons.

The 6-foot-5 forward is averaging more than 21 points per game this season for the Cardinals, who are currently 14-4 and third in the Catholic Central League with a 7-3 record.

Last year, Glynn averaged more than 20 points and 10 rebounds per game while leading the Cardinals to a 20-5 record and the Division 3 South Sectional title.

Perry thinks that the style of game Glynn likes to play will complement the style of play implemented by Bentley head coach Jay Lawson and the Falcon offense.

“I think it’s a win-win situation for him and for Bentley,” said Perry, “especially considering the type of game they like to play. He’s perfect for them. He’s so unselfish, he’s a very good rebounder, and he can run the floor. At 6-foot-5, he can play numerous positions.

“It’s nice [to coach him] with his size and quickness, and he reacts so well that it's a bonus for us because it’s tough for small guard to guard him. I think for both it’s a win-win.”

Perry stated that Glynn is also excited about the business program that Bentley offers, saying it's "a perfect fit as far as he’s concerned.”

Bentley came out on top over Stonehill, Annapolis, Worcester Poly Tech, and Saint Anselm.

By Seth Lakso, Globe Correspondent

Super Bowl Sunday is a day plenty of New Englanders would like to forget. For friends and family of Mystic Valley Regional's Greg Statho, who became the first player in school history to reach the 1,000 point mark, Sunday was, well, pretty okay.

Statho, a Melrose native, entered Sunday's home game against Notre Dame (Lawrence) needing 10 points to reach the milestone. He finished with 12, hitting his goal with a fast break layup late in the fourth quarter of a 64-40 Eagle victory.

"We stopped the game and had a little ceremony where we gave Greg the ball," said Mystic Valley coach Tony Ferullo, whose team (15-3, 8-1) has already clinched the Commonwealth Athletic Conference (Small) title.

"The first thing [Statho] did was go over to his mother and father (who is blind, but was there at the game) and give them a hug. It was a nice moment," said Ferullo.

“Greg is really a success story," Ferullo continued. "He's come up through the ranks since the fifth grade and although he's not a big player, he's played big. In my nine years at Mystic Valley he's been one of the most productive players we've ever had. When you start naming the best players to attend the school, Greg's name will be right up there."

By Ryan Mooney, Globe Correspondent

Hebron, ME -- After breaking the Berwick Academy all-time scoring record just weeks ago, Harry Rafferty has hit another milestone, dropping a career-high 47 points against Hebron Academy (ME). His previous career-high was 36, a mark he has hit three times in his four-year career.

The 5-foot-7 co-captain hit six 3-pointers and was 15-for-16 from the charity stripe, while accounting for more than half of the Bulldogs offensive output in the 82-68 win.

Coach Rory Early described it as “just another day at the office” for the three-year Berwick MVP and reigning Eastern Independent League MVP.

“He’s an incredible scorer, he’s been asked to carry the load for the last three years,” Early said of his prized guard. “Great kid and tremendous talent.”

Early contends that if Rafferty were taller he would be a Division 1 scholarship athlete.

Rafferty became the Bulldogs all-time leading scorer in the second half of 60-32 win over Landmark on Jan., 11.

By Colleen Casey, Globe Correspondent

Defense has been key for the Braintree girls' basketball team this season, and last night was no exception. The host Wamps plowed through Bay State Conference foe Brookline, 46-26, improving to 14-1.

“Our defensive intensity was key,” said coach Kristen McDonnell. “By the third and fourth quarter we were just able to wear them down.”

The Wamps stellar defense held the Warriors to only 8 points at the end of the half. Freshman Bridget Herlihy (8 points), a 6-foot-2-inch forward, led the attack with nine rebounds.

“Bridget got the game ball tonight. She had a great well-rounded game,” said McDonnell.

Freshman forward Ashley Russell fueled the Wamps on the other end of the court, scoring 11 points. Senior captain Paige Marshall chipped in 9 points and six assists.

The Wamps have been working hard the past week to bounce back from their only loss of the season to Wellesley, 48-35. They beat Natick by 27 and now Brookline by 20.

“Since our loss last week we’re focusing more on going at it little by little. Possession by possession,” said McDonnell. “I like how we’re playing right now. We’re getting back to just playing basketball. The kids aren’t over thinking about things they’re just going with it.”

By Seth Lakso, Globe Correspondent

The Knights (13-2) clinched the Catholic Conference title and the top spot in the new Top 20 this week, with a, 74-57, win over BC High on Friday night, in a game that will be remembered as much for the fight that occurred in the third quarter, as the final.

Central Catholic (13-1) fell out of the top for the first time in five weeks, as No. 15 Lowell handed the Raiders their first home loss in five years.

The loss was Central Catholic's first MVC mishap in its last 53 conference games. Lowell was actually the last conference team to take them down, back in 2008.

Brockton (11-1) handed Newton North its first loss of the season on Sunday and vaulted up to No. 4 as a result. The Tigers (14-1) dropped to No. 5

Stoughton's impressive, 81-60, win over Franklin on Thursday night earned it the No. 3 spot in this weeks rankings. Stoughton was led by Marcus Middleton, who scored 26 points and earned Player of the Week honors for his effort.

At 15-0, No. 16 Wareham is the lone remaining unbeaten.

Franklin, Weymouth, Boston Latin, Lynn English, and Danvers were all tough to leave off this week.

Click here to see the full boys' Top 20.

By Hannah Becker, Globe Correspondent

For the second week in a row a Top 5 team has seen their undefeated season come to an end as Braintree lost to Wellesley, falling to 13-1 on the season and to the fifth spot on this week's poll.

With the upset and a win over Newton North, Wellesley moved up two spots to No. 13.

Archbishop Williams had a rough week, dropping four spots to No. 12 after back-to-back losses on Friday and Saturday. Masconomet also feel this week. Despite picking up two wins, they lost to Pentucket, forcing them down to the No. 18 spot.

Scituate continues to climb the standings as their perfect season remains intact (13-0) after they picked up three wins during a busy week.

Slight changes in the bottom 10 round out this week's Top 20 as the 12-20 teams all swept the week with wins.

This week's High School Weekly video profile focuses on Emma Roberson of Arlington Catholic High. It was created by Element Productions and is hosted by Jon Meterparel and Kelly Emerson.

High School Sports Weekly profiles the student-athletes from around the region who make high school athletics so compelling. Check out High School Weekly on Facebook.

By Seth Lakso, Globe Correspondent

The Minuteman boys' basketball team won a thriller Tuesday night in Lexington, defeating Greater Lowell, 69-64, in an overtime game that featured an improbable comeback and a half-court buzzer-beater.

Senior guard Troy Newton finished with a game-high 23 points for the Mustangs (7-8), 17 of which came in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Trailing by 12 points with 5:30 remaining, the Mustangs went on an 8-0 run to cut the Greater Lowell lead to 4.

"The key to our comeback was our defensive pressure," said second year Minuteman coach John Fusco. "We were making them take tough shots, and were solid on the boards, only allowing them one chance a possession."

With under a minute remaining Dylan Caples picked a nice spot for his only 5 points of the game, nailing a game-tying layup and a go-ahead three pointer with only seconds on the clock.

Dominick Dar responded in the final seconds of regulation for the Gryphons (8-7), connecting on a fall-a-way half-court three at the buzzer to send the game into over time at 60 apiece.

"That shot was incredible," said Fusco. "Nothing but net."

Dar led Greater Lowell with 21 points on the night.

"On the first possession of overtime one of our best players (Brendan Kingston, who finished with 14 points) fouled out and I remember thinking that Greater Lowell had all the momentum," said Fusco. "But my guys stepped up."

The Mustangs seized back the momentum in overtime, holding the Gryphons to just 4 points in the extra frame, to pick up their fourth win in the last five games.

"This was just a great basketball game," said Fusco. "My guys refused to lose this one. They just wanted this game and it showed in the way they played."

By Ayoub Kourikchi, Globe Correspondent

The St. Mary’s boys’ basketball team erupted for 60 second-half points, erasing a 17-point halftime deficit (35-18) to sink host Arlington Catholic, 78-63, and take over first place in the Catholic Central Large Monday night.

St. Mary’s (13-3, 7-1) was led by senior captain Nick Gagliolo, who netted 20 of his game-high 29 points in the second half. The talented 6-foot-1 guard also scored his 1,000th career point, in dramatic fashion, drilling a third-quarter buzzer beater on a fallaway jumper in the lane to even the game at 46-all.

“Nick is a three-year starter and it’s a luxury as a coach to have a player like this at this level. He is a leader and has all of the intangibles that make him a special player,” said St. Mary’s coach Kevin Moran. “After he scored his 1,000th point he turned around and said, "Let's take of business and see if we can finish.”

The Spartans matched Gagliolo’s intensity throughout the second half and exploded with 28 third-quarter points after they struggled in the first 16 minutes.

“The match was clearly a game of two halves," said Moran. "We took too many 3-pointers and we didn’t get any offensive rebounds and we didn’t execute offensively in the first half.

“I expected them to go out in the second half with more intensity and they took it upon themselves and convinced each other to start compete at a high level.”

The Spartan’s carried their momentum into the fourth quarter where they outscored the Cougars (10-3, 6-2), 32-17.

“We got the ball moving and a lot of our points came off transition,” said Moran. “Our defensive pressure got better. We stayed in man-to-man defense, and we were more aggressive and we rotated and defended them much better and that created a lot of our offense and it helped us push the ball up and get better looks.”

Senior captain and guard Devin Thomas finished with 15 points and sophomore point guard Randolph Thurman collected 9 points, 9 assists, and 7 steals.

“The kids knocked down the shots and they ran the show tonight and they picked up the momentum,” said Moran.

“I have been coaching at St. Mary’s for eight years and [the team has] never scored 60 in a half and all things considering it’s probably one of the best games we have played in a long time.”

By Hannah Becker, Globe Correspondent

With a 52-50 loss to Medford on Wednesday, Lynn English lost its perfect record and its No. 2 seat in the Globe girls' basketball Top 20 this week.

The Bulldogs slip to fourth in the rankings while Medford won its way back into the poll, rounding out the group at No. 20.

Andover's girls escaped a close game with a 53-52 win over Billerica to keep them in the top spot. Despite the loss, the Indians proved they can play with the best teams vaulting them to No. 6 in this week's poll.

The New Bedford Whalers picked up two wins this week, including a 42-41 victory over ranked Fairhaven, moving them up to No. 10.

With the loss, Fairhaven dropped out of this week's rankings, as did Central Catholic, which has lost three of their last four games.

New to the rankings is Bishop Feehan (8-4) at the No. 18 spot.

See the full Globe girls basketball Top 20.

By Seth Lakso, Globe Correspondent

The boys' basketball Top 20 has been a bit volatile as of late, with the Catholic Conference and Boston City League teams beating up on each other left and right, but here's how things have shaken out this week:

Newton North (12-0) is the new No. 2, followed by two Catholic Conference teams, in Catholic Memorial (11-2) and BC High (11-3), with Acton-Boxboro (13-1) rounding out the top five.

Stoughton's (11-1) impressive win over King Philip (11-2) last week elevated the Black Knights from No. 10 to No. 6.

At 12-1, we've crowned No. 7 Brighton king of the Boston City League, followed by No. 10 Madison Park (12-1), No. 11 New Mission (7-3), No. 18 Charlestown (9-3).

Two undefeateds make their first appearances in the Top 20 this week, in No. 17 Wareham (14-0) and No. 19 Danvers (8-0).

Make sure to check out this week's notebook team, No. 13 Brockton (9-1). It'll be interesting to see if they can avoid the cure of the notebook, as both Boston Latin and Reading have fallen out of the Top 20 since being featured.

Click here to see the complete boys' basketball Top 20

In the latest episode of High School Weekly, meet King Philip's Jake Layman, who is averaging 24 points per game for the 11-2 Warriors.

High School Sports Weekly profiles the student-athletes from around the region who make high school athletics so compelling. Check out High School Weekly on Facebook.

By Kendall Salter, Globe correspondent

It all starts with the bricks.

At the start of every season, players on the boys’ basketball team at Mystic Valley Regional Charter school brings two bricks to practice. They are instructed to bind those bricks with electrical tape, to make them easier to carry.

Then they run. Then some basketball drills. Then more running, bricks and all.

Tony Ferullo is an old school coach. He stresses conditioning, tempo, traps and maximum effort. His players practice as hard as they play, one cohesive unit spurred on by a consistent rallying cry:

Play hard. Play smart. Play together.

Brick by brick, Ferullo built a championship contender.

On Friday night, the Eagles (10-2) clinched their first Commonwealth Athletic Conference small school division title with a 70-53 road win over Minuteman Tech. After a tight opening three quarters, Mystic Valley pulled away in the final frame.

“It’s a great accomplishment,” Ferullo said. “I’m very proud of my players. Seeing them come off the court tonight, you see that hard work really pays off.”

The Eagles’ rise to the top was an unusual one. Ferullo started working at Mystic Valley, a small K-12 charter school in Malden, nine years ago. He was charged with the task of building the school’s basketball program from scratch. Ferullo began working with fifth and sixth graders and starting on the ground floor has paid off for the long-time varsity coach.

The school joined the Commonwealth Athletic Conference seven years ago, but Mystic Valley competes against many larger schools, and the team struggled to win in past seasons. Eventually results started to go the Eagles’ way.

“I’ve built this program up for the past nine years,” Ferullo said. “Last season was our best season.”

Until now.

Mystic Valley’s squad has seven seniors, an experienced group that includes some who have played for Ferullo for four years. Each player fills a role in the coach’s system. Senior Greg Statho is a prolific scorer and is just 26 points away from topping 1,000 for his career. Forward Ben Bottrell averages almost 20 points a game. Senior Joey Foley and junior Hari Perisic are a pair of all-purpose guards. They all play a ferocious brand of press-and-trap defense. That balanced formula paid remarkable dividends.

As Friday’s game ended, Ferullo recalled the years of hard work that he and long-time assistant Don Breault have put into the program, and the players who put in so much work.

“What I remembered most was that we built this thing the right way from the ground up,” Ferullo said. “The nice thing is that we like to build a family atmosphere. This senior group is the best group I’ve ever had.”

Now they will be able to raise a championship banner in their brand new gymnasium.

“This was our first year with a home gym,” said Ferullo. “After nine years of waiting, they get to put a basketball banner up there. A lot of the kids were telling us tonight that next year they are going to come in and take a look at that banner.”

Despite clinching the division, the Eagles don’t plan to coast through the remainder of the season. That’s not Ferullo’s way. Just hours after winning the first title in school history, he was already looking ahead at the possibility of postseason play.

“We don’t rest on our laurels,” Ferullo said. “Let’s try to get as many wins as we can. The goal is to get better every day.”

But no matter how this season ends, Ferullo will continue to be proud of his team. At the annual season-ending banquet, the longtime coach buys a brick for each senior as a parting gift. He considers it a token of his appreciation. That way, his players will always be able to carry Ferullo’s advice with them, engraved on a small plaque attached to each brick:

Play hard. Play smart. Stay together.

By Ryan Mooney, Globe correspondent

The Lady Bulldogs will almost certainly be falling in the rankings after this one.

Senior captain Tania Holmes scored a career-high 37 points and the Medford girls' basketball team stunned second-ranked Lynn English, 52-50, at Cooper Gymnasium.

"It was back and forth," Medford coach Leo Burke said. "It was a game of runs and we survived their runs and held on down the stretch."

Junior forward Aleah McAusland-Ace chipped in eight points, six of them in the fourth quarter, and senior captain Emily Welch pulled down 10 rebounds for the Mustangs (8-5) in dealing the Bulldogs their first loss of the season.

"They missed a few shots, we rebounded at crucial times down the stretch and got the ball to Tania who's our best foul shooter," Burke said.

English (11-1) went on a run late in the second quarter and hit a shot at the buzzer to take a 26-25 lead into halftime, but could not finish the job.

"I told them they were coming to Medford undefeated, they are very well coached and a very talented team, but if we play as a team we have a chance to win," Burke said. "It was a total team effort tonight."

By Zac Vierra, Globe correspondent

When Malden Catholic and St. John's Prep played in Danvers Jan. 6, the No. 5 Eagles won in a rout, 90-49.

Last night Tuesday night in Malden it was a completely different story. The Lancers upset the Eagles, 72-71, on a last-second shot by junior Kyle Sangster, who scored all of his 16 points in the second half.

The Lancers trailed all game until Sangster's leaner in the lane with four seconds remaining.

"It was not the play we designed," said Malden Catholic coach Jim McCune. "Kyle got the ball at the key and worked his way into the lane and rolled one in. He made a great play and came up big."

Junior center John Mastascusa had 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 10 blocks as he anchored the defense for the Lancers.

"John is very active getting to the ball," said McCune. "He has great timing and did a great job on help defense as most of his blocks came on help defense."

Twin brothers Jared Lewis and Jordan Lewis also chipped in for MC with 11 and 12 points, respectively. McCune praised Jordan's night running the point for the Lancers.

"Jordan did a tremendous job getting the ball up the floor against mostly man-to-man press all night," said McCune.

Senior guard Steve Haladyna had 32 points for the Eagles.

By Seth Lakso, Globe correspondent

Stoughton's Aaron Calixte and King Philip's Jake Layman put on a show last night in front of a capacity crowd at King Philip High School in Wrentham.

Calixte, a point guard, finished with 29 points, 10 in the fourth quarter, to lead the 10th-ranked Black Knights to a 73-69 victory over the 15th-ranked Warriors.

"This was a huge win for us," said Stoughton coach John Gallivan. "Everybody knows that these are two teams that hope to be around deep in the Division 2 South tournament. If that game goes on another two minutes, I don't know if we're coming out of there with a win."

Layman, who has committed to the University of Maryland, finished with 30 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 blocks for the Warriors, going basket-for-basket with Calixte.

"Defensively, our plan going in was to just throw everything we had at [Layman] and see what would stick," said Gallivan, whose team switched from man to zone in the third quarter to try to slow down Layman.

Calixte came out aggressive, scoring 13 first-quarter points, as Stoughton jumped to a 19-11 lead. However, the Warriors closed on a 7-2 run, highlighted by a Layman dunk and a Christian Fair 3-pointer at the buzzer.

The Black Knights, who committed just three turnovers in the first half, closed the second quarter on a 5-0 run to take a 44-36 lead into the half.

The Warriors came out on a mission in the second half, with the 6-foot-8-inch Layman knocking down a 3-pointer on the opening possession. Fair's second three tied the score at 47 with 3:40 to play in the third.

In the final second of the third, Layman hit his second triple of the quarter to bring the Warriors within 53-52.

The final frame belonged to Calixte (10 points) and teammate Marcus Middleton (8 points, 20 overall), who combined to score 18 of the Black Knights' 20 points.

With the Warriors forced to foul, Stoughton went 14 for 18 from the line in the final quarter.

"Aaron's a gutsy player," said Gallivan. "He was cramping up for the last half of the fourth quarter, but he wouldn't let us take him out. He looks like he's been playing here for about 10 years, it's hard to believe he's only halfway through his junior year.

"If Jake [Layman] is '1A' in this league, then Aaron's probably '1B,'" said Gallivan.

Boys basketball

Norwell 60...Rockland 53
Captains Peter Marchetti (20 points) and Nick Volpe (19 points) led the Clippers (11-0) over the Bulldogs (11-2) in a battle of the top two teams in the South Shore League.

Chelsea 74...Revere 64

Sean Quiroz scored a season-high 27 points and Sammy Mojica added 23 and nine rebounds as the Red Devils beat the rival Patriots.

Boys hockey

Central Catholic 5...Austin Prep 2

Zach Cote's two goals helped the eight-ranked Raiders (6-2-2) rally from down 2-1 entering the third period to defeat the 13th-ranked Cougars. Jake Donahue netted the eventual game winner midway through the third and Ryan Daigle added three assists.

Catholic Memorial 3...Weymouth 0

Junior forward Jack O'Hear netted two goals to lead the 12th-ranked Knights (4-5, 1-1).

Girls hockey

Norwood 6...Scituate 1

Sophomore Emily Kelly scored three goals to lead the 11th-ranked Mustangs.

Belmont 5...Needham 1

Senior captain Shannon Reynolds had a goal as the seventh-ranked Marauders improved to 10-2.

For a look at all the scores from Monday, click here, and make sure to weigh in on the new Globe Top 20's.

By Seth Lakso, Globe Correspondent

Central Catholic further solidified its spot atop the Globe boys basketball Top 20 this week after a convincing, 80-56, win over No. 5 St. John's Prep on Sunday.

Lawrence and Newton North round out the top three after a turbulent week of play. (Update) Hours after the Lancers earned their No. 2 ranking they fell to Cathedral, 73-69.

Catholic Memorial dropped a spot to No. 4 after losing on Tuesday to BC High (now No. 6). BC High then lost to St. John's Prep on Friday, proving just how tight things are in the Catholic Conference.

The Boston City League had plenty of movement as well, with Madison Park continuing its rise up the rankings. The Cardinals, who defeated a banged up No. 17 Charlestown team, 81-69, on Thursday, now sit at No. 7. East Boston's loss to No. 8 North Andover, caused them to slide from No. 4 last week to No. 12.

No. 18 Mansfield saw its 27-game winning streak in the Hockomock League come to an end at the hands of Franklin on Friday.

Last week's notebook team, Boston Latin, faced its first real test in Catholic Memorial on Saturday and lost by 20. However they'll have another chance to show they belong when they travel to No. 9 Acton-Boxboro this Friday.

After winning their last 10 games the Rockets of Reading earned a promotion to No. 19 and a spot in this week's notebook.

Be sure to check out the Players of the Week as well.

See the full Globe boys basketball Top 20 here.

By Hannah Becker, Globe Correspondent

After finding themselves ranked second in the first Globe girls basketball Top 20 of the season, New Bedford picked up two quick losses to drop themselves out of the standings the following week.

But the Whalers have gone on a winning streak to improve to 10-2 and have climbed back into the rankings, sitting at No. 14 in this week's Top 20.

The top five saw a shakeup this week with No. 5 Archbishop Williams falling to Archbishop Malloy, sliding them down to No. 8 in this week's poll. After picking up two more wins this week, Arlington Catholic has moved into the top five.

The bottom of the rankings saw some shifting as well. Central Catholic (No. 18), Falmouth (No. 20), Medford (unranked) and Woburn (No. 16) all dropped games this week.

See the full Globe girls basketball Top 20 here.

By Hannah Becker, Globe correspondent

The Coyle & Cassidy boys' basketball team picked up its first victory of the season Wednesday night with an overtime win at Bristol-Plymouth, 62-61.

With six seconds left in extra time, senior forward Matt Perkins (5 points, eight rebounds) picked up a loose ball in the Warriors end, then sank a layup to give Coyle & Cassidy the 1-point lead. Perkins was fouled on the play but missed the free throw.

“He’s a great hustler, an undersized power forward who plays hard every minute,” Coyle & Cassidy coach Carl Boen said.

The Warriors (1-10) found themselves in an early deficit, trailing the Craftsmen, 27-22, at the half.

But adjustments from the coaches and a stellar second half from senior point guard Keoghan Austin (13 points) put Coyle & Cassidy within reach of victory as the game wound down.

“(Austin) took over the game,” Boen said.

Coyle & Cassidy switched its defense up in the second half, moving into a 3-2 matchup zone, to slow the pace.

“We’re a little bigger team,” Boen said. “A bit slower. So slowing down the pace definitely helped us.”

The Warriors missed key shots at the end of regulation, a 3-pointer from Austin that would have put them up by 5 and a free throw with five seconds left that would have given Coyle & Cassidy the lead by a point.

“The kids were confident going into overtime,” Boen said. “(Austin) is just a confident player, that’s just his style. If he misses a shot, he’s going to go make the next one.”

The Warriors found themselves down by 5 early in the four-minute OT, but they once again were able to climb back, hitting two key 3-point field goals.

“It wasn’t a real high-scoring game, but it certainly picked up in the overtime,” Boen said.

Coyle & Cassidy netted a 3-pointer with 1:30 remaining and hit another shot with 40 seconds left to get within 1 point of the win.

But it was Perkins's late layup that gave the Warriors that coveted first victory.

“We’ve lost a lot of close games, so it was a good win," Boen said. "Losing is one thing, but losing a lot of close ones is tough. So it was definitely a big win.”

In the latest episode of High School Weekly, field reporter Brooke Knowlton profiles Catholic Memorial's Matt Droney, the second two-time captain for the Knights' program.

High School Sports Weekly profiles the student-athletes from around the region who make high school athletics so compelling. Check out High School Weekly on Facebook.

Today, McDonald's announced its list of nominees for the 2012 McDonald's All-American Basketball Games. Five of the 600 announced nominees are from Massachusetts schools.

Among the list are four males and one female from the area.

Boys

Jake Layman, King Philip; Ricardo Ledo, Notre Dame Prep; Nik Stauskas, St. Mark's; Kaleb Tarczewski, St. Mark's.

Girls

Lexi Sells, Bishop Feehan.

The final 24 boys and girls selected to play in the 2012 Games will be announced during McDonald's All-American Games Selection Show on ESPNU, airing Feb. 9 at 5 p.m. The girls will play Mar. 28 at 7 p.m. at Chicago's United Center and will be broadcast live on ESPNU. The boys will play at the same venue and will start at 9:30 p.m. on ESPN.

By Seth Lakso, Globe Correspondent

Central Catholic remains atop the Globe boys basketball Top 20 this week, after pulling out an overtime win against cross-town rival No. 8 Lawrence on Friday.

There are three new editions to this week's top 5 (BC High, Catholic Memorial, and East Boston). After a slow start to the season, the Eagles have won six in a row, holding all six opponents (including No. 9 St. John's Prep and Fitchburg) to under 55 points.

Catholic Memorial checks in at No. 3. after becoming the latest team to beat up on a St. John's Prep team that's quickly falling out of the Catholic Conference title race. Tuesday's game at BC High should have a big impact on next week's Top 20.

East Boston checks in at No. 4, and could easily be higher, just don't tell Jet's coach Malcolm Smith. They'll drop in the rankings if an Eastern Massachusetts team ever beats them.

At 11-1 on the season, Boston Latin made this week's notebook, as well as, No. 15.

King Philip, led by EMass's second leading scorer, Jake Layman, is back in the Top 20, at No. 18, after being the last team out last week.

No. 17 Mansfield may very well be the team to beat in the Hockomock after handling No. 10 Stoughton, 73-66, last Tuesday.

See the full Globe boys basketball Top 20 here.

By Bob Holmes, Globe Staff

Some of the best high school basketball players in the country will be in Boston this weekend, playing in the 2012 BABC Prep School Classic. Six games will be held in total, two Saturday, and all at the Kroc Salvation Army Community Center on Dudley Street in Boston.

Fans won't have to wait long to see two of the best in action.

In the first game Saturday Tilton will face Notre Dame Prep at 3 p.m. Tilton is led by 6-11 center and Everett-native Nerlens Noel. Noel is ranked second in ESPN's class of 2013. Notre Dame Prep also has a presence in the middle in 7-foot center and New Zealand native Steve Adams. Adams has already signed with the University of Pittsburgh and will be making his playing debut with Notre Dame.

The complete schedule:

Saturday, January 14
3:00 PM Tilton School (NH) vs. Notre Dame Prep (MA)
4:45 PM Wilbraham & Monson (MA) vs. Marianapolis Prep (CT)

Sunday, January 15
1:00 PM Brimmer & May (MA) vs. Putnam Science Academy (CT)
2:30 PM Northfield Mount Hermon (MA) vs. Worcester Academy (MA)
4:00 PM Rivers School (MA) vs. Boston Trinity Academy (MA)
5:30 PM Marianapolis Prep (CT) vs. Winchendon School (MA)

And the BABC's Jay Demings supplied this list of the top players competing:

Myles Davis - ND Prep - Xavier
Adonis Filer - ND Prep - Clemson
Mandell Thomas - ND Prep - Fordham
Georges Niang - Tilton - Iowa State
Dominique Bull - Tilton - Missouri
Kevin Crescenzi - Tilton - Dartmouth
Evan Cummins - NMH - Harvard
Tommy Carpenter - NMH - Dartmouth
Sam Cassell, Jr. - NMH - Undecided
Ethan O’Day - NMH - Vermont
Nick Lund - Rivers School - Claremont McKenna
Akosa Maduegbunam - Winchendon - Penn State
Tevin Falzon - Winchendon - Sacred Heart
Jake Fay - Brimmer & May - Fordham

Tickets to the event are $10 per day for adults, $5 per day for students and senior citizens. For the schedule and directions to the BABC Prep Classic, visit thebabc.com.

By Hannah Becker, Globe Correspondent

With his 24-point effort in Berwick Academy’s 60-32 win over Landmark on Wednesday night, senior guard Harry Rafferty became the school’s all-time leading scorer.

Rafferty broke the record of 1,394, set by John Fagan in 2003, at the 13:35 mark of the second half with his 15th and 16th points of the night. The school record now is 1,404 points, which Rafferty will look to increase as the season progresses.

Rafferty knew the record was in reach for the road game and had his parents, brother, sister, aunt, and grandmother in attendance, according to Berwick Academy coach Rory Early.

“It was no surprise,” Early said.

The school will recognize Rafferty’s achievement by having his name added to a plaque with the school’s other 1,000-point scorers, according to Early.

“Harry is just a tremendous competitor, he has worked his behind off,” Early said. “I have watched him mature from a young boy to a young man.”

Rafferty is the reigning Eastern Independent League MVP.

“He has been nothing short (of an MVP),” Early said. “He represents the league with class and character.”

Early is in his second season guiding the Bulldogs and credits Rafferty with making his transition to head coach seamless.

“He’s a tremendous student of the game,” Early said. “I’m a fortunate coach to be able to have someone like that who makes my job so much easier.”

By Seth Lakso, Globe Correspondent

The Hoophall Classic, which ranks among the premier high school and prep basketball events in the country each year, is set to tip off at Springfield College on Thursday Jan. 12 and run through Jan. 16.

Six of the top eight teams in the country will be in attendance, highlighted by top-ranked Neal F. Simeon of Chicago, No. 2 Oak Hill Academy of Virginia, and No. 4 St. Anthony of New Jersey, which blew out New Mission, 68-25, in the Shooting Touch Shootout back in December.

Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas, led by Shabazz Muhammad, who's ranked No. 1 in the class of 2012 will also be in attendance.

ESPN plans to air seven games, as well as the skills competition, set for Sunday at 8:30.

Sunday's 4 p.m. game between Brewster Academy and the Tilton School, both of New Hampshire, which will be on ESPN, will include Nerlens Noel, the No. 2 ranked player in the class of 2013.

There's also a dose of local talent, with the Globe's No. 1 team Central Catholic scheduled to play on Thursday, and St. Mark’s and Notre Dame Prep lacing up on Sunday.

Click here for the complete schedule

Here’s some highlights and interviews from last year’s Hoophall Classic:

2011 Spalding Hoophall Classic Recap from Basketball Hall of Fame on Vimeo.

In the latest episode of High School Weekly, get to know Wayland's dynamic guard Jaleel Bell who has helped lead the Warriors to a 5-2 record.

High School Sports Weekly profiles the student-athletes from around the region who make high school athletics so compelling. Check out High School Weekly on Facebook.

By Craig Forde, Globe Correspondent

In leading the Burke girls’ basketball team to 13 Boston City League championships, John Rice has seen plenty of milestones, but in his first year of coaching the girls at Fenway High School, he got a taste of something new.

Senior guard Kayla Cox, who collected 13 points and seven steals in a 69-40 victory at Madison Park Tuesday, became the second Fenway player this season to surpass the 1,000-point mark for her career.

“It’s such an honor for a student-athlete to get this far,” said Rice. “It’s a tremendous milestone.”

Junior guard Taj Veiga, who hit the 1,000-point mark back December 20 against Latin Academy, had a game-high 25 points and 11 assists to lead Fenway (4-2, 4-0), which remains undefeated in City League play.

“It’s nice to have a backcourt like this,” said Rice. “They work well together. [Veiga] is our quarterback and directs the team well. [Cox] really has no weaknesses to speak of.”

Rice is looking to repeat the success he had while with Burke and he intends to lean on his high scoring backcourt to bring Fenway their first city title.

“We’ve been running a lot more sets and trying to really elevate the system,” said Rice. “Before they were more of a free-flowing team, but we’ve been pulling in the reigns and getting geared up with the city teams to prepare ourselves for the tournament.”

Cox and Veiga are also highly skilled on the defense end of the court, helping Fenway force 34 turnovers against Madison Park.

“Taj plays awesome D and does what she has to for Fenway to win,” said Rice. “Kayla has so much energy and is an excellent defender.”

In all four of their victories, Fenway has held its opponent to 40 points or fewer and its average margin of victory is a whopping 44 points.

Their only two losses have come at the hands of the third-ranked Arlington Catholic (7-0) squad.

In this YouTube video, Wareham's Darien Fernandez chucks up a halfcourt 3-pointer against Cardinal Spellman. The video made ESPN's top plays. Check it out.

By Ryan MacInnis, Globe Correspondent

Entering Monday night's Cape Ann matchup against visiting Amesbury, Masconomet Regional senior guard Brooke Steward was 23 points shy of 1,000 career points.

The Chieftains’ 6-foot-1 captain scored her 23rd point on a made free throw with 1:41 left in the second quarter.

“I basically shut my life off from March to August and traveled with the Lawrence Rivals to play in tournaments all over the U.S and it made my game so much better” said Stewart.

The William and Mary commit finished the night with 26 points and 15 rebounds without stepping on the floor in the second half in their 63-46 victory over Amesbury.

“I am so thrilled for Brooke” said 10-year coach Bob Romeo.
“The way she did it was probably the best way to do it. She rebounded, ran the floor and made crucial free throws. She’s the type of girl I can push hard that knows there’s always room for improvement.”

The win puts the Chieftains at 4-1 with Stewart averaging 24.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.

In attendance was her older sister, Caroline, a member of the 1,000-point and 1,000-rebound club at Masconomet who is a senior forward on the women's team at Boston University.

“It’s a special time for us” said the elder Stewart. “I try to get to every game I can and I always tell her to keep rebounding.”

With an ultimate goal of going to the Garden, Brooke has another goal for the 2011-2012 season.

“I want to beat my sister in points” said Stewart who is chasing an impressive 1,329 points, 1,089 rebounds. “I’ve already done the math and I know I can beat her.”

By Seth Lakso, Globe Correspondent

Stop if you’ve heard this one before, but Central Catholic has claimed the top spot in the first Top 20 of the new year for boys’ basketball. The Raiders are off to a 7-0 start, and coming off a 10 point win over rival Andover this past Friday.

Charlestown (4-1) falls to No. 2 after a loss to defensive-minded East Boston team on Dec. 20.

The defending Division 1 state champion Eagles (6-1) anchor the No. 3 spot, but after a 53-47 loss to BC High on Jan. 3, St. John’s Prep certainly has much to prove.

Two unbeatens in Stoughton (6-0) and Newton North (6-0) round out the top 5. The Globe North’s feature on the Tigers is a must read.

Acton-Boxboro jumps up eight spots to No. 7, and would have been higher if it weren’t for the clunker they put up against No. 18 Westford on Friday.

At No. 13 it’s safe to say we believe in Madison Park, which was previously unranked. The Cardinals (6-1) ability to play defense and bang down low make then a team no one should be exited to play.

In total, there are seven newcomers to this week’s Top 20 (Weymouth 6-0, Madison Park 6-1, Oliver Ames 5-1, Boston Latin 8-1, Westford 8-2, North Andover 4-1, and Reading 6-1).

Teams to watch out for in next week's poll include: Andover, King Philip, and Danvers, which smoked a Keandre Stanton-less Lynn English by 30 on Friday.

See the full Globe boys’ basketball Top 20 here.

By Bob Holmes, Globe Staff

Nine undefeated teams and 10 newcomers mark the first Top 20 of the new year for girls' basketball. But with all the changes in the rankings, one team remained constant, Andover.

The defending Division 1 state champion Golden Warriors remain unbeaten at 8-0. Andover is 35-1 over the past two seasons. The next three teams are also unbeaten with Lynn English moving up from No. 15 to take the No. 2 spot at 8-0. These two schools could meet in the Division 1 North sectional finals if they remain unbeaten.

Arlington Catholic, last year's Division 2 state champion, is No. 3 with a 7-0 mark. AC knocked off St. Mary's last Friday in a matchup of MIAA state champions (St. Mary's won Division 3).

At No. 4 is Middlesex League Large power Reading (6-0). The Rockets and AC appear headed to a showdown in the Division 2 North tourney.

Westford is the only member of the preseason Top 20 to hold its place, taking the No. 5 spot at 9-1. Other undefeated teams in the Top 20 include Oliver Ames, Braintree, Medfield, Scituate, and Franklin.

See the full Globe girls basketball Top 20 here.

The Boston Amateur Basketball Club (BABC) has released the schedule for the fourth annual Prep School Classic. There are six games in total, scheduled to be played on Jan. 14 and 15 at the Kroc Center in Dorchester.

Saturday, January 14

3:00 PM Tilton School (NH) vs. Notre Dame Prep (MA)
4:45 PM Wilbraham & Monson (MA) vs. Marianapolis Prep (CT)

Sunday, January 15

1:00 PM Brimmer & May (MA) vs. Putnam Science Academy (CT)
2:30 PM Northfield Mount Hermon (MA) vs. Worcester Academy (MA)
4:00 PM Rivers School (MA) vs. Boston Trinity Academy (MA)
5:30 PM Marianapolis Prep (CT) vs. Winchendon School (MA)

By Kendall Salter, Globe Correspondent

It wasn't the final score that made Falmouth girls basketball's 60-44 win over Bourne special.

The Clippers notched another important road win to increase their record to 8-1 and Falmouth is well on its way to defending its title as Atlantic Coast League co-champions. That was all well and good.

What really impressed head coach Bob Buscher was the individual performance of sophomore guard Grace Geary. She put on a dazzling display against the host Canalmen in Saturday's nonleague matchup, scoring 32 points in the convincing win.

Buscher was effusive in his praise of Falmouth's star-in-the-making.

"This young lady is one of the top players around," Buscher said. "In crucial moments, we set everything for her to get the ball."

Geary, who also started as a freshman on last year's championship-winning squad—has been a consistent producer for the Clippers, tallying 25, 19 and now 32 points in her last three games. Scorching the nets is far from her only skill.

"She is the best passer that I have ever seen," said Buscher, who has been involved in coaching since 1993. "She puts the ball where you want it. She understands how to play."

Geary also contributed four steals and eight assists.

Along with center Elizabeth Knox, the Clippers' second high scorer, the duo create what Buscher hopes will be a tandem that is tough to tackle. Buscher said that Knox has developed a move that he likens to one of Kevin McHale's trademark post tactics.

The rest of the Clippers' rotation coalesces into cohesive unit that creates defensive pressure through quickness while also contributing in other crucial aspects of the game.

Having two players carry a large portion of the scoring load helps, too.

"Everyone fell into their roles," Buscher said. "They can do their thing. There isn't as much pressure to do too much. "

Falmouth currently sits atop the Atlantic Coast League. Buscher sounded confident in his team's chances to stay there.

"I like what we do. We are so small, but we are quick," Buscher said.

By Colleen Casey, Globe Correspondent

After trailing Winthrop 47-42 late in the fourth quarter, the Peabody girl’s basketball team made a spectacular comeback to defeat the Vikings, 52-51. Senior forward Katie Burnelle swished a 3-pointer at the buzzer to secure the Tanners' thrilling victory.

Burnelle (11 points) is no stranger to pressure shots. She scored the winning goal in the Division 1 state soccer finals with 3:26 remaining against Longmeadow. Junior Victoria Digiacomo, also a member of the championship soccer team, dove on the loose ball under the basket and kicked it out to Burnelle for the winning shot.

“Those two were stars on the soccer teams. They know what it’s like to be in clutch situations,” said coach Jane Heil. “We rely on them in key situations. The last minute and a half you need people to step up. Diving on the ball and kicking it out like that is athleticism, smarts and part good luck.”

The Tanners (4-3) latest victory puts them in the middle of the pack of the Northeastern North Division. The Vikings (4-4) sit in the center of the South Division.

“(The win) puts us above .500,” said Heil. “Tonight showed we don’t give up. When you’re down five points at the end of the game it’s pretty tough. You just have to keep playing hard and that’s what we did.”

By Seth Lakso, Globe Correspondent

East Boston epitomized winning ugly last night, going 3-of-27 from the free throw line in the second half before eking out a 61-59 win at Madison Park in a Boston City League showdown.

“I’m disappointed in my team because of those free throws right there,” said East Boston coach Malcolm Smith. “We’ll never shoot that bad again. It’s not about me keeping them in the gym for six straight hours shooting free throws. It’s about checking yourself as a young man.”

Patrick Santos's steal and ensuing layup in the opening seconds of play set the tone for the No. 19 Jets (5-2), whose swarming defense was the difference in the game.

The loss was the first of the season for the Cardinals (6-1), who committed 31 turnovers, playing without starters Joy O’Shea and Dane Lawladownie.

“Anytime you’re missing two starters it’s going to be tough,” said Madison Park Coach Dennis Wilson. “[Joy] O’Shea is my leading scorer and Dane [Lawiadownie] is one of my best defenders. That’s like [Brandon] Bass and Ray Allen to me, so you do the math.”

Travon Moore led the Jets with 12 points, followed by Algeno Jean, who netted nine off the bench.

Eastie carried a 40-27 lead into halftime, despite being out rebounded by a 22-11 margin.

Madison Park made a concerted effort to work the ball down low and play physical in the second half, forcing East Boston over the foul limit with 2:01 to play in the third quarter.

Rayshaw Matthews led the Cardinals with a game-high 19 points, but it was forwards Dakim Murray (18 points, 16 rebounds) and David Stewart (12 rebounds, 7 points) that keyed the comeback attempt.

“Our strength is Dakim Murray,” said Wilson. “Our strength is down low, where people can make plays, and we looked for that in the second half.”

East Boston’s dismal shooting from the line allowed the Cardinals to climb within four points after Shaquille Leather’s put-back with 4:55 remaining in the third made the score 40-36.

Momentum swung back and forth for the remainder of the third, with East Boston entering the fourth up 51-41.

Madison Park cut the Jet's lead to three, 60-57, with 50 seconds remaining, but failed to convert on a desperation three in the final seconds.

“We only have ourselves to blame,” Wilson said. “We missed too many foul shots and [committed] too many turnovers and that’s what happens with a young team, but we’ll be back.

“I’m proud of my kids,” added Wilson. “They’ve got to grow up. They’re cubs right now, they’ll be lions one day.”

Smith downplayed the win, but was happy to have it.

“With East Boston it’s a turbulent ride in the jet all the time, OK, and we’re up and down and everything else,” he said. “I knew that [comeback] was going to happen, I just didn’t know it was going to happen that ugly.

“We played a terrible game,” continued Smith, “but that’s a testament to Madison Park. We’ll work on our mistakes. I’ll always take a win. I’m happy about the win, I’m not happy how we got it, but hey, when it comes down to it, there’s a win, there’s a loss, we got the ‘W’.”

The Jets are quietly building an impressive resume of wins this season with victories over No. 1 Charlestown, Archbishop Carroll (PA), and now Madison Park.

By Ryan MacInnis, Globe Correspondent

LAWRENCE -- In a packed home bout, Central Catholic's girls basketball team looked to snap Andover’s undefeated streak going into Thursday night’s game. Instead, they were felled for the second time this season against the Golden Warriors, 53-42.

Andover (7-0) was slow to start, giving up turnovers and missing open layups, but still leading Central Catholic by four points going into the half.

As Andover walked into the locker room, coach Jim Tildsley knew he had to light a fire under his No. 1 ranked Golden Warriors if they wanted to win. Senior captain and Boston College commit Nicole Boudreau was held to only eight points the first two quarters, with Andover up 29-25.

In the second half, Andover looked like a new team, allowing only seven points in the third quarter as Central Catholic (3-2) struggled to beat the Golden Warriors' press.

Central Catholic's Casey McLaughlin scored 16 points to lead her team while Boudreau led Andover with 23 points, including five 3-pointers in the second half.

In this edition of High School Weekly, a look at the ultra fast Rivers point guard Carlon Haymon.

High School Sports Weekly profiles the student-athletes from around the region who make high school athletics so compelling. Check out High School Weekly on Facebook.

By Zac Vierra, Globe correspondent

The final 2 of Brenna Diggins's career-high 31 points proved to be the difference as the junior scored a layup as time expired to propel No. 16 Norwell (7-1) over 18th-ranked Harwich, 63-62, Tuesday.

Clipper coach Matt Marani described the 31-point, 13-rebound performance by Diggins the best game of her three-year varsity career.

“Every time we got her the ball she finished,” said Marani. “She played a complete game.”

Although the monster game by Diggins helped set the pace for Norwell, it was a little play by senior captain Darci Vierra that got them the win.

With the Clippers trailing by 1 with five seconds remaining and inbounding the ball under their own basket, Marani called for a play that would throw the ball to the other end of the court. When the pass was overthrown it looked like it would go out of bounds but Vierra hustled down the court, saved the ball from going out and found Diggins, who was trailing the play, for the winning basket.

“Darci beat everyone down the court and for her to get her hand on the ball was outstanding,” said Marani.

The Rough Riders played Norwell tough all game and scored 62 points against a Clipper defense that had not allowed more than 38 points before this contest.

Jen Gonsalves led Harwich with 21 points including a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left to tie the game and a go-ahead trey with five seconds remaining.

“Everyone knew she was taking that shot at the end of the game,” said Marani. “We double teamed her and she still made the shot over a 6-footer.”

Even with Gonsalves’s clutch threes, the Clippers came away victorious thanks to Diggins, Vierra, and senior Ryanne Williams who added 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists for the victors.

“This win gives us life,” said Marani. “It is a reminder to give effort going into a tough game with Abington on Friday.”

By Liz Torres, Globe Correspondent

In one of its best performances of the season, Medway pinned a 52-45 loss Tri-Valley League foe Dover-Sherborn Tuesday behind junior point guard Matt Ozzella’s 22 points and 20 rebounds.

“In the league, every game’s a rock fight,” said Mustangs coach Jay Rojee. “But this game was definitely one of our better top-to-bottom performances from everyone."

With the victory, the Mustangs stand atop the Tri-Valley League at 4-1. Dover-Sherborn drops to 3-2.

The Mustangs led, 29-27, at the end of the half then pulled to 37-37 at the end of the third quarter. Mike Barry's defense on D-S leading scorer, Ned Linehan, was a key according to the coach.

The Mustangs sealed the game on sophomore Andrew Henry's 3-pointer.

The 6-foot-3-inch collected seven offensive rebounds in the fourth.

“Matt is tall and quick and gets to the basket. He’s one of the quickest point guards I’ve ever seen,” said Rojee.

Ozzella averages 16 points and 12 rebounds per game.

“He has the whole package,” he said.

By Kendall Salter, Globe Correspondent

Winthrop girls' basketball coach Ignacio Oyola ended up working late Friday night. Unlike most, he didn't mind.

The Vikings rallied to beat the visiting Warriors of Wayland, 57-51, in triple overtime, sending Oyola's squad to 4-3. For the second-year coach, this victory was a special one, given the unusual circumstances.

"This was my first triple-overtime game," an enthusiastic Oyola said. "What I liked was the spirit of my basketball team to come back."

The Vikings trailed by 7 points at halftime, but were able to tie the game before the end of regulation.

There was still plenty of work left to do.

"I told them we came this far. Stay confident," Oyola said. "We wanted to make sure we played defense."

The encouragement paid off. The Vikings allowed 7 points in the first overtime, and just 2 in the second. Then, the Vikings' offense finally picked up. Freshman center Kristin Siscamanis made two free throws to tie the game at the end of the second overtime.

It was just one moment in a big night for Siscamanis, who was just inserted into the starting lineup three games ago. The first-year standout notched 12 points and 14 rebounds.

"She has really stood out for us on offense," Oyola said of his new starter.

Three-pointers from Ashelyne Babb and Angelina Favaloro in the third extra period accounted for the winning margin, allowing Winthrop to finish off their long night with a crucial victory.

"I think this was big," Oyola said."Hopefully it will help us to continue on and give us confidence."

This week's High School Weekly features Weston girls basketball player Saliah Serrette, the Dual County League's co-MVP last season. Host Jon Meterparel and reporter Kelly Emerson have the story.

By Andrew Macdougall, Globe Correspondent

Outstanding performances by Archbishop Williams senior forwards Brian Sullivan and Tim Andrea helped catapult the Bishops to a 63-37 win over Cristo Rey Thursday night.

Sullivan finished with a game-high 28 points, while Andrea added a triple-double of 19 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists in addition to drawing five charging calls.

“[Sullivan and Andrea] are our two captains and our two best players,” said Archbishop Williams coach Ged Phelan. “They really are the leaders of this team.”

The Bishops (3-1) are a fairly young team, boasting four sophomores and four juniors on their varsity roster. The experiences of Sullivan and Andrea have been a huge part of the Bishops’ early success.

“Sully is a scoring machine,” said Phelan. “He is a fantastic 3-point shooter, and Tim is tremendous on defense and rebounding.”

A good portion of Andrea’s 12 assists came in the second half. Andrea would press the zone, penetrate the defense, and draw the coverage before kicking it out to Sullivan on the perimeter, who hit several threes.

“[Andrea's] really the key [to this offense], but he can shoot it, too,” said Phelan. "He’s really good at distributing the ball. When he’s balancing his attack by shooting and passing, we’re tough to defend.”

Neither of the players have been afraid to help carry the team this season. The 6-foot-1-inch Andrea put up 20 points against a very strong Cathedral defense in the Bishops’ only loss of the season, and scored 26 points in a 68-42 victory over Bishop Fenwick Tuesday. Sullivan, who is 6-2, scored 17 points against Fenwick, and also scored 16 points in a 48-21 win at Austin Prep.

All three victories have come in conference play for the Bishops, but they know they have a long way to go to take the Catholic Central Large title.

“We’ve had a nice stretch of winning games, and that’s helping us gain confidence,” said Phelan. “When we hit our stride and we play against the big teams like Cathedral, St. Mary’s, and Cardinal Spellman, hopefully we can play a little bit better to play with those guys. We know we can do it, we just want to keep getting better every day.”

The Bishops next game is Dec. 27 at Coyle & Cassidy. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.

By Bridget Shannon, Globe Correspondent

The heated rivalry between Marshfield and Duxbury is in full swing. The last five times these teams have met, the game has been decided by 4 points or fewer.

Last night was no exception.

Marshfield tipped host Duxbury, 50-47, for its third victory in the past four meetings.

Ryan Lataglia made a layup with 20 seconds left to put Marshfield up 48-47, after failing to convert on their ensuing possession the Green Dragons were forced to foul Marshfield senior forward Erik Whitaker with three seconds left.

Whitaker, who sat out the second period because of fouls, made both shots to seal the victory for the Rams.

‘‘The rivalry is so intense, it goes back and forth between us,’’ said Marshfield coach Bob Fisher. ‘‘It’s a hard-fought rivalry, where the game becomes about the kids and not the coaches.’’

Whitaker and junior guard Alex White each scored 12 of their 15 points in the second half.

‘‘They’re my only two players with experience back so we looked to them,’’ said Fisher.

By Zuri Berry, Globe Staff

The Boston Amateur Basketball Club has announced its holiday tournament schedule at Chelsea high school, featuring a number of prominent teams in the region, including schools from Connecticut and New Hampshire.

In all, 11 teams will compete in what has become one of the area's top high school basketball tournaments of the season, the 2011 Holiday Classic.

Proceeds from the tournament will go to scholarships for Chelsea students, donated by the BABC. According to the BABC, the tournament has raised nearly $70,000 since its inception in 1996.

Here is the schedule for the tournament as it currently stands:

Tuesday, Dec. 27
4 p.m. - Gm 1 - Malden Catholic vs Everett
5:30 p.m. - Gm 2 - Cambride vs Bishop Guertin (NH)
7 p.m. - Gm 3 - New Mission vs St. John’s Prep

Wednesday, Dec. 28
4 p.m. - Gm 4 - West Roxbury vs Capital Prep (CT)
5:30 p.m. - Gm 5 - New Bedford vs Windsor (CT)
7 p.m. - Gm 6 - Reading vs Loser Gm 1

Thursday, Dec. 29
2:30 p.m. - Gm 7 - Winner Gm 1 vs Reading
4 p.m. - Gm 8 - New Bedford vs West Roxbury
5:30 p.m. - Gm 9 - Loser Gm 2 vs Loser Gm 3 (Class A Consolation)
7 p.m. - Gm 10 - Winner Gm 2 vs Winner Gm 3 (Class A Final)

For more information, visit www.thebabc.com.

By Seth Lakso, Globe Correspondent

Reading senior Jerry Ellis-Williams notched his 1,000th point on Tuesday in a 64-44 win over Burlington for the Rockets (1-1).

The 6-4 forward entered the game needing just 12 points.

Ellis-Williams reached the mark in the second quarter when he knocked down a three-pointer from the wing. He finished the game tied for the team high with Kenny Reed, with 20 points.

"We stopped the game and Jerry’s mom came out to center court and everyone gave him a standing ovation," Reading coach Paul Morrissey said.

According to Morrissey, Reading Athletic Director Phil Vaccaro is in the process of having the game ball painted with the game date and 1,000 points. He plans to present it to Ellis-Williams once the process is complete.

Reed is likely to eclipse the 1,000 point mark this season as well. After his 20 points Tuesday night, he is 98 points away.

"This team has potential," Morrissey said. "They worked hard tonight and I'm proud of them."

By Seth Lakso and Eric Russo, Globe Correspondents

Tuesday night was a busy one in boy's hoops. Here’s a look at some of the highlights.

No. 19 East Boston knocks off top-ranked Charlestown, 68-58

East Boston point guard Patrick Santos gave the Townies fits with his ability to penetrate and dish, finishing with 14 points, seven assists, and six rebounds for the Jets, who walked away 10-point winners.

“We just couldn’t keep [Santos] from penetrating on us,” said Charlestown coach Edson Cardoso. “We didn’t do a good job protecting the paint tonight.”

On the receiving end of a fair share of Santos’ passes was senior shooting guard Zack Gattereau, who finished with a team-high 24 points.

Gattereau played with edge after coming off the East Boston bench for the first time this season.

“I benched [Gattereau] for the start of the game for his lack of effort on defense lately," said East Boson coach Malcolm Smith. “We’re not the most talented team but when we play hard we can stay with anyone. Gattereau can coast from time-to-time, I just wanted to keep him motivated.”

Tyrese Hoxter, who coach Smith called the most talented player in the state after the matchup, scored a game-high 25 points in a losing effort for the Townies, who went a combined 0-for-13 from behind the arc.

After trailing 34-21 at the half, Charlestown cut the lead to eight in the third quarter, but the team's continued poor shooting killed any chance of a fourth quarter comeback.

“We just had one of those off nights,” Cardoso said. “There’s a real rivalry between our programs. We don’t like to lose to Eastie, some of our guys took it pretty hard, but in the end will learn from this and move forward.

“No loss is good, but overall we’re going to be stronger because of this,” Cardoso continue.

“This is one of the fiercest rivalries around,” Smith said. “It doesn’t matter if they’re ranked first or 20th, you can throw all that stuff out when these two teams play each other.”

Charlestown, which won't play another game until Jan. 7, should have plenty of time to right the ship. East Boston will try to stay hot against Bishop Loughlin (N.Y.) in the Reebok Tournament next Wednesday.

“Our plan is to sit down and watch the game film and go over what we need to do to get back on track,” Cardoso said.

Beverley stuns No. 5 Lynn English, 51-49

The NEC is shaping up to be a tough conference this season with Beverley, Peabody, and now Lynn English all tied at 2-1.

Chris Keaton finished with 17 points and six steals – three of which came in the fourth quarter -- for the Panthers.

Six-foot-seven Beverly center Zach Zigelbaum did an admirable job defending the Bulldog’s six-foot-eight All-State big man Keandre Stanton who finished with a game-high 21 points.

No. 10 Mansfield upsets Jake Layman and King Philip, 59-50

Coming into its game against No. 8-ranked King Phillip, Mansfield, at No. 10, knew it was going to be perceived as the underdog. But Hornets’ coach Mike Vaughan told his team as long as they were confident they would have chance.

In the end, Mansfield had more than a chance, defeating King Philip 59-50 in Wrentham, even with one of the best players in the state, Jake Layman, at the other end of the court.

“We made it difficult for [Layman],” Vaughan said. “He’s a special player, but we changed matchups on him to wear him out a little bit.”

After winning the rebound battle in the first two quarters, the Hornets went into the half up, 28-21. Vaughan praised his team during the break and told them that if they continued to play the way they were playing they could make a statement to the rest of the Hockomock League.

“I told them, ‘We’re here as the underdog and we just beat them in the first two quarters. We’ll be taken more serious in the league [if we win],' ” Vaughan said.

Coming out of the half, Layman started to get hot, so Vaughan decided to put junior forward Greg Lomanko on him to try and cool him off.

“He did a good job of containing him once he heated up,” Vaughan said.

While Lomanko was one of the stars on defense, forward and senior captain Terry O’Mara (12 points, 11 rebounds) led the way on offense.

Vaughan was quick to spread the credit around.

“We got contributions from a lot of guys and kind of proved to everyone that we were a pretty good team ourselves,” he said.

As for how far Vaughan thinks his team can go this season, he referred to what he termed “one of those clichés.”

“We play one game at a time,” he said. “Coming into the year we had a young team and I wasn’t sure how they would hold up and respond. But we’re pretty talented and as long as we focus and play well on defense, I like where we can go.”

By Ryan MacInnis, Globe Correspondent

Fenway junior Tajanay Veiga-Lee reached her 1,000th point Tuesday night as she led the Panthers to a 67-17 victory over Boston Latin Academy.

Veiga-Lee completed the feat in only 46 games. She also racked up an impressive 24 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and five steals in passing the milestone.

First-year coach John Rice said he was impressed with his team so far, adding that the Panthers have a real chance to go far.

Fenway will play Arlington Catholic Friday night.

By Seth Lakso, Globe Correspondent

Senior guard Jen Gonsalves became the girls’ all-time leading scorer at Harwich High School Thursday night, scoring 27 points, as the Rough Riders cruised past Plymouth North 68-53.

The Harwich captain entered the game unaware she needed just 10-points to tie the all-time mark of 1,312 held by Sharee DaLuze since 2004.

With the first quarter winding down, Gonsalves drove the lane, making a layup and getting fouled in the process. The two points tied DaLuze’s mark and the ensuing free throw broke it.

“We stopped the game and she received a standing ovation and we presented her with the game ball,” said Harwich coach Alik Taylor. “It was a special night for Jen. She knew she was close but had no idea just how close. You could see how excited she was.”

With 1,329 points for her career, Gonsalves needs just 266 to break the school’s all-time mark held by Glen Rose since 1974.

By Cat Calsolaro, Globe Correspondent

Andover, the two-time defending Division 1 girls' basketball state champion, defeated host Chelmsford, 81-57, Wednesday night. It was the Golden Warriors’ first test without All-Scholastic guard Natalie Gomez-Martinez, now at Marist College.

“First game, first win,” said coach Jim Tildsley. “The first game is always tough, everyone is kind of nervous."

Playing without her former backcourt mate, Boston College-bound Nicole Boudreau didn’t appear nervous at all, putting her team on her back with a 30-point performance.

Chelmsford looked up to the challenge, trailing 18-16 after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Lions found senior captain Jen Janiak (20 points) who drained three open 3-pointers to keep her team in the game.

“Chelmsford came out and shot the ball very, very well, and our defense wasn't any good at all,” said Tildsley. “I think the last minute-and-a half of the first half that was our team.”

By the end of the half, Andover's full-court press began to wear on the Lions. Boudreau hit a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 41-32 going into the locker room.

In the third, Andover dominated the boards and forced multiple turnovers.

Chelmsford couldn’t find a clear shot and Andover had a solid 62-45 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

“We have to be good defensively in order to win. We can get in shootouts, but we have to stop people,” said Tildsley. I was happy with how we played in the third quarter, we put the game away.”

By Bridget Shannon, Globe Correspondent

Cardinal Spellman senior Joe Glynn scored his 1,000th career point in a win 64-35 win over Bishop Fenwick Wednesday night in Brockton.

Only nine points shy entering the game, Glynn reached the milestone five minutes into the first quarter. In honor of his achievement, the game was put on hold and Glynn was presented the game ball and took pictures with his parents.

“It was a really special moment for him,” said coach Mike Perry. “You have to know Joey, he has zero for an ego and is one of the easiest kids to coach. He’s the whole package.”

Glynn has been on the varsity since he was a freshman and has been a starter since his sophomore year. This 6-foot-5-inch center/forward is one of the fastest players on the team and last season averaged 21 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.

Glynn is not only a basketball player but also a football player, and a member of the National Honor Society.

“He is very well-rounded. It’s been absolutely wonderful coaching him. He’s been a great teammate too and his teammates have a lot of respect for him. He shows up for practice every day, works hard, and leads by example. I’m the lucky one,” said coach Perry.

According to Perry, a number of colleges, including WPI, Stonehill, Annapolis, and St. Anselm’s have inquiring about Glynn.

Andover coach David Fazio, center, speaks with his team before their season-opening game against Methuen Tuesday night.

By Zuri Berry, Globe Staff

ANDOVER -- On the sideline, cheering, directing and otherwise focusing on managing Andover's boys basketball team, David Fazio is a happy man. He has moved on from the sexual hazing debacle that has enraptured his school.

In the boys basketball team's first game of the season on Tuesday night, the Golden Warriors beat visiting Methuen 63-49 with Fazio peppering his players with instructions on the sideline, as he has done for the last 23 years he’s been with the school.

"You have no idea how good it feels to be out here," Fazio said before the game.

Fazio was reinstated as coach after being placed on paid administrative leave following the fallout of the hazing scandal. Seven members of the Andover basketball team were disciplined for engaging in a sexual hazing act at a basketball camp at Stonehill College in Easton. Two of the team's members, the alleged ringleaders, were expelled, according to a report in the Eagle-Tribune, which first reported the story.

The players reportedly pressured two of their younger teammates into a sexual hazing game called "wet biscuit," in which the loser was forced to eat a cookie with bodily fluids on it. One victim has since left the school district and Stonehill College has cut ties with the camp, Hoop Mountain, after being notified by Easton police of the incident.

Andover senior captain James Costello, who was named the team's captain this summer, powered his team with 19 points and 12 rebounds in the win. He said the hazing incident was a one-time affair.

"We just have to, all together, be cognizant of our actions and be real role models going forward," Costello said.

The Golden Warriors have moved on without the players involved in the incident.

"That was my only five," said Fazio of the players in the starting lineup when asked about the team's dismissed players.

"Everybody who came out on the first day of practice, we brought them back,” Fazio said before the game. "We had to make some adjustments, but everybody who came out to that first practice got an opportunity.”

For Fazio, watching this crop of basketball players, including starters Sam Dowden (13 points, seven rebounds), Chris Dunn (12 points) and Greg Dreyfus (eight points), has been the greatest reward so far.

“These guys, they understand,” Fazio said after the game. “It’s kind of difficult situation. Everybody knows that. What we’ve asked them to do is [deal with] some adversity. You can judge character by how well you handle adversity.

“At the end of the day, they just want to play basketball,” Fazio continued. “They love basketball, I think they’re happy to have their coach with them, and I love these kids. We’ve always had great kids. It’s just been an unfortunate situation.”

Methuen was led by Kyle Mansour who tallied 18 points on the night.

By Seth Lakso, Globe Correspondent

Defending Division 1 state champion St. John’s Prep received a wake-up call to open its season last night, surviving a strong challenge from St. Mary’s before posting a 78-76 overtime win in Danvers.

“We told the kids before the game that they’re going to get everyone’s best shot,” said Eagles assistant coach John Dullea. “It’s going to be like this every game. Hopefully it’s a wake-up call that things aren’t going to be as easy for us this year.”

It took 38 points -- including 20 in the second half -- and 20 rebounds from senior Steve Haladyna for Eagles, who finished last season 25-1, to walk away winners.

Haladyna, who is just 41 points shy of reaching 1,000 for his career, has taken over the scoring load with the school's all-time leading scorer, Pat Connaughton, now playing at Notre Dame.

“It’s tough to replace a talent like Pat, but [Haladyna] can fill it up,” said Dullea. “He’s taken up the leadership role on this team and become more vocal. He did a lot to pump our guys up.”

The Spartans came out playing a two-three zone that gave the Eagles, who are used to seeing man defense, trouble early on.

St. Mary’s took a surprising 36-31 lead at halftime.

The Eagles, playing without starters Isaiah Robinson (torn meniscus), Owen Marchettie (sprained ankle), and Drex Costello (knee), settled down in the second half and carried a 5-point lead heading into the final three minutes.

“The injuries certainly aren’t helping us,'' said Dullea. "Once they get back we’ll have more scoring options.”

The Spartans rallied in the final minutes. Senior shooting guard Devin Thompson knocked down a deep three with just seconds remaining to send the game into overtime tied at 68.

Thompson finished with a team-high 28 points.

“St. Mary’s made some big plays,” said Dullea. “They came out intense and played like they had nothing to lose and whenever they needed a big shot it seemed like they hit it.”

In overtime the lead see-sawed, with both teams tiring in their first contest of the season.

With under a minute remaining, St. John’s Prep’s Mike Carbone connected on a three to put the Eagles up 2. The Spartans never recovered missing a contested three at the buzzer.

Senior Fred Shove was impressive for the Eagles, collecting 16 points and 16 rebounds in the place of Robinson.

Haladyna will continue his run toward 1,000 on Thursday when the Eagles host Lynn Classical.

By Bob Holmes, Globe Staff

A great summer for the Boston Amateur Basketball Club got even better with the announcement that Nerlens Noel was named Five-Star's Summer Defensive Player of the Year.

The 6-foot-10-inch Everett native blocked 55 shots in 11 games at the Nike EYBL tournament, and in the title game of the Peach Jam, Noel had 10 rebounds, six blocks and four steals in a 84-67 win over Memphis. In the 16-and-under AAU National Championship game in Orlando, he blocked a shot against Team Takeover that led BABC to the title. Noel, who will be a junior at the Tilton School this fall, is ranked the No. 1 center in the country for the class of 2013.

In a release from Five-Star, BABC director Leo Papile said, "No one has ever been compared to Bill Russell, but I said that about this kid when he was in the eighth grade. He has a basketball brain like no other player that I have ever coached. He's a special kid."

By Lorenzo Recupero, Globe Correspondent

After 19 years of coaching, Mike Tarlin has decided to step down as varsity boys' basketball coach at Framingham High, citing a combination of family matters and teaching English at the school as reasons for his resignation.

Former Wellesley High basketball standout and assistant coach Adam Cluff was named as Tarlin's replacement.

Tarlin, who also coached seven seasons as a junior varsity assistant at Needham High, had his best season in 2008, when the Flyers made the semifinals of the Division 1 South sectionals before being ousted by Brockton. Framingham was 16-7 that year.

Cluff, a three-time Bay State league all-star while at Wellesley High, is excited to take on the task as he gets set to started on the first head coaching position of his career. He spent nine seasons as an assistant.

"I've been working toward this for some time, and I know there's a great deal of potential at Framingham," Cluff said. "Framingham has had a few tough seasons of late, but the infastructure is in place to turn things around".

Cluff's outlook on the season is promising.

"I just think any time there's a coaching change there's going to be a lot of optimism," Cluff said. "I'm going to build off that."

By Seth Lakso, Globe Correspondent

Trinity Catholic has named Nicole Turick as its girls varsity basketball coach while Peter Gobiel has been named the director of athletics at Winthrop.

Turick served as the junior varsity coach for the past three seasons at Trinity Catholic and as the freshman coach for the two years prior.

Trinity Catholic is coming off an 11-8 season.

“We were blessed to meet with a tremendous number of quality candidates for this position," said athletic director Craig Gnualdo in a press release. "Though they were all spectacular, Nicole rose above the rest.

“Her knowledge of our program, our girls, and her willingness to take this program to the next level over the next several years won over the search committee. We’re all excited for Nicole and our players. We can’t wait to see the team perform in the upcoming season.”

Gobiel, who has taught at Winthrop for 31 years and is a graduate of Boston State College, previously served as athletic director in 2002-03. The Winthrop native has coached Winthrop gymnastics for the past 20 years. Current Winthrop co-coach Melissa Wiles will take over as head coach of the program.

“Mr. Gobiel has the physical education and wellness background that I think will be very beneficial to all of our students,” superintendent of schools John Macero told the Winthrop Transcript. “His 31 years of experience in the district will also be very valuable to the teachers in being able to provide knowledge for those areas.”

Special to the Globe

The West scholastic 11-12 boys' basketball team beat Southeast in a nail-biting 91-89 overtime thriller on Friday afternoon at Wentworth.

The game was close throughout with West holding a slim 15-11 lead after the first quarter and an even slimmer 35-34 lead at the half. However, at the end of the fourth quarter West found itself down by one with just a few second left on the clock. With one shot left, Jose Allen (Amherst, Amherst HS) drilled a shot at the buzzer to tie the game at 74-74 and send them into overtime. Allen, who led West with 15 points, added another six points in overtime to seal the win. Southeast’s Sayvonn Houston (Brockton, Brockton HS) led all scorers with 25 points.

Coastal 100, Metro 91
Coastal drained nine 3-pointers in a defeat of Metro.

Coastal jumped out to an early 30-18 lead at the end of the first quarter. By halftime Metro had cut the lead down to 54-47. However, Coastal regained a nine point lead going into the fourth quarter and never looked back. Leading the charge for Coastal was guard Chris Green (Taunton, Taunton HS) who scored 22 points, 18 of which were in the first half while Andrew Kenyon (Swansea, Case HS) added another 20 points.

West 124, Northeast 85
West had seven players score in double digits as they demolished Northeast, 124-85. Northeast kept the game close in the beginning, and were within three points, 50-47, at the half. However, in the third quarter West erupted for 41 points. West’s Phil DePhilips (Orange, Mahar HS) led the team with 21 points, 10 of which came during the second half explosion. Jose Allen (Amherst, Amherst HS) added 19 points for the winners.

BOYS' SCHOLASTIC 9/10
at Reggie Lewis Center
Metro 77, Northeast 48
Metro sailed past Northeast Friday morning. Northeast’s Jordan Mendez (Salem, North Shore Tech) netted a game-high 20 points in the loss. His teammate, Jack Jimenez (Salem, Salem Academy Charter), contributed 11 points. Metro’s leading scorer was Tyler Sullivan with 16 points, though Matt Woods was close behind, scoring 15.

Coastal 83, Southeast 76
In one of the tightest games so far in the tournament, Coastal sophomore guard Ryan St. Clair (Easton, Oliver Ames) put up a team-high 22 points. His teammate sophomore guard Tony Pires (Carver, Carver) scored 16 points. Despite being on the losing squad, freshman forward Dave Harrison (Weymouth, Weymouth HS) netted a game-high 22 points. His teammate sophomore forward Paul Preziosi (Abington/Hull, Cardinal Spellman HS) contributed 15 points.

West 65, Central 62
West snuck past Central on Friday by a narrow three-point margin, 65-62. Sophomore forward Justin Crosby (Westfield, Westfield HS) posted 13 points toward his West squad’s win, while his teammates, freshman Corey Baker (Granby, Granby HS) and sophomore Andy Gifford (Granby, Granby HS) each scored 11 points. Central’s sophomore guard Colin Richey (Upton, Whitinsville Christian) netted a game-high 16 points. His teammate, sophomore guard Mark Deuris (Uxbridge, Uxbridge) contributed 11 points.

Southeast 72, Northeast 48
Southeast defeated Northeast Friday afternoon. Southeast freshman guard Dave Harrison (Weymouth, Weymouth HS) led the charge, notching 16 points. His teammate, sophomore Ridge Francisque (Brockton, Brockton HS), was close behind with 13 points. Northeast sophomore Jordan Mendez (Salem, North Shore Tech) managed to net a game-high 18 and his teammate, sophomore Jack Jimenez (Salem, Salem Academy Charter), scored 13 points.

GIRLS' SCHOLASTIC BASKETBALL
at Emmanuel College
Southeast 66, Metro 52
Southeast got 15 points from sophomore center Ashley Snyder (Foxboro, Foxboro HS) in a win over Metro. Senior guard Katelyn Sousa (Hopkinton, Hopkinton HS) contributed 11 points to the offensive effort. Despite the loss, both sophomore Gena Restiano (Revere, Revere HS) and junior Colleen Kane (Arlington, Arlington HS) managed to put up 11 points each for their Metro squad.

Northeast 68, Central 37
Northeast put on an offensive showcase as it defeated Central. They came out hard, outscoring Central 22-8 in the first quarter alone. Senior Amy Pelletier (Beverly, Bishop Fenwick HS) scored a game-high 11 points to propel her team to victory. Her teammate, Nicole Catizone (Woburn, Arlington Catholic HS), contributed nine points to the effort. Central’s leading scorer was Sammie Battaini (Leominster, St. Bernard’s Central Catholic), with seven points.

West 58, Coastal 43
Junior Jill Ritrosky (Pittsfield, Pittsfield HS) contributed a game-high 12 points to the win. West sophomore Alyssa Darling (Palmer, Palmer HS) scored 10 points. The leading scorer for the Coastal squad was sophomore Angelique Martinez (Taunton, Taunton HS), who netted 10 points. Her teammate senior Jennifer Rock (Byfield, Triton), scored eight.

Northeast 73, Coastal 36
Northeast was too strong for an undermanned Coastal squad as they walked away with the win. Kaitlyn Lipka (Peabody, Bishop Fenwick HS) led all scorers with 15 and Carlene Kluge (Reading, Reading HS) added 12 points for the winners. Coastal’s Rachel Camara (Fall River, Durfee) gave strong effort, collecting 13 points.

FIELD HOCKEY
at Waltham High
Metro/Northeast 2, West 1
Whitney Jones (Sudbury, Brooks School) and Erika Kelly (Watertown, Watertown HS) each scored a goal to help Metro/Northeast edge West. Morgan Mazanec (Selburne, Mohawk Trail Reg. HS) collected the lone tally for West.

Southeast 6, Coastal 1
Southeast got goals from six different players to blow past Coastal, 6-1. Katy Cronin (Franklin, Franklin HS), Kayla Garczynski (Norwood, Norwood HS), Meghan Pini (Natick, Natick HS), Meghan Murphy (Walpole, Walpole HS), Emily McColgan (Walpole, Southfield HS), and Mackenzie Hudson (Stoughton, Stoughton HS) each found the net. Meghan Carroll (Mansfield, Mansfield HS) broke up the shutout with a goal for Coastal.

BOYS' SCHOLASTIC LACROSSE
at Wentworth
Northeast 14, Metro/Southeast 3
West 10, Coastal 8
Northeast 16, Central 4
Metro/Southeast 11, West 10

GIRLS' SCHOLASTIC LACROSSE
at Waltham High
West 14, Northeast/Central 6
Nicole Beliveau (Westfield, Westfield HS) notched four goals, Alicia Busco (Agawam, Agawam HS) potted three and Emily Allcroft (Northampton, Northampton HS) tallied a pair to pace the West offense. Northeast/Central’s Isabella Gitto (Leominster, Leominster HS) netted three goals in a losing effort.

Southeast/Coastal 15, Metro 10
After a slow start, Metro pulled within a goal midway through the second half before Southeast/Coastal scored four unanswered goals to come out on top. Natalie Devine (East Walpole, Fontbonne Academy) led her team with three goals, and four others chipped in with a pair of markers. Freshman Shannon Fitzgerald (Newton, Newton North) was terrific for Metro with six goals.

By Ryan Mooney, Globe Correspondent

Amy Pelletier and Tori Faieta will be teammates the next four seasons at Stonehill College. The former Catholic Central Large rivals gave the folks at Lynn Classical a little preview of their prowess Monday night in the 7th annual Agganis Women's Basketball Classic.

Pelletier, the former Bishop Fenwick graduate, tossed in 18 points and Faieta (St. Mary's of Lynn) added 11 to power the South All-Stars to a 48-45 win over the North squad.

Revers's Morgan Jenkins (12 points), who will play against Pelletier (South MVP) and Faieta for Northeast-10 rival St. Michael's, earned MVP honors for the North.

McMillen, Campbell power South boys
The South All-Stars routed the North 92-76 in the 7th Agganis Men’s Basketball Classic Monday night behind 18 points from team MVP Corey McMillen of Lynn English and 17 from Ronsanto Campbell of St. Mary’s-Lynn.

Team MVP Alex Morsey of Bishop Fenwick led the North in scoring with 18 points; Adam Philpott of Gloucester and Antonio Reyes of Salem chipped in with 12 points each.

The Agganis All-Star Women's and Men's Soccer Classics will be played at Manning Field in Lynn Tuesday night, at 5:30 and 7:30, respectively.

By Mike Carraggi, Globe Correspondent

Dan Giovacchini’s star has always shone bright on the local and regional level. But now, the Globe All-Scholastic and Brown University-commit from Lawrence Academy is getting his due nationally.

Giovacchini is one of eight finalists in consideration for the first ever AAU High School Sullivan Award. The award is meant to recognize the country’s premier high school athlete, with an eye towards academics and character.

Last season in football, the 6-foot-3-inch linebacker/running back stood out even among several of his Division 1-bound teammates, winning the Independent Schools League MVP award en route to a second-straight undefeated regular season and league title. He also was a league all-star as a guard/forward in basketball, where the Spartans are a year removed from a flawless season and championship. Giovacchini completed the trifecta by being given Honorable Mention in each of the last two baseball seasons as a center fielder and catcher. Lawrence Academy baseball took the ISL championship in the spring.

Save the quartet of championships, this honor is as high as any he has received.

‘‘My favorite memories are probably winning the titles,’’ he said. ‘‘But this is up there, it’s pretty awesome. It’s a great way to end my high school career.’’

At Brown, Giovacchini will focus on football and play as much basketball as he can.

By Bob Hohler, Globe Staff

One of the top high school basketball players in Boston announced his intentions yesterday to accept a Division 1 scholarship from Penn State University. Akosa Maduegbunam, a 6-foot-3 All-Scholastic guard at Charlestown High School, verbally committed to begin playing for the Nittany Lions in the 2012-13 season. He will play next year for the Winchendon School. As a junior, Maduegbunam averaged 22.3 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals a game last season in leading Charlestown to a 22-3 record, a city championship, and a berth in the Division 1 North quarterfinals.

"He’s a very good shooting guard who can play defense and rebound," according to Charlestown coach Edson Cardoso. "His long arms and quickness allows him to stop guys that come in the paint."

Maduegbunam transferred to Charlestown from Cushing Academy in 2009 and finished his career at Charlestown as an honor roll student. He's transferring to Winchendon School next year for his senior season.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

Charlestown junior guard Akosa Maduegbunam has decided to complete his senior year at Winchendon School next year, despite receiving an athletic scholarship to Boston University.

Maduegbunam, who repeated his sophomore year at Charlestown after transferring from Cushing Academy halfway through the year, was eligible to graduate from Charlestown after his junior year.

"Akosa is a very competitive player, he likes to win," Charlestown coach Edson Cardoso said. "He likes to bring the best out of his teammates. At Winchendon, he''ll get to play against the top guards in the region and improve himself to play at the next level."

Despite losing Maduegbunam, Charlestown will still compete as one of the top teams in the state next season.

Cardoso will have a strong lineup with returning seniors Tyrik Jackson, Rony Fernandes and Iser Barnes. Juniors Tyrese Hoxter and Omar Orriols also bring a strong skill set to the back court.

Sophomore Jon Grullon, who transferred to Charlestown from Brooklyn, N.Y., is a 6-9 post player that Cardoso said will be a strong defensive addition.

"I think he’s a raw basketball player that's still learning the game," Cardoso said. "He can grab rebounds and block shots. He's not an offensive threat yet, but we can work with him and make him an offensive presence."

Former Globe All-Scholastic Katelyn Leonard has been named the new girls' basketball head coach at Revere High School.

Leonard was the girls' coach at Mystic Valley Regional Charter School.
Leonard was a two-time Northeastern Conference MVP and scored 1,325 points during her career at Swampscott High School. She played college basketball at Stonehill.

Up the road in Peabody, Bishop Fenwick also named a new head girls' basketball coach. His name is Adam DeBaggis and he's Fenwick's volleyball coach, asst. baseball coach and an English teacher at Bishop Fenwick.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

Anxious moviegoers packed not one, but two street corners waiting for the long, anticipated Boston debut of the documentary, “Push: Madison versus Madison” at the Somerville Theater Saturday night.
 
The documentary, directed by Rudy Hypolite, captured the 2007 Madison Park basketball season as coach Dennis Wilson and the Cardinals chased a state championship while battling the interior problems of living in the inner city.
 
“To have a packed theater like we had and to see the reaction of the crowd, that gave me a thrill,” Wilson said. “Seeing everybody on the edge of their seats like they don’t want to blink, that was special. It means all the hard work we put into it paid off.”
 
Raheem “Radio” Singleton, an instrumental player from the 2007 team was in attendance for the showing, as well as teammates Jakeen Cobb and David Daniels, who both played active roles in the film.
 
“After you see it on the big screen, it was so powerful just to look back and see how far I’ve come since then,” Singleton said, who is now the starting point guard at the University of Maine. “It molded me into who I am today.”
 
The documentary strongly focuses on the breakdown between the chemistry of Singleton and teammate Malik Smith, who represented rivalry neighborhoods and tried to outshine each other.
 
Wilson and Hypolite hoped the documentary would send a message to struggling children growing up in inner city environments, preaching that they can overcome adversity and succeed.
 
“Coach Wilson always told us, ‘Stay humble, stay hungry, stay focused,’” Singleton said. “Just because of the unfortunate situations all in my life, I’m not going to take the situation and feel sorry for myself. You need to move on and improve to prevent those situations.”
 
After successful showings at the Cinequest Film Festival and the Boston Independent Film Festival, Wilson and Hypolite will continue to promote the film on the independent circuit.
 
The documentary will next appear in the International Film Festival of Roxbury in July. For more information, visit pushmadison.com.

By Mike Carraggi, Globe Correspondent

The Everett High athletic department, in conjunction with various alumni, will be hosting a 3-on-3 basketball tournament Saturday at the high school to raise money for an Everett family which lost its home in a March 17 fire.

Moise ‘Mo’ St. Fleur and his family lost everything they own when their Maine Street home burned to the ground nine days ago. St. Fleur has been a volunteer assistant to many of the Everett teams since 2003 and the community has rallied around him.

‘‘He was always such a great kid to us that doing this was a no-brainer type situation,’’ said Frankie Nuzzo, the former Everett High player who has led the efforts. ‘‘This has been one of the most effortless fundraisers I’ve ever been involved in. Everyone wants to help.’’

Nuzzo hopes the event, which has a $60 per-team entry fee, will raise enough money to help the family back on its feet.

The tournament will start at 2 p.m. and feature the Celtics Dancers, as well as provide food and entertainment.

Video by Cal Borchers for Boston.com

By Zuri Berry, Boston.com staff

We didn't miss anything from Saturday's hoops finals. And with so much going on, it was easy to stare at the court more often than not. With 12 hours of great hoops, it was hard not to. But there was some pageantry at the DCU Center in Worcester that every fan likes to experience. There were just so many great fans, you almost want to say you had to be there to enjoy it.

Not this time.

We tried to capture the pageantry in this montage, which features some of the best clips on and off the court. Enjoy.

Video by Cal Borchers for Boston.com

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe correspondent

WORCESTER – Trying to predict who will lead the St. John’s Prep Eagles in scoring is like trying to predict New England weather – impossible.

Steve Haladyna finished with a game-high 29 points to lift the Eagles (25-1) over St. John’s of Shrewsbury (21-4) 72-57 to capture the Division 1 state championship at the DCU Center last night.

The junior guard exploded for 17 points in the third quarter and single-handedly drained the life out of the Pioneers.

“We made it a point at halftime to get out and run,” Haladyna said. “We wanted to make it a fast-paced game and just push it on them and get fastbreak points.”

Haladyna’s run started when he opened up the half with a jumper, followed by a 3-pointer to give the Prep a 33-21 lead.

Junior Owen Marchetti, who finished with eight points, added another to give the Eagles a 35-21 lead.

With 2:11 remaining in the half, Haladyna knocked down another 3-pointer to give his team a 52-34 lead.

Senior Richard Rodgers, who finished with 26 points, tried to keep his team close, but Haladyna refused to let the Pioneers get close.

“[Haladyna] is a big time player,” Prep coach Sean Connolly said. “When people key in on Pat [Connaughton], he’s tough. He has an array of shot’s, he can hit 3-pointers and floaters and he’s just a tough cover.”

Connaughton, who finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds, was satisfied with his performance, but all his praise was for his teammate.

“He’s been the second-hand guy ever since he came up,” Connaughton said. “And that’s really what sparks us – he’s another weapon. I told him coming out of the locker room at halftime that it’s going to be the last time I play with him in a St. John’s Prep uniform, so let’s make it a memorable one.”

By Emily Wright, Globe Correspondent

WORCESTER -- Andover fulfilled the lofty expectations placed on it this season, beating Amherst=Pelham 61-51 Saturday to win its second straight Division 1 girls' basketball state championship.

“Last year we were the hunter. No one expected us to win it and this year they expected us to win it all,” Andover coach Jim Tildsley said. “We had a great year …They have that mental toughness, we could have folded a couple times, but we stayed strong.”

Andover (27-1) led 25-23 at halftime, but shots weren’t dropping for Gatorade Player of the Year Nicole Boudreau.

“We didn’t play a very good first half,” Boudreau said. “We weren’t hitting our shots and our two sophomores were in foul trouble.”

Boudreau misfired throughout the first. The 5-foot, 9-inch junior guard hit just 3 of 8 before halftime, including 1-for-6 in the first quarter. Boudreau was defended by Amherst-Pelham's Forbasaw Nkambo, a 6-0 senior center who also scored 15 points.

Boudreau finished with a game-high 18 points, including three 3-pointers.

“[Amherst-Pelham] had a great coach who knew exactly how to defend us,” Boudreau said. “They had a girl face-guarding me the whole time, so it was definitely hard to get started. Luckily we have some other girls on the team who could step up and hit some big shots.”

Sophomores Jackie Alois (18 points, 6 rebounds) and Devon Caveney (14 points) got into foul trouble early and both had three at halftime, but the duo scored 21 of the team's final 26 points.

“We wanted to win this so badly and we gave it all we could,” Caveney said. “My shots weren’t hitting, but I hit the ones I could. I’ve been on the team for two years and both teams have won the state title…I don’t even know what it feels like to lose it all, I only know how it feels to get a title.”

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe correspondent

WORCESTER – Before Northbridge could even get a look at the basket, they were faced with the task of getting past New Mission’s furious full-court press.
 
But the Titans cranked up the heat on defense and disrupted Northbridge’s tempo, cruising to a 67-57 win in the Division 2 state championship at the DCU Center Saturday.
 
“We knew we could use our length on this court,” New Mission coach Cory McCarthy said. “I felt like if we came out in [a press] we’d end up in a good situation in terms of getting steals, putbacks – the whole nine.”
 
Throughout the second half, New Mission’s lead never slipped below 17 points until the two minute mark in the fourth quarter when the Titans were leading 65-49.
 
“[The lead] gave us a lot of momentum,” said senior Darius Davis, who led New Mission with 17 points. “Being in the press really fired me up and we used our intensity to force a lot of turnovers.”
 

Senior Samir McDaniels and junior Kachi Nzerem joined Davis in double-digit scoring, adding 16 and 15 points, respectively, and senior Charles Gunter chipped in eight.
 
“Those guys are the best guys I ever coached,” McCarthy said. “They’ve stuck together and they’re four different personalities, and usually in those situations that’s tough to manage. But they’re able to stick together cause they’re high character guys.”
 
McCarthy said that the team was a little shaky on offense, but that was because the team focused on getting the ball inside, especially Nzerem.
 
“It’s not always about me,” Nzerem said. “My coach always wants me to shoot and my shooting’s an ability I have, but I always like to feed my teammates.”

By Seth Lakso, Globe Correspondent

WORCESTER – St. Mary’s used its size advantage to win the the MIAA Division 3 girls' basketball championship, defeating defending champ Lee 64-54 this morning in at the DCU Center.

St. Mary’s (24-4) kept to a methodical game plan, working the ball down low to its tall forwards. Lee's strength was speed and creating turnovers, but size proved more important.

St. Mary's tandem of 6-foot-2 inch Tori Faieta (12 points, 13 rebounds) and 5-foot-10 Cassi Amenta (16 points, 5 rebounds) led the way. Point guard Kristen Ferrari set up the offense, repeatedly finding Faieta and Amenta in prime position.

St. Mary’s took a 15-9 lead in the first quarter, led by six points from Amenta. Both teams loosened up in the second quarter, and Faieta began to dominate. St. Mary's outscored Lee 18-11 in the second quarter and took a 33-20 lead by halftime.

In the third, Lee forced St. Mary’s into nine turnovers, but St. Mary's held the edge in rebounding -- Faieta had seven in the third alone -- and Lee only managed to knock one point off the lead. St. Mary's led 45-33 after three quarters.

Lee forced nine more turnovers in the fourth quarter and pulled within seven points late in the quarter, but Ferrari, St. Mary's captain, hit a crucial 3-pointer with five minutes remaining and followed by going 4-for-4 from the free throw line down the stretch.

Faieta had two key blocks in the final minutes and finished with some impressive numbers for her career -- 1,471 points and 1,412 rebounds.

Updates and discussion on the high school state basketball championships. Chat starts at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

By Ayoub Kourikchi, Globe correspondent

Senior guard Pat Connaughton from St. John’s Prep of Danvers was selected as the Massachusetts Gatorade Basketball Player of the year, making him the first player chosen from the Prep.

The 6-5, 205 pound guard is averaging 22.0 points, 16.6 rebounds, and 7.9 assists per game and has led the Eagles (24-1) to the Division 1 State tournament championship game against St. John's of Shrewsbury on March 19.

Connaughton has been named a Catholic Conference All-Star three times and has been recognized as the league MVP twice.

The two-sport athlete has committed to Notre Dame where he will play basketball and baseball.

Last year's Massachusetts Gatorade boys basketball player of the year was St. Mark's Nate Lubick, who matriculated to Georgetown.

Video by Zuri Berry, Boston.com staff

A breakdown of the highlights from Tuesday's boys basketball state semifinals and the Division 4 state championship at the TD Garden.

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

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe correspondent

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

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

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

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

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

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

FULL ENTRY

By Emily Wright, Globe correspondent

New Mission proved to be a formidable opponent throughout its premier season as a Division 2 competitor and Tuesday night was no exception. The Titans, formerly a Division 4 squad which shifted due to its deep talent pool, defeated Hopkinton (20-4) at the TD Garden in the MIAA Division 2 State semifinals, 67-56.

With a 21-4 record, New Mission is heading back to the DCU Center on Saturday; the Titans took home a Division 4 State Championship title last year and hope to go back-to-back.

“This is a great group of kids,” New Mission coach Cory McCarthy said. “As a coach, you never know if you’ll get a group of kids like that again. We’ve got one more to go, they’ll enjoy it tonight but they’ve got practice tomorrow.”

New Mission 6-5 junior guard Kachi Nzerem dropped 7 of his game-high 21 points in the first 5 minutes to give his squad a 15-10 edge, but Hopkinton came back to make it a 22-18 game after a quarter on the heels of Hopkinton shooters Jason Dlugolecki (9 points) and Wesley Ericksen (8 points) who each scored 5 in the first. The Hillers came on even stronger in the second quarter, scoring 15 points to New Mission’s 11, to make it a 33-33 ballgame at halftime.

Before heading to the locker room, New Mission sophomore center Isshiah Coleman gave a hint of what type of power fans would be seeing from the Titans squad in the second half. With 4 seconds left on the second-quarter clock, Hopkinton’s Jeff Dufficy went up for a short jumper which would have put the Hillers ahead, but Coleman’s vertical came into play and the 6-4 sophomore center swatted the shot away with a vengeance that made the Titans cheering section jump to their feet.

Hopkinton’s 6-foot forward Graham Eagan, who stands just one inch taller than his teammate who failed against Coleman three seconds earlier, went up for the same shot. He jumped straight up a foot outside of the paint, to the left of the basket, but Coleman jumped even higher with perfect control and sent the ball flying toward the ground at the buzzer.

“For a quick second I felt like a kid because I wanted to cheer like the crowd,” McCarthy said. “But Isshiah has been doing that all year…His vertical is unheralded.”

Coleman finished the game with 3 points, 4 blocks and 4 rebounds.

New Mission put away 18 points in the fourth quarter and stymied the Hopkinton's offense, allowing the Hillers just 10 points in the final quarter.

FULL ENTRY

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe correspondent

Throughout the state tournament, Watertown hadn’t allowed an opponent to score more than 40 points.

Tuesday was no different as the Raider’s defense clamped down to lift Watertown (19-5) over Cardinal Spellman (20-5) 56-36 in the Division 3 Eastern Massachusetts final at the TD Garden last night.

“They're relentless, they’ve taken it to another level,” Watertown coach Stephen Harrington said. “On the defensive end, they rotate well and they’re just ball hawks. We made some shots as well, making it difficult for Cardinal Spellman to get back into it.”

By the fourth quarter, the game was well out of reach as Watertown abused Spellman and exploded for a 20-point third quarter, leading 47-22 going into the last eight minutes.

The Raiders’ defense was in prime form during the third as it smothered Spellman, surrendering just six points.

Watertown senior Marco Coppola scored nine of his game-high 26 points in the third quarter.

With 3:30 left, Coppola scored back-to-back buckets to give Watertown a 42-19 lead. Then, with two seconds left, Coppola nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give his team a 25-point lead.

FULL ENTRY

By Arielle Aronson, Globe correspondent

The fourth time was the charm for the Winthrop Vikings. After ending their season with a loss in the Division 4 North sectional finals for the last three consecutive years, the Vikings finally broke through and won the Division 4 state championship with a 58-55 win over Cohasset on Tuesday afternoon.

“No one expected our team to win the state championship,” Winthrop coach David Brown said. “I knew we have been competitive at times, but to be the Division 4 state champions is unbelievable. These kids aren’t the most talented group I’ve ever coached, but they work just as hard as anyone I’ve ever put on the floor.”

The Vikings (19-6) had big nights from senior center Anthony Hatzisavas (16 points) and junior forward Joe D’Amore, who finished with 15 points, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter.

The game was a see-saw affair right to the end, as the Vikings led at the end of the first quarter, 16-9, but dipped during the second quarter to finish the half tied with the Skippers (22-3) at 23.

Cohasset came out pressing hard in the third quarter, but the combination of Hatzisavas and junior forward Quinton Dale proved unstoppable, as the two combined for 12 of Winthrop’s 17 points in the quarter.

Final: Andover 54, New Bedford 46 — Andover's Nicole Boudreau proves again why she's the Gatorade player of the year. Boudreau dropped 28 points, grabbed 11 boards, picked up six steals and added two blocks to fill up the stat sheet while helping her team beat previously undefeated New Bedford.

Devon Caveney chipped in 12 points for Andover.

New Bedford was led by Allexia Barros, who tallied 18 points on the night. Arielle Gomes added 10 points and 15 rebounds for the Whalers.

End of the third quarter: Andover 45, New Bedford 37 — Andover's Nicole Boudreau hit two 3-pointers in the quarter as Andover pushed their lead to as much as 10 points. She now has 22 points on the game.

End of the second quarter: Andover 29, New Bedford 24 — Nicole Boudreau has 12 points as Andover leads New Bedford at half. Allexia Barros and Alyssa Roach have seven points each for New Bedford.

End of the first quarter: Andover 15, New Bedford 11 — Devon Caveney has five points to lead Andover in the first quarter over New Nedford in the Division 1 girls state semifinal. Alyssa Roach has 3 points for New Bedford.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe correspondent

With 6:09 remaining in the first half, the Arlington Catholic Cougars were staring at an 18-point deficit, and their hope of playing for the Division 2 state championship was fading.

But AC (20-6) went on a 13-0 run to end the half and used the momentum to down Hopkinton (19-6) 65-57 to win the Division 2 Eastern Massachusetts finals at the TD Garden last night.

“We have to get punched in the nose to wake up and start playing,” AC coach David Brady said. “The girls did a tremendous job at doing that. They kept playing and getting tougher and tougher. I think Hopkinton was going so crazy that they wore themselves out and we took advantage of that.”

Junior Emma Roberson, who finished with 25 points, sparked the run when she hit two free throws with 2:30 to play, making it 31-19.

“At the beginning of the game, we weren’t attacking their zone,” Roberson said. “But being able to penetrate and open up our shooters on the outside definitely changed the game.”

FULL ENTRY

By Emily Wright, Globe correspondent

St. Mary's held onto a lead throughout the Div. 3 State semifinals at the TD Garden yesterday, defeating No. 10 Coyle & Cassidy by a slim margin, 53-50, after senior Cassi Amenta drilled four free-throws in the final 17 seconds of the game.

Amenta (19 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals) led the offensive front for the Spartans. Coyle & Cassidy's best scorer, Brenna Gonsalves, was held to 25 points after scoring 32 in Saturdays sectional title game against Archbishop Williams.

FULL ENTRY

By Zuri Berry, Boston.com staff

No one believes in the No. 16 seed. Not even in high school basketball.

So as the Hull Pirates stormed the Division 4 South section tournament, burying the No. 1, 8 and 4 seeds, it seemed only right to call them Cinderellas.

Monday, at the TD Garden, the Hull girls basketball team put on their glass slippers and beat back New Mission for a 59-55 win for the Division 4 EMass title.

The Pirates’ Amy MacDonald got a key steal and basket then iced two free throws to help Hull clinch the win down the stretch after a furious comeback attempt by the Titans.

“We had to put the game away because they kept hitting threes and they were only down by two,” said MacDonald, who scored all of her eight points in the fourth quarter. “And we knew that they could hit shots to stay in the game.”

With 49 seconds left, New Mission’s Tianna Johnson (18 points, 10 rebounds) hit a 3-pointer to pull the Titans within a point. But Hull’s Lauren Geary (12 points, nine rebounds) drew a foul and knocked down a pair of free throws to push the Pirates’ lead back to three. On the inbound, MacDonald managed to harass New Mission guard Jazuela Larguente’ enough to mishandle the ball coming up the court, grabbing the steal and getting an easy bucket.

“They’re great dribblers and I was waiting all game to get a steal and it just didn’t happen,” MacDonald said. “I guess that was just a perfect time to get one.”

New Mission (18-6) didn’t give up.

Larguente’ (23 points) came right back and drilled a three for New Mission with 20 seconds left in the game. The Titans fouled MacDonald on the next possession and she drilled her final two free throws, going a perfect 4 for 4 on the game at the charity stripe, to clinch the win.

“Obviously when 19 seconds or 30 seconds came around, and they were hitting those 3-point shots every time, I was like oh, whoa,” said Nicole Heavern, who powered Hull through the first half and finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds. “But, it worked out in the end and we hit our free throws and it was awesome."

FULL ENTRY

Andover's Natalie Gomez-Martinez hopes to help her team win back-to-back EMass titles and repeat as state champions. (Barry Chin / Globe file)

By Zuri Berry, Boston.com staff

High school hoops fans will get their fill today and tomorrow at the TD Garden as the EMass finals and state semifinals get underway.

Today will feature girls basketball for Divisions 1, 2, 3, and 4, with the Division 4 girls game between Hull and New Mission being the final stop for the two teams.

Here is the schedule slated for today:

2:30 p.m. — Div. 4: Hull (15-10) vs. New Mission (17-5)
4:15 p.m. — Div. 3: St. Mary's of Lynn (22-4) vs. Coyle & Cassidy (21-2)
6 p.m. — Div. 2: Arlington Catholic (19-6) vs. Hopkinton (19-5)
7:45 p.m. — Div. 1: Andover (25-1) vs. New Bedford (24-0)

The boys will play tomorrow at the Garden. Winners will play for the the state championship Saturday at the DCU Center in Worcester.

We'll have updates on the blog here throughout the day. Follow along on Twitter @GlobeSchools for the latest.

By Bryan Dorval, Globe correspondent

With 14 seconds left and the game tied, Tess Chandler broke to her left and found herself all alone underneath the basket. She gathered in the inbounds pass and went up for the easy layup to give Hopkinton a 52-50 win over Scituate in the Division 2 South Sectional final last night at UMass-Boston.

The win advances Hopkinton to the Garden to face North winner Arlington Catholic tomorrow at TD Garden in the EMass final.

"I set up the play for [Tess Chandler]," said coach Rita Atkinson.

"They caught us by surprise,’’ said Scituate coach Brian Buckley. ‘‘We thought they would go to [Lindsey Doucette] or [Alee Leteria]."

Scituate had one last chance but Megan Otto’s 3-pointer missed as time expired.

By David Carty, Globe correspondent

The offense crawled in for much of the game, with Cardinal Spellman and Medway slugging it out in a low-scoring MIAA Division 3 South boys’ basketball section final.

Only in the fourth quarter did the lids come off the hoops, but it was Spellman’s Joe Glynn who was head and shoulders above his peers, leading the proceedings with 24 points and contributing nine rebounds as the Cardinals took the contest, 51-45.

Glynn scored 11 fourth quarter points, shooting 7 of 8 from the free throw line, as the junior forward kept cutting into the Medway defense on drives to the hoop.

“Joey goes the whole game,” said coach Michael Perry. “He’s on the press. He’s up and down the court. He’s on the press. He’s on the boards. He doesn’t come out much and he doesn’t get into too much foul trouble. That’s just him as an athlete. It’s a gift and you take it from there.”

Though he was the center of the offense, the biggest play likely came when Glynn kicked the ball out to freshman guard Ryan Roach who sank a late three-pointer for his only points of the game to extend the Spellman lead.

Glynn isn’t sure why the freshman was given the nickname “Toasty,” but had no doubt about his shooting prowess.

“I saw that Toasty was wide-open and I knew that he could hit that shot,” said Glynn.

By Sapna Pathak, Globe correspondent

LOWELL — The storylines were easily apparent long before the girls basketball Division 2 North final tipped off last night. Sixth seed Gloucester came into the matchup averaging 60 points per game; No. 5 ranked Arlington Catholic had held opponents to 32.3 points per game.

Gloucester featured speed and accurate outside-shooting. Arlington Catholic brought height and grit in the paint. Sisters Heather Cain and Hannah Cain started for Gloucester, while the Cougars started the Buckley sisters, freshman Maura and senior Rachel.

Arlington Catholic came away with the victory, putting up a 62-49 win at the Tsongas Center in Lowell Saturday. The Cougars head to TD Garden Monday, taking on the South sectional champion in the D-2 state semifinal at 6 p.m.

“This is so great, we get to go back to the state tournament and have another chance to fight for the state title,” said Rachel Buckley. “Being here my final year and getting to do this with my sister in her freshman year is very cool. This was definitely a tough matchup for us tonight because we knew they had a really good offense.”

Arlington Catholic’s journey to the Tsongas Center saw it beat Lynn Classical, rival Arlington and second seed North Andover. The Fishermen earned their ticket to the sectional championship with wins over Marblehead, Salem and No. 1 Reading.

“Our defense has been the cornerstone of the way we play since day one and we knew it would have to stay that way to be successful in the playoffs,” said Cougars head coach Dave Brady. “Especially, with a team like Gloucester, who we knew had very strong shooters and who could get a good lead on the opposition very easily.”

Junior guard Emma Roberson led the Cougars with 21 points, while junior Nicole Catizone put up 16. Maura Buckley added 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Leading the Fishermen were Hannah Cain and Audrey Knowlton with 16 points apiece. Heather Cain sank 15 points while Katrina Munroe poured in 9.

By Zuri Berry, Boston.com staff

LOWELL – You could tell things were going poorly for Newburyport when the Clippers’ Eric Meyer bounced a ball off his foot in the first period.

Watertown's Tyler Romanelli had just hit a three to put his team up 9-6 and teammate Marco Coppola had followed that up by grabbing a steal and driving for a basket and foul. He converted the 3-point play to put Watertown up 12-6. Then, Meyer bounced the ball off his foot and Watertown’s Danny Kelly drilled another three. It was one thing after another.

Watertown finished off Newburyport easily 55-31 for the Division 3 North section title at Tsongas Center in Lowell.

The first quarter run was enough to give the Red Raiders a solid lead to maintain for the rest of the game. But that wasn’t enough. The Red Raiders put on a suffocating full court press in the second half, holding Newburyport to only eight points in the third quarter while extending their lead to 22 points at one point. They finished the third quarter up 40-20 and by that time they’d forced 11 turnovers by their opponents.

“We were up 14 at half,” Coppola said. “Coach just told us to put it in on them. Just put the game away in the third quarter. I just tried to step up my defensive intensity. I knew defense — turnovers — would lead to baskets. So that’s what I tried to do.”

Coppola, the state’s leading scorer, scored 21 points, grabbed five boards and recorded seven steals. Danny Kelly chipped in 14 points and six steals while Patrick McHugh added another six – all in the fourth quarter – for the Red Raiders.

Newburyport was led by Chris Jayne, who tallied 11 points in the game and five rebounds. Brett Fontaine chipped in with eight points and eight boards.

Watertown will play in the Division 3 state semifinal Tuesday at the TD Garden.

St. Mary's Kirsten Ferrari (11) and Cassi Amenta celebrated after defeating Stoneham in the Division 3 North Final in Lowell, 65-53. (Winslow Townson / For the Globe)

By Lorenzo Recupero, Globe correspondent

Lowell — St. Mary's girls basketball team held off a rally by Stoneham to win the Division 3 North section title 65-53 at the Tsongas Center in Lowell.

Everything was going St. Mary's way in the first quarter as seven different players contributed offensively. Hot shooting and tough rebounding boosted St. Mary's lead to 19-6 after one.

But the second quarter was wholly different. Stoneham stepped up its game, with Vanessa Bramante hitting two 3-pointers to go along with her 10 points for the quarter. She finished with 16 on the game. The sudden burst from Stoneham offensively came just after going down by 20 points with just over three minutes left in the half. In those final three minutes, Stoneham scored a quick 15 points to go into the half down nine, 37-28.

"This was the most uncomfortable game I think I've coached all season," said St.Mary's coach Jeff Newhall. "Even in the fourth quarter up 19. I give credit to Stoneham. They just kept coming."

St. Mary's buckled down in the second half, outscoring Stoneham 28-25 to hold on for the win. Kirsten Ferrari led St. Mary's with 16 points, nailing three 3-pointers of her own. Cassi Amenta chipped in 15 points for St. Mary's.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe correspondent

LOWELL — The third time is usually a charm. But for the Winthrop Vikings, four is the magic number.
 
After three consecutive unsuccessful trips to the Division 4 North final, the Vikings (18-6) punched their ticket to the TD Garden with a 55-40 win over St. Mary’s (17-7) at the Tsongas Center Saturday.
 
“We paid our dues,” Winthrop coach David Brown said. “These seniors wanted it bad and they took over at the end.”
 
Junior Quinton Dale, who’s been averaging 18 points and 15 rebounds throughout the tournament, led the way for Winthrop with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
 
After a slow start in the first half, Dale came to life, scoring 11 points in the second half.
 
“I just had to get my head in the game,” Dale said. “I wasn’t playing good (defense). I wasn’t attacking the basket strong enough so I came out all fired up. But we all did — we always know we’re going to play good in the second half.”

By Emily Wright, Globe Correspondent

A minute after Missy Perry missed a trey in the fourth quarter of yesterday’s Division 3 South section final at UMass-Boston, the 5-foot, 3-inch junior guard took the same shot from just outside the arc and drained it to give Coyle & Cassidy a 61-60 edge over Archbishop Williams with 1:43 left in the game. Perry’s bomb came on the heels of two Tricia Quinn free throws, and sparked a 12-3 run and gave way to a 70-63 victory.

No. 10 Coyle & Cassidy coach Mike O’Brien had no problem with Perry (13 points, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 rebound) taking the shot, despite her earlier failed attempt.

“The other night she missed 9 threes, she’s just that kind of a shooter,” O’Brien said. “She’s a scorer, she’s streaky. She takes that shot, and we have no problem taking that shot, ever. If it goes in that’s great. She had missed a whole a bunch, so how much does that say about her guts.”

The Warriors clinched the South section title for the first time in 24 years and are headed to the TD Garden on Monday at 4:15 to face St. Mary’s in the MIAA Division 3 state semifinals.

The fourth quarter battle was led by senior Brenna Gonsalves (32 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) who scored 16 points in 8 minutes, and junior center Tricia Quinn (12 points, 15 rebounds) who single-handedly out-rebounded the Archies 8-5 in the quarter.

After taking a 34-30 halftime lead, the Warriors were outscored 19-6 in the third and trailed by as many as 11 in the same quarter. O’Brien attribute’s the 50 percent shooting in the fourth quarter to a mentally tough squad that was ready for a challenge.

“At the end of the third quarter we just all talked about keeping our composure and the lead wasn’t that much so we knew what we were capable of doing,” Gonsalves said. “It was just a matter of going out there and playing with heart and playing as best as we possibly could, and everyone stepped up and that’s what got us the win.”

Archbishop Williams was led by sophomore guard Sara Ryan who scored 20, including a 3-pointer in the fourth that put Archies up 59-52 with 4 minutes left. Earlier in the game AB Williams lost top rebounder Kayla Papazian (5 points, 10 rebounds). The junior took an elbow to the head with a minute left in the third quarter and was sidelined with a deep laceration.

By Mike Grossi, Globe correspondent

Cohasset senior guards Sam Richardson and Robert Jones didn’t want the end of their high school careers to come in the Division 4 South final. And because of their efforts in the second half, they won’t.

Richardson scored 12 points in the third quarter and Jones scored 13 in the fourth to help the Skippers overcome a six-point fourth quarter deficit en route to a 65-64 victory over Cathedral.

‘‘Robert and Sam became the players that they are supposed to be in the second half,’’ said Cohasset coach Bo Ruggiero. ‘‘Robert is our catalyst and he is the reason why I am a good coach.’’

The Skippers trailed 50-44 entering the final frame, but that is when Jones caught fire. He stroked four three-pointers and went 5 for 5 from the field. His biggest three came with 16 seconds remaining. Jones nailed a shot from the left wing while falling down to give the Skippers a 63-59 lead.

‘‘I thought I bricked that one,’’ said Jones (16 points, 5 assists). ‘‘We never gave up in this game and being a senior captain I knew I had to step up.

‘‘Today, my shots were just falling.’’

After Cathedral went on a 7-0 run that pushed its lead to 35-24 early in the third quarter, Richardson went to work. The team captain kept Cohasset in the game by hitting six of his 7 shots. Despite Richardson’s efforts, Cohasset was outscored by Cathedral, 22-20, in the quarter.

‘‘I didn’t have any other option than to play better,’’ said Richardson (18 points). ‘‘I played lousy in the first half and I really wanted to win.’’

Richardson also sunk two free throws with 8.2 seconds left to preserve the victory.
Cathedral was stung by free throw shooting, going 5 for 18.

The Panthers was led be Carlos Bermudez (17 points, 6 steals), Joe Green (23 points, 7 rebounds) and Kyle Lawyer (17 points, 7 rebounds).

Cohasset will play the winner of St. Marys-Winthrop in the Division 4 Final at the TD Garden on Tuesday at 2:30.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe correspondent

LOWELL — New Mission coach Corey McCarthy said he never gets apprehensive when his team heads to the free throw line.
 
Saturday was no different as McCarthy watched calmly from the sidelines as New Mission (20-4) shot 74 percent (25-34) from the free throw line to get past Brighton (14-6) 56-54 at the Tsongas Center to win the Division 2 North title.
 
“That’s part of our game plan,” McCarthy said. “If we get teams in foul trouble, we can bury them with our size. I don’t even get nervous when we go to the line, not even with our worst free throw shooters. They’ve been in such big games before.”
 
Junior Kachi Nzerem, who hit just one field goal, shot 11-12 from the charity stripe and finished with 13 points to lead New Mission in the win.

Video by Sopan Deb, Boston.com correspondent

By Emily Wright, Globe correspondent

  The Hull Pirates have raised over $200,000 for their athletic programs in the past two years, and the investment of the community paid off yesterday when the Division 4 girls basketball squad took down Greater New Bedford in the MIAA South Sectional final at UMass-Boston, 50-38.

“It’s just really good for the town of Hull too, the past two years we’ve had no budget and sports has had no money,” Hull coach Liz Londergan.

The Pirates held a 27-16 halftime advantage after jumping out to a 13-2 first-quarter lead, led by Nicole Heavern (13 points) who scored 9 points in the first half, and Lauren Geary who scored 8 of her 12 points in the first two quarters. Hull forced Greater New Bedford guard and the team’s top scorer Stephanie Antoine (9 points) to the bench at the 55-second mark of the second quarter with four fouls.

Antoine started the fourth quarter but fouled out 10 seconds in with the Bears trailing 40-27. Her teammate, starting guard Alexandria Richards (4 points), fouled out 25 seconds later.

Hull guard Amy MacDonald (13 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals) said that after scouting Greater New Bedford earlier in the playoffs, the Pirates were aware that shutting down Antoine would be key. In Antoine’s absence, the Pirates were led by Vanessas Conceicao’s 16 points.

Katie Manning grabbed 14 boards for the Pirates.

By Bob Holmes, Globe staff

LOWELL — Led by its experienced backcourt of senior Robbi Cardosa and junior Tianna Johnson, New Mission led from start to finish to win the Division 4 North title, beating Fenway, 64-55, at Tsongas Center in Lowell.

New Mission will face South winner Hull in the state final tomorrow at TD Garden.

Cardosa got New Mission off to a fast start, hitting an opening 3-pointer that would lead to a quick 10-2 lead for the Titans. Cardosa finished with 14 first-half point and New Mission held a 30-22 lead at the break.

The second half belong to Johnson. With Cardosa saddled with four fouls, Johnson scored eight points in the last five minutes, including four straight free throws in the last minute.

Video by Cal Borchers for Boston.com

On the boys’ side, Mansfield and St. John’s Prep advanced to the state semifinals, while girls’ teams from New Bedford and Andover did the same Friday night at TD Garden. Here's our video recap.

End of the game: St. John's Prep 87, Lawrence 73
- Connaughton scores 11, Haladyna adds four in the fourth quarter as the Prep cruises to a 87-73 win.
- Carbone goes 7-8 from 3-point land and scores 31.
- Alicea finishes with 30 and scores his 1,000th point as Lawrence's Cinderella run comes to an end.

End of the third quarter:

- Carbone scorches the net with four 3-pointers to help the Prep to a 68-56 lead. Carbone leads all scorers with 30 points.
- Prep outscores Lawrence 21-10.
- Alicea scores 1,000th point on a jumper with a minute to go.

End of the second quarter:

- Fans' heads are spinning watching this one. The Prep leads 47-46 at the break and Carbone is leading the way with 15 points for the Eagles, while Connaughton chips in 13.
- Alicea is torching the Eagles for 15 points as well to lead Lawrence, while Hiraldo has eight and six rebounds.

End of the first quarter:

- Lawrence leads 23-17 behind Hiraldo, who has six points and three rebounds.
- Connaughton leads the Prep with six as well.

---

We're about to get started with the North final here at the Garden for the last game of the night. St. John's Prep looks to end Lawrence's cinderella run through the playoffs and lock up the North title.

Starting 5

Lawrence (16-8)

G – Kadeem Perez
G – Jaylen Alicea
G – Darwin Pereyra
F – Francis Spraus
C – Jesse Hiraldo

St. John's (22-1)

G – Pat Connaughton
G – Mike Carbone
G – Owen Marchetti
F – Steve Haladyna
F – Fred Shove

Video by Cal Borchers for Boston.com

End of the game: Mansfield 48, Newton North 46

- Mansfield outscores Newton North 21-15 in the fourth quarter to take a 48-46 win.
- Johnson, who finished with 10, scored with three seconds left to put Mansfield ahead.
- Tevin Falzon led Newton North with 14 points and 17 rebounds

End of the third quarter:

- Not much action in the third, as Newton North clings to a 31-27 lead over Mansfield. Falzon is leading the Tigers with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

End of the second quarter:

- Newton North outscored Mansfield 17-6 in the second quarter to take a 24-19 halftime lead. The Tiger's Tevin Falzon is dominating underneath and keeping Mansfield's Lofton off the glass. Falzon is winning the rebound battle 9-4.
- Newton North is sharing the load on offense; Barry Santana and Falzon have six apiece, while Thorpe and Westman chipped in five each.

End of the first quarter:

- After a slow start, Mansfield cruises to a 13-7 lead on the back of Lofton, who led the way with six points and three rebounds for the Hornets.

---

We're about to get started with the Division 1 South final as Newton North will take on Mansfied here at the Garden. Check back for quarter updates.

Starting 5

Newton North

G – Michael Thorpe
G – Luke Westman
G – Avi Adler-Cohen
F – Aaron Falzon
F – Tevin Falzon

Mansfield

G – Michael Lofton
G – Brian Hershman
F – Christopher Johnson
F – Michael Hersham
F – Jeffery Hill

By Seth Lakso, Globe correspondent

End of the game: New Bedford 47, Mansfield 46

-New Bedford wins 47-46. The star of the game was the Whalers' Allexia Barros, who finished with 21 points, including two huge 3-pointers in the final frame. It wasn't as close at the end as the final score makes it look, as the Hornets made a three from half court at the buzzer.

End of the third quarter:

- The Whalers got their press working and ran off a 10-0 run to take the lead until Bridget Davis converted on an and-1 for Mansfield to put them up 32-30 at the end of three.
-Allexia Barros added five more points to her totals in the quarter.

End of the second quarter:

-Mansfield leads 24-20. Campbell is the high scorer thus far for Mansfield with nine points (she also has three rebounds and one helper). Copley is right behind her with eight.
-Allexia Barros is keeping New Bedford in the game with a nine points, 1 rebound and 1 steal.

End of first quarter:

-As the first quarter comes to an end Mansfield leads 12-11, Colleen Copley and Kathryn Campbell have 4 each for Mansfield.
-Alyssa Roach hasn't found the stroke yet for New Bedford, going 0-for-5 in the first quarter.

--

Things have just gotten underway between New Bedford and Mansfield here at the TD Garden. Check back for updates on the quarter as they battle for the girls' Division 1 South title.

By Zuri Berry, Boston.com staff

If Nicole Boudreau had it her way, she would’ve scored 50 points at TD Garden.

Instead, she settled for what she called a poor shooting night, tallying 34 points, 10 rebounds and four steals to help the Golden Warriors hold back the the Colonials for the Division 1 girls’ North sectional title.

“I don’t think I was on fire at all,’’ Boudreau said. “We didn’t shoot that well as a team, especially myself. I missed a lot of shots that I thought I could make. But it’s not all about what you make. It’s about defense and making stops and whatnot.’’

Boudreau was being modest. Her 12-point second quarter and 14-point third quarter were clearly the difference, punching Andover’s ticket to the Eastern Mass state final.

“(At the) beginning of the game she got off to a real slow start,’’ said Andover coach James Tildsley. “But if we didn’t have her today, we would’ve been killed. She played unbelievable.’’

Boudreau’s best highlight may have been the most inconsequential. With time winding down in the half, she took the ball up court and drained a 3-pointer about four feet inside the half-court line off the backboard, punctuating the play with a scowl for the crowd and her teammates.

Acton-Boxboro came out of the gate firing, with a 3-pointer by Hannah Foley (11 points) and a bucket by Lily Barnard putting the Colonials up, 7-2, before Tildsley called time out. That’s when Andover’s Natalie Gomez-Martinez went to work, scoring 5 of her 8 points. Andover outscored Acton-Boxboro 11-5 to end the quarter and 31-15 to close out the first half.

Spurred by a full-court press that led Andover to the state title last year, the Golden Warriors put a blanket on A-B’s guards, forcing 17 turnovers.

Acton-Boxboro fought its way back after going down by as many as 20 points. The Colonials’ Elizabeth Belanger poured in 16 points in the second half. Her 25 points and 13 rebounds helped Acton-Boxboro get within 7, but it was too little too late.

FULL ENTRY

By Zuri Berry, Boston.com staff

Gearing up for section basketball finals and most of the bubbles have been filled in the brackets. Here's a look at the schedule of who, and who might, play in the the North and South section finals on Saturday.

North section at Tsongas Center

10:30 a.m. — New Mission vs. Fenway girls Division 4

12:15 p.m. — Brighton / Burlington winner vs. New Mission boys Division 2

2 p.m. — Stoneham / Ipswich winner vs. St. Mary's (Lynn) girls Division 3

3:45 p.m. — Winthrop vs. St. Mary's (Lynn) boys Division 4

6 p.m. — Reading / Gloucester winner vs. North Andover / Arlington Catholic winner girls Division 2

7:45 p.m. — Newburyport vs. Watertown boys Division 3

South Section at UMass Boston

10 a.m. — Hull vs. Greater New Bedford girls Division 4

12 p.m. — Cathedral vs. Cohasset boys Division 4

2 p.m. — Archbishop Williams vs. Coyle & Cassidy girls Division 3

4 p.m. — Medway vs. Cardinal Spellman boys Division 3

6 p.m. — Hopkinton vs. Scituate girls Division 2

8 p.m. — Hopkinton vs. King Philip boys Division 2

By Zuri Berry, Boston.com staff

Here are the times for the basketball section finals games at TD Garden tomorrow:

3:15 p.m. — Acton Boxboro vs. Andover girls Division 1 North final

5 p.m. — New Bedford vs. Mansfield girls Division 1 South final

6:45 p.m. — Mansfield vs. Newton North boys Division 1 South final

8:30 p.m. — St. John's Prep vs. Lawrence boys Division 1 North final

By Arielle Aronson, Globe Correspondent

Their fourth, and final meeting of the season was like no other. In what was expected to be a close, thrilling Division 1 North semifinal, the defending state champion Andover High girls' basketball team dominated Central Catholic, 60-33, Wednesday night at Methuen High School.

The Golden Warriors (24-1) set the tone early, opening the first quarter with a 9-0 run and finishing the first half with a 39-19 lead. Andover junior captain Nicole Boudreau finished with 31 points, 21 of which came in the first half.

“We were really focused,” Andover coach James Tildsley said. “We had a lot of pressure on us to win that game and they did it.”

Andover made a few adjustments on defense, including shifting the Boston College-bobund Boudreau over to cover Central sophomore Casey McLaughlin, and that seemed to make all the difference. The Golden Warriors held Central Catholic (20-3) to only 14 points in the second half. McLaughlin finished her night with 13 points.

“She’s killed us in the past couple of games,” Boudreau said of McClaughlin. “I was trying to force her left because she’s definitely strong going to her right. I had to box her out because she just crashes, she gets rebounds. That was my job today to stop Casey, and she’s a great player.”

Tildsley also put senior captain Natalie Gomez-Martinez on the Raiders’ Melissa Miller and senior captain Ally Fazio on Gabie Polce. Tildsley credited the idea to change the individual matchups to his players.

“I changed my coaching style so I listen to the kids a lot,” Tildsley said. “They said, ‘we should change these matchups.’ So I said okay, let’s give it a go, and it worked. Of course they told me at the end of the game, ‘we told you those matchups would work.’ So you have to listen to the kids once in a while.”

Despite the matchups, the Raiders were still able to get plenty of shots off from the inside, but they kept missing their shots. The offensive performance was a shocking one for Central Catholic coach Susan Downer, as the Raiders had only scored under 50 points once this season -- a 53-43 loss to Andover. They also lost the second meeting, 53-52, but Central had taken the third on Feb. 6, 61-57.

“That’s not the team that I coached all season,” Downer said. “I was just like what just happened. We couldn’t execute anything. I’m speechless.”

Andover will play Acton-Boxborough in the North final Friday afternoon (3:15) at TD Garden.

As she returned to a huddle of her teammates near the Andover bench, however, Boudreau had just one thing on her mind.

“We get to practice tomorrow,” she exclaimed as her teammates surrounded her.

By Michael Grossi, Globe correspondent

Joey Glynn scored 22 points and Kevin Crane added 18 as Cardinal Spellman upended Martha's Vineyard, 88-85, in double overtime in a Division 3 South semifinal game.

"It was a good game," said Cardinal Spellman coach Mike Perry. "There was a lot of athleticism and it was very back and forth. Each team was getting up and down the floor."

Ricky Donovan added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Cardinals.

The Cardinals will play Medway in the Division 3 South Final at UMass-Boston on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Cardinal Spellman had a 16 point lead in the second half, but the Vineyarders got hot from behind the arc to storm back.

Peter Keaney led Martha's Vineyard with 44 points.

The Cardinals were able to pull out the victory in the second overtime thanks to two huge blocks from Glynn and because Martha's Vineyard fan into foul trouble.

Top-ranked St. John's Prep (22-1) dashed No. 2 Central Catholic's (21-3) hopes of repeating as state championships with a 63-60 win at Lawrence last night in the North sectional semi-final.

The win was the perfect ending to Prep coach Sean Connolly's 31st birthday.

But the coach's day nearly turned sour as he watched his team let a 54-43 lead heading into the fourth quarter almost slip away.

"We got a little tentative," Connolly said. "I think guys were playing back on their heels, but that's what Central does to you. They keep attacking and they're tough. Thankfully, we stemmed the tide and got it back in our favor and hung on at the end."

Central Catholic senior Jimmy Zenevitch, who led all scorers with 33 points, added eight in the final frame to help the Raiders otuscore the Eagles 17-9.

Central's junior guard Luis Puello, who finished with 11 points, scored with 1:23 left to pull his team within two, trailing 61-59.

On the ensuing possession, Prep junior Freddy Shove grabbed the rebound on a miss by senior Pat Connaughton and scored to give his team a 63-59 lead.

Shove, who finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, was fouled and missed the free throw, but the and-one basket gave his team a two-possession lead.

“I just didn’t want to lose,” Shove said. “I wanted to make sure we got the ball every time we had a chance to.”

Zenevitch added a free throw on the next play to pull his team within three, and a potential costly turnover by Connaughton on the next drive left the Raiders with a chance to tie with 16 seconds left.

But Central Catholic struggled to get an open look and Zenevitch launched a contested 3-pointer that rimmed out as time expired.

"[The play] broke down," Central Catholic coach Rick Nault said. "We wanted Luis to go off a high screen and Tyler [Nelson] to come off a double. Jimmy was the last option to pop up and he's hit a lot of three's for us this year, so it was a look I was okay with."

St. John's Prep senior captain Pat Connaughton struggled from the field and scored 14 points, while going 0-6 from the 3-point line. But where Connaughton lacked on offense, he made up for under the glass and grabbed 19 rebounds.

"It wasn't the prettiest [win]," Connaughton said. "But we had [our team] make plays down the stretch and that's all that mattered. We knew [Central Catholic] was going to come out with a counter punch. I didn't play my best down the stretch, but we made enough plays to win."

And while Connaughton struggled to score, Shove, and junior guard Steve Haladyna, who led the team with 24 points, helped carry the load.

"Hal steps up in big games, I don't have to worry about him," Connaughton said. "I don't really have to worry about any of my team. I know they're going to give 110 percent when we compete. Freddy plays the hardest of anyone on our team, and his hard work gets us the win."

The last time these two teams squared off, Haladyna scored just four points in the Prep's 72-70 win Feb. 23 and Connolly pointed out his mistakes to him on film.

"Hal didn't have a very good game against them last time and we showed it to him," Connolly said. "I expected him to come out, he usually doesn't come out two games in a row playing bad so I figured he'd have a good game."

Haladyna said watching the film motivated him for last night's game.

"[Connolly] was on me real bad after that game," Haladyna said. "He gets on us and that's what you need out of a head coach and that's what got me going for this game."

Haladyna scored 13 points in the first half and Shove dropped nine in the second quarter to build on a 21-19 first quarter lead and help the Prep to a 39-31 halftime lead.

The dynamic duo helped spark a 12-0 run to open the second quarter which gave the Eagles a 33-19 lead – their biggest of the game.

But Central responded with an 11-6 run to cut the lead to eight going into the break.

Connaughton and Haladyna helped maintain the lead in the third quarter, and the Notre Dame-bound senior added a 10-foot jumper as time expired to give the Eagles an 11-point 54-43 lead going into the final eight minutes before Central Catholic stormed the court.

But when the final buzzer sounded, the Prep's deep lineup proved too much for Central Catholic.

"They're the best team in the state," Nault said. "They're so well coached, and it's not all about Pat [Connaughton]. Haladyna's a sensational player that took it to us tonight, and Shove had a tremendous night and attacked Jimmy [Zenevitch] at will. They have all the right pieces and they do all the little things well. They won the hustle battle and that was the difference tonight."

With the win, the Prep will continue its quest for a state title when they face either Lawrence or Lynn English Friday at TD Garden in the North final.

"We're in for a battle [Friday]," Connolly said. "Every game is going to be a battle, both teams are very good. Both are talented with good guards and are athletic, so we just have to prepare for that."

By Jason Mastrodonato, Globe correspondent

Coyle & Cassidy girls’ basketball senior Brenna Gonsalves has done just about everything coach Michael O’Brien has asked during her varsity career.

Gonsalves became the leading scorer in school history earlier this year, currently hovering around the 1,560-point mark, led the Warriors to a 18-2 regular season record, and most recently, made big plays when the season was on the line.

With her team up by one with just seconds remaining in the Division 3 South semifinals against Norwell Monday night, Gonsalves swatted a potential game-winning shot out of bounds. Moments later, a Norwell ball-carrier put up a last-second jumper that was again blocked by the Warriors’ scoring machine, and Coyle & Cassidy advanced to the tournament title game.

“She has carried us all year,” O’Brien said of Gonsalves, who ended the game with 7 points and 7 rebounds. “She got hurt in the first half, had her ankle taped up, came back in and played great.”

The Warriors have also benefited from two freshmen playing better than expected. Linsay Bumila is a 6-foot player with strong inside presence and Steph Skiba can knock shots down from beyond the arc.

“We’ve gotten some nice help from the younger kids,” said O’Brien.

Coyle & Cassidy will face Archbishop Williams for the championship on Saturday at UMass Boston. Archies has knocked O’Brien’s squad out of the postseason in three of the last four years.

“It’s kind of a friendly rivalry for the most part but we’re looking forward to it,” the coach said. “It’s going to be a great game.”

By Seth Lakso, Globe correspondent

Acton-Boxborough forward Elizabeth Belanger stepped to the free-throw line midway through the third quarter and, without hesitation, notched her 1,000th career point, at the same time giving the Colonials a 15-point edge over Billerica in the first round of the girls' Division 1 North state tournament.

Belanger, who’s still a junior, finished the game with team-highs in points (28) and rebounds (12), as the Colonials rolled over Billerica at home, 71-58.

The Colonials weren’t sure what to expect from their leading scorer entering the game, as she had been battling an illness much of the week.

“We really didn’t even know if we’d get all that much from her today, but she showed up and was excellent,” said Acton-Boxborough assistant coach Tim Bassett. “She’s been our catalyst all year [and] can really do it all. She spends a lot of her time down below the hoop, helping us rebound, but she can take it out and shoot with the best of them.”

Acton-Boxborough led, 37-28, at halftime, but saw that margin cut to just 8 as the third quarter wound down. Bassett knew not to panic, as he let the girls play through the inevitable lull that followed Belanger’s milestone achievement.

“I just let them play through it,” Bassett said. “We have some really good senior leadership on this team. I knew we would come out of it, so I just went with it and we started to play our game again.”

Acton-Boxborough captain Hannah Foley was one of those providing the senior leadership, as she helped the team re-locate its focus in the final frame, as the point guard kept the offense flowing. Foley tallied 20 points for the game.

With the victory, Acton-Boxborough advances to the quarterfinals against Lowell on Saturday at home. If the Colonials win, a rematch with Lincoln-Sudbury, one of the two teams to defeat A-B (18-3) this season (the other was Newton South, twice), could await in the semifinals.

By Zuri Berry, Boston.com staff

St. Mark's Alex Murphy has been named to the East's squad for the inaugural All-American Championship, a doubleheader pitting the country's best 40 high school basketball players up against each other by region.

Murphy, who committed to Duke earlier this year, will join Brewster Academy's Jakarr Sampson on the East.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe correspondent

The state basketball tournament is always filled with upsets, and any team can make a run at anytime. It's a clean slate for the .500 teams and a chance to salvage a sub-par season, while the finest teams in the state look to assert their dominance.

Anything is possible once the tournament heats up, but there's one thing you can count on - the Division 1 North tourney is going to be a barn-burner.

On one side of the bracket, No.1 St John's Prep (19-1), No. 2 Central Catholic (19-2), No. 5 Charlestown (20-2) and No. 12 East Boston (15-5) are seeded.

The Prep has a bye and will face the winner of tomorrow's Billerica (10-10)/Boston Latin (11-11) preliminary contest, which takes place Friday at 7 p.m.

East Boston travels to Lincoln-Sudbury (17-3) Wednesday, Charlestown will host Methuen (12-8) Wednesday and Central Catholic will welcome Lexington (12-8) tomorrow.

Barring any upsets, the stage is set for a semi-final rematch between St. John's Prep and Central Catholic. The Prep took down Central in the last game of the regular season courtesy of a go-ahead layup by Pat Connaughton in the weining seconds of the game.

Likewise, there's the possibility that Charlestown sneaks past Central Catholic and faces the Prep in the final. The townies dealt the Eagles the only blemish on their record earlier this year.

The scenarios go on. If the city squads pull off the upsets of the most feared private schools, Eastie can possibly face Charlestown in a rematch of the Boston City League championship in which the Townies won.

Any way you cut it, you can bank on a great semi-final game in that half of the bracket and a great finals match, cause don't forget there's another side to this.

There's a great matchup between Acton-Boxboro (18-3) Andover (14-5) tomorrow at 7 p.m. The Colonials battled for Dual County League supremacy with Westfrod and LS this season and came out on top. But Andover is no slouch, so keep an eye on this one.

It's unlikely that Lynn English (19-2) will fall to Everett (12-8) in the first round, so expect a marquee matchup between the English and the AB/Andover winner.

Cambridge (19-1) will face the winner of tomorrow's Chelmsford (8-12)/Lawrence (12-8) game, Friday at 7 p.m.. The winner of that contest will face the winner of tomorrow's the Westford (17-3)/Somerville (16-4).

This side of the bracket is wide open, and there is no sure pick. Not even Lynn English or Cambridge are safe, especially with Somerville in the way, who beat Cambridge earlier this season. Andover upset Central Catholic earlier this season as well, and Westford Academy can certainly bang with the best.

The North is about to get wild.\

Finals Prediction: St. John's Prep 74, Acton-Boxboro 68 - AB's dynamic duo of Sam Longwell and Wes Schroll, combined with facing a tough DCL schedule has the Colonials primed for a run at the title. But in the end, Pat Connaughton and his strong supporting cast of Steve Haladyna and Mike Carbone will prove to be too tough. The Prep has a deep lineup, and that makes for a deep tournament run.

In the South, Mansfield (20-2) will take on the winner of tomorrow's Needham (11-9)/North Quincy (10-10) contest, Thursday at 7 p.m.

There's no doubt Mansfield will get through to the quarterfinals, and they'll await the winner Thursday's Madison Park (12-6)/Franklin (13-7). MP takes on a tough Franklin team that took down Charlestown earlier this season, but Madison Park's experience from last year's late run to the Garden can serve them well.

Marshfield (15-3) is the strong suit in the lower left half of the bracket, but they face a strong (12-8) BC High team Thursday at 7 p.m. Don't be fooled by BC's record, as they took out No. 7 Acton-Boxboro and Newton North.

Meanwhile, the stage is set for a Newton North (16-6)/Weymouth (17-3) quarterfinal. Weymouth takes on the winner of tomorrow's Taunton (10-8)/Xaverian (10-10) contest, Thursday at 7 p.m.

Newton North will take on North Attleboro (13-7) Thursday at 7 p.m.

And last, but not least, Brockton (13-7) takes on West Roxbury (15-6) Thursday at 7 p.m. New Bedford (16-3) takes on Barnstable (11-8) Thursday at 7 p.m. as well. Look for a New Bedford/Brockton quarterfinal, but keep a lookout for Westie, who could give Brockton a hard time in the early matchup.

Finals Prediction - Madison Park 74, Weymouth 70. Madison Park faced a tough schedule in the Boston City League, and the experience the team has from last year's title run is going to fuel the Cardinal's fire. Weymouth also survived a tough Bay-State run and their fast-paced offense can hang with MP.

That wraps up the tournament preview, check in for tournament updates and a final Top 20 will follow at the end of the tournament.

By Zuri Berry, Boston.com staff

The Globe's Anthony Gulizia wrote the story today on a documentary on Madison Park's basketball team, "Push: Madison versus Madison." Here's the trailer that can be found on the movie's website, PushMadison.com.

By Zuri Berry, Boston.com staff

O'Bryant's girls basketball team beat Fenway 50-43 Friday for the Boston City League championship. Check out the highlights here.

By Zuri Berry, Boston.com staff

Akosa Maduegbunam scored 15 points and Charlestown beat East Boston 63-56 for the Boston City League championship. Highlights right here.

By Zuri Berry, Boston.com staff

Update: For the entire brackets, including schedule of games, go to the MIAA's website.

The MIAA announced the girls basketball section seedings today for the state tournament. Here are the seedings sorted by section and division.

NORTH

Division 1

1. Revere (20-0)
2. Andover (21-1)
3. Central Catholic (18-2)
4. Woburn (18-2)
5. Acton-Boxboro (17-3)
6. Masconomet (15-3)
7. Cambridge (14-6)
8. Lincoln-Sudbury (14-6)
9. Medford (14-6)
10. Chelmsford (13-7)
11. Haverhill (11-7)
12. Billerica (12-8)
13. Lowell (9-7)
14. Westford Academy (11-9)
15. Lexington (11-9)
16. Lynn English (12-10)
17. Somerville (10-10)
18. Lawrence (9-11)

Division 2

1. Reading (19-1)
2. North Andover (16-4)
3. Chelsea (13-4)
4. Danvers (15-5)
5. Gloucester (16-6)
6. Arlington Catholic (15-6)
7. Latin Academy (12-6)
8. Brighton (10-8)
9. Winchester (11-9)
10. Wilmington (11-9)
11. Lynn Classical (11-9)
12. Marblehead (11-9)
13. Salem (12-10)
14. Arlington (8-12)
15. Tewksbury (7-13)
16. Dracut (7-13)

FULL ENTRY

By Zuri Berry, Boston.com staff

Update: For the entire brackets, including schedule of games, go to the MIAA's website.

The MIAA announced the boys basketball section seedings today for the state tournament. Here are the seedings sorted by section and division.

NORTH

Division 1

1. St. John’s Prep (19-1)
2. Cambridge (19-1)
3. Lynn English (19-2)
4. Charlestown (19-2)
5. Central Catholic (19-2)
6. Acton-Boxboro (18-2)
7. Westford Academy (17-3)
8. Lincoln-Subury (17-3)
9. East Boston (15-3)
10. Somerville (16-4)
11. Andover (15-5)
12. Lexington (12-8)
13. Methuen (12-8)
14. Everett (12-8)
15. Lawrence (12-8)
16. Billerica (10-10)
17. Boston Latin (10-10)
18. Chelmsford (8-12)

Division 2

1. Wilmington (17-3)
2. New Mission (16-4)
3. North Andover (16-4)
4. Marblehead (14-4)
5. Salem (15-5)
6. Woburn (16-6)
7. Chelsea (14-6)
8. Brighton (11-5)
9. Concord-Carlisle (13-7)
10. Lynn Classical (13-7)
11. Masconomet (12-8)
12. Burlington (12-8)
13. Latin Academy (10-8)
14. Melrose (11-9)
15. Reading (10-10)
16. Winchester (10-10)
17. Malden Catholic (10-10)

FULL ENTRY

By Zuri Berry, Boston.com staff

East Boston topped New Mission 64-59 and Charlestown beat West Roxbury 79-65 in the Boston City League semifinals at Madison Park high school. Check out the highlights in this video recap.

By Braden Campbell, Globe correspondent

With the score knotted between Beaver Country Day and Pingree, and time about to expire, Beaver Country Day’s Rene Castro got the ball under the basket. He put up a shot, but it rimmed out.

It was a short-lived disappointment.

Last year’s Mariners squad was foiled by Pingree in its quest for a perfect Eastern Independent League season at home — in overtime. The team wasn’t about to repeat that indignity Thursday, especially after it had already let a 33-21 halftime lead slip away.

As time wound down in OT, Beaver Country Day got another chance, this time tied at 67. Castro had the ball again, passing to teammate Joe Connolly, who then hit a wide-open Jeff Spellman on the baseline. The freshman guard connected for a 3-pointer as the clock struck zero.

The 70-67 win pushed the Mariners to 16-0 in the EIL just before the start of tournament weekend. Pingree fell to 12-4.

Jherson Colon led the Mariners with 24 points. Castro finished with 21. Spellman’s buzzer-beater pushed him up to 9 points on the night.

By Zuri Berry, Boston.com staff

O'Bryant's girls basketball team beat Madison Park handily, 56-24, in the Boston City League semifinals. Check out the video highlights.

By Zuri Berry, Boston.com staff

Fenway's girls basketball team topped New Mission 59-51 in the Boston City League semifinals. Check out the video highlights.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe correspondent

Central Catholic junior guard Luis Puello is one of the most tenacious defenders in the state. Last night, he did his best to slow down St. John's Prep guard Pat Connaughton and held him to 23 points.

But in the end, Connaughton got the best of Puello when he drove to the lane, took a hop-step and scored the winning basket to lift top-ranked St. John's Prep past No. 2 Central Catholic, 72-70, at Memorial Gymnasium in Danvers.

"Puello plays tough D," Connaughton said. "He's always moving and it's really hard to get used to. He did a great job the entire game and I got the best of him at the last one, but he played the best I've ever seen anyone defend me all year."

Prep coach Sean Connolly said, "[Puello] has very quick feet, probably one of the best on-ball defenders I've ever seen in high school. You got to work to score on Puello. He does a good job denying you and he's physical."

After Connaughton scored the Prep's final basket, he displayed some defense of his own on the ensuing play. Central Catholic's Jimmy Zenevitch drove the lane and looked to tie the score, but Connaughton met him at the top of his release and stuffed the attempt.

Central Catholic regained possession after the block and coach Rick Nault called a timeout with 13.5 seconds left. The Raiders couldn't get anything going offensively, and Nault was forced to call another timeout with 3.5 seconds left.

On the inbounds pass, Prep sophomore forward Isaiah Robinson tipped the pass and junior Freddy Shove grabbed the loose ball to seal the win.

Robinson finished with 2 points, but had seven rebounds and knew he could leave his mark on the game with solid defense.

"Basically, I was just trying to deflect the pass and stop them there and get the win," he said. "I was trying to show that I could play in that type of situation and I proved it."

Shove was fouled with 0.7 seconds left and missed both free throws, but the clock expired once Zenevitch grabbed the rebound.

The teams were deadlocked, 55-55, heading into the final eight minutes, but Connaughton hit a quick putback off his own miss to break the tie. Zenevitch scored five straight points to give the Raiders a 60-57 lead, but Connaughton drained a 3-pointer to tie the score with 5:53 to play.

"The best thing about it was I didn't think about it," Connaughton said. "I came down and knew I had to do something and it just happened."

After a St. John's Prep timeout, the Eagles went on a 9-2 run to take a 69-62 lead.

But Zenevitch and Puello hit back-to-back baskets to make it 69-66 with 1:30 left. On the next play, junior Steve Haladyna drove to the hoop and Zenevitch blocked the shot.

However, Connolly felt it was goaltending and protested the call, resulting in a technical foul. Central Catholic freshman Tyler Nelson hit both free throws to make it a 1-point game, and Zenevitch scored to help Central take a 70-69 lead

Connaughton hit a free throw with a minute to play, then grabbed a rebound on a Zenevitch miss to set up the winning layup.

Zenevitch led all scorers with 32 points, however he shot 3 for 7 from the free throw line.

"They are an outstanding team, especially when you have a kid like Pat Connaughton who can make plays every trip down the floor," Nault said. "As a team, we shot 5 of 14 from the free throw line. That was our downfall tonight. It's going to cost us games if we can't knock them down."

In the third quarter, Prep junior Mike Carbone went for 11 points to keep the game close. The sharp-shooting guard finished with 21, and drained four 3-pointers.

"Mike had a very good game," Connolly said. "He's a tough kid and stepped up and made some big shots for us. He's been playing very well, and he did a great job defending [Jaycob] Morales and making him work."

It was the first time the teams squared off this season, but another meeting might be waiting late in the state tournament.

"Every time we play these guys, we know it's going to be a war," Connolly said. "They are a tough team mentally and physically. You got to battle if you want to beat these guys."

By Zuri Berry, Boston.com staff

The Globe's Anthony Gulizia and Emily Wright analyze the matchups in the city basketball tournament as well as the scores from the Comcast tourney.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe correspondent

With the basketball season winding down, we're just four days away from the seeding for the state tournaments. Here's a look at the latest shakeups in the Boston.com Top 20 boys' basketball rankings.

The top three teams remained unchanged, however Charlestown lost to unranked East Boston. The win pushed East Boston onto the list at No. 12, while Charlestown slid one spot to No. 5.

Right behind Charlestown at No. 6 is Cambridge, which fell one spot after losing to Somerville last week. The loss is Cambridge's only blemish (15-1).

These two losses opened the door for Mansfield, which jumped to No. 4 from No. 8, and now New Mission is No. 8.

Lincoln-Sudbury jumped five spots to No. 13 after beating No. 11 Westford, and BC High cracked the Top 20 in the final spot with wins over No. 7 Acton-Boxboro and previously ranked No. 14 Newton North. Newton North fell out of the Top 20 after losing to No. 10 Andover.

By Emily Wright, Globe correspondent

The McNiece Pavilion at BC High was buzzing with excitement after one quarter of basketball when unranked Arlington Catholic led 13-7 over MVC heavyweight Central Catholic. But the No. 2 Raiders snapped out of their slump in the second quarter and took home a 55-47 win in the first round of the Comcast Tournament.

Sophomore Casey McLaughlin (20 points, 12 rebounds) was limited to just 2 points in the first quarter but scored 6 in less than 2 minutes to start the second. Kayla Awizsus added 2 for the Cougars following McLaughlin's first layup to widen the gap to 15-9, but two more field goals from McLaughlin and a Tori Brillaud jumper tied the score 15-15 with four and a half minutes left in the second quarter. Central outscored Arlington Catholic 16-4 in the second.

Central coach Susan Downer said after struggling in the first quarter, her team needed anything to happen to help break through.

"She's our leader in everything so she really got us going," Downer said.

Arlington Catholic's defense limited McLaughlin and Central Catholic to nine points in the third, but the Cougars couldn't come up with more than seven points themselves and headed into the final 8 minutes trailing 32-24.

After making 1 of 2 from the line to start the fourth, Arlington Catholic junior Nicole Catizone nailed a 3-pointer, reducing the deficit to five points, but Central Catholic senior Gabi Polce answered with a field goal to start an 8-0 run which sealed the game.

"I think it was pretty evident that we haven't played in 10 days," Downer said of her team. "I don't think we played a good game at all. We won, we'll take it but we certainly have to play better tomorrow."

Central Catholic plays No. 5 Newton South Sunday in the championship game at 2:30 p.m. Newton South (19-0, 16-0) took down Newton North 63-45 in the first round.

By Gabe Souza, Globe correspondent

Beverly coach Marty Harrington knew going into last night’s game versus Salem that knocking off the No. 12-ranked Witches would be a tall task.

But Harrington also knew that for his team to have any shot at the tournament, they had to check off three wins in its final three games.

So far for the Panthers, its one down, two to go.

Using 24 points and 18 rebounds from junior center Zack Zigelbaum, and applying a strong defensive press in the fourth quarter, Beverly overcame a nine-point halftime deficit to knock off Salem, 72-70.

Beverly improved to 8-9 with the win, while Salem fell to 16-3.

“They led by 11 the entire game,” Harrington said. “We were down by 10 at the start of the fourth, and we knew that they only play about five of their players so we were hoping they were tired.”

With about six minutes left in the fourth, the Panthers applied a 3-2 press and saw immediate results.

“We knew that we needed to win if we wanted to have a shot at advancing so, we applied the press,” Harrington said. “We got a couple of steals right away and just slowly chipped away at the lead. Then with about 38 seconds to go, Aren Jones scored the go-ahead basket.”

Chris Keaton, a junior shooting guard, added 20 points for the Panthers.

Beverely now must win its final two games, both of which are at home – Sunday vs. Dracut and Tuesday vs. Winthrop – to reach 10 wins and advance to the tournament.

“If we come out and play with the intensity with which we played tonight, that’s what we need to do to win,” Harrington said.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe correspondent

It wasn't until 6:40 into the third quarter that Central Catholic scored its first basket of the second half. Senior Jaycob Morales hit a 3-pointer to snap a 18-0 Andover run as the Raiders trailed 38-30.

And in the fourth quarter, it was Morales who drained a 3-pointer as time expired to give No. 2 Central Catholic (17-1) a 59-56 win over No. 6 Andover (13-4).

"He was our second option," Central Catholic coach Rick Nault said. "We were looking for [Luis] Puello to get a drive with Jimmy [Zenevitch] diving and we knew the defense would collapse on Louis and focus on Jimmy. We figured Jaycob would be the open guy."

After getting outscored 25-4 in the third quarter, a once-futile Raiders offense exploded with a 20-6 run to start the final stanza as Zenevitch scored 12 of his 26 points during the surge.

"We weren't hitting shots [in the third quarter] and I got in some foul trouble," Zenevitch said. "But we turned it on and picked up the intensity. We're used to doing the high-low, it's one of the biggest parts of our game. If Joel [Berroa] goes high, I go low [in the post] and he kept feeding me the ball and it turned out well."

Andover coach Dave Fazio called a timeout with 3:25 left, and his team came out of the break with a 6-2 run, trailing 53-52.

Senior guard Joe Bramanti went to the line with a 1:36 left and hit a free-throw for Andover to tie the game 53-53. Bramanti finished with 22 points on the night.

Morales hit a free throw on the ensuing possession, and after an Andover miss, Zenevitch hit a layup to give the Raiders a 56-53 lead.

But with 56 seconds to go, junior Craig Luschenat hit a 3-pointer from the corner to tie the game. After misses by Zenevitch and Bramanti, the Raiders called a timeout with 12.5 seconds left.

Puello took the inbound pass and looked for Zenevitch. But when Zenevitch got tangled up in the paint, Puello found Morales streaking off a screen to the wing. Morales corralled the pass, and buried the winning shot.

"I just told the guys, 'I can't lose on this floor,'" Morales said. "They pretty much slapped us in the face and we knew we had to slap them back."

By Globe correspondents Seth Lakso and Liz Torres

Thursday featured some close games and impressive performances on the hardcourt. Here are five of the best -- not including the Central Catholic-Andover thriller that ran as our lead -- Take your pick as to which deserves the title of game of the day.

Boys basketball - Mansfield over Stoughton, 75-59
Six-foot junior guard Brian Hershman set a school record with nine 3-pointers en route to a career-high 28 points as the No. 8 Hornets (18-2) rolled over Stoughton.

Mansfield jumped out to a 41-20 lead at the half, at which point, Hershman had six three-pointers, already tying his previous career high.

Six-foot-four-inch senior point guard Michael Lofton tallied 13 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks, while senior guard Joey Gracia netted 12 points of his own.

As a team the Hornets drained 16 threes (also a team high for the season).

Hornet coach Michael Vaughn had nothing but praise for Hershman, who is shooting 40 percent from three on the year. "[He's] a tremendous player for us and a great leader, as well as a good defender. Tonight he played with extra power because he was wrongfully kept off the all-league team."

Girls basketball - Wellesley over Natick, 66-62 (OT)
The fourth-ranked Raiders (16-1) were led by senior captain Blake Dietrick who finished with 21 points. Ashley Slaboden and Shannon Matpiong each drained clutch foul shots in overtime to help ice the game.

Lexi Gifford led the Red & Blue (14-4), who really put a scare into the Raiders, with 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Sarah Marcinklewicz did her best to keep Natick in the game late, scoring five of her seven points in overtime.

"Natick has a lot of good players," said Raider coach Kristen Cierci. "Lexi Gifford had a great game against us tonight […] They have nine kids who can score, [they're] very deep, athletic and quick. We were lucky to escape."

Five-foot-eleven-inch senior forward Tierra Allen contributed 17 points for the Raiders, whose size was just too great for the Red & Blue in the end.

Boys basketball - Manchester Essex over Rockport, 72-57
Senior guard Joe Mussachia simply owned the paint in this one, grabbing an impressive 32 rebounds to go along with 30 points and 7 assists for Manchester Essex, posting a Kevin Love-esque stat line, as the Minnesota Timber Wolves power forward leads the NBA in 30-30s (points and rebounds) this season.

Boys basketball - Weymouth over Braintree, 63-61
Trailing by five with 30 seconds remaining the Wildcats stormed back behind senior captain Jon Perez, who knocked down a jumper at the buzzer to secure No. 11 Weymouth's first league championship since 1990. Sophomore guard Jared Terrell led scoring with 19 points.

Girls basketball - Trinity Catholic over Maimonities, 54-52 (OT)

Senior center Taiana Malary recorded her third triple-double this year, scoring a career high 25 points, while tallying 10 steals and 16 rebounds. In 61 career games, Malary -- who's 5-foot-9 -- has 1,234 rebounds. The Falcons finished the season at 11-9 and are tournament bound for the second consecutive season after a six year drought prior.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe correspondent

Central Catholic senior captain Jimmy Zenevitch has been part of two state championships and is helping the Raiders chase their third. The No. 2 Raiders haven’t lost since the Christmas Tournament and have won 12 straight games. Zenevitch, a 6-foot 8 forward, is averaging 18.9 points per game and has helped the Raiders clinch the MVC title. We caught up with the big fella last week.  
 
What’s been going right for the team since the Christmas Tournament loss to Andover?
 
The biggest thing since the tourney has been our intensity on the defensive side. We didn’t really pressure the ball as much in the tournament, but we picked up the ball pressure since then. Another thing is our rebounding. We’ve been killing everyone on the boards by almost 17 rebounds per game.
 
You guys got a big game against Andover next week, what are you guys looking forward to?
 
Andover’s our biggest rival since they’ve first played each other. We lost to them in the Christmas tournament but we played them a couple weeks later and beat them by 10 or 12. People would say the game doesn’t matter because we’ve clinched the MVC last week, but to me and to the team, it’s probably the biggest game of the year up to date. We always want to win no matter what
 
What have you been doing for the team this year to make up for the loss of Carson Desrosiers
 
People would say it’s scoring, but the biggest thing I focused on is rebounds. He would get 12-15, sometimes 20 rebounds per game. I knew that without a seven- footer in the middle, I definitely had to step up.
 
You’re heading to Assumption in the fall, what are you looking forward to the most about going there?

I’m looking forward to a new level of play, more talent all around. They’ll never be a kid who isn’t good at all, there’s going to be five really good kids on the court. I’m really looking forward to having a new team, a new life. Its just like starting over you’ve got to gain every ones respect again
 
What does your team need to do to win a state championship?
 
Basically, It starts with heart, but then everything has to click on all cylinders – offense, defense, rebounding our shots, dribbling and limiting turnovers. If we want it more than anyone else, most likely we have a chance at getting it.
 
Your sister Katie is pretty good at basketball herself over at BC. In a game to 21, who wins?
 
I win, hands down. Without a question.

Tuesday featured some impressive performances on the hardcourt. Here are five of the best. Take your pick as to who is the player of the day.

New Mission's Tianna Johnson recorded a triple-double (22 points, 11 assists, 11 rebounds) in a 70-49 victory over O'Bryant.

Senior captain Hannah O'Flynn led Ipswich to a 49-43 victory over Lynnfield with 26 points, 16 rebounds, and 6 steals.

Revere's Morgan Jenkins scored 20 points and eclipsed the 1,000 career rebounds mark by pulling down 20 in a 65-51 win over Lynn Classical. She now has 1,017 in her career.

Sean O'Neill powered Norwood's attack, scoring 35 points in a 77-65 win over Natick.

Senior guard Sam Longwell's 28 points and 7 boards helped No. 7 Acton-Boxboro (17-2, 9-1) clinch the DCL Large title with a 77-45 win over Newton South.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

Eastern Massachusetts' top five boys' basketball teams remained unchanged for the third week in a row, but there was some movement among the Top 20 from the likes of Newton North, Weymouth, Acton-Boxboro, and Westford.

With a win on Tuesday, No. 14 Newton North (14-4) closed the gap on conference rival No. 11 Weymouth (15-3), which leads the Carey division of the Bay State conference.

Newtown North moved up four spots, while Weymouth slid four. The two teams won't meet again in the regular season.

No. 7 Acton-Boxboro lost to previously unranked Lincoln-Sudbury, which cracked the Top 20 at No. 18 this week, but defeated No. 9 Westford and only dropped one spot.

Westford slipped one spot with the loss to A-B, and is chasing A-B for the top-spot in the Dual County league.

Marshfield broke into the Top 20 this week at No.17, and Franklin, previously No. 14, fell out of the Top 20 after losing three straight games last week.

By Gabe Souza, Globe Correspondent

With nine seconds remaining in the game and his team down by one, Brighton senior Bernadin St. Vil stepped to the free throw line with a chance to give his Bengals the lead.

But there was one problem. The 6-foot-5 center isn’t exactly known for his skills at the charity stripe, coach Hugh Coleman said. And he had yet to hit any of his six free throws that day.

Shrugging off his previous failed attempts, St. Vil stepped to the line, netted both free throws, and Brighton (11-2) held on for a 60-59 win over its Boston City South rival Dorchester.

“Our seniors really stepped up tonight,” Coleman said. “All year it’s been our young guys who have led us, but tonight it was our seniors."

Senior center Mitchell Jean-Louis had 17 points and 20 rebounds for Brighton, while sophomore point guard Malik James scored the first triple-double of his career, notching 13 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists.

But picking up the team’s 11th victory didn’t look very promising before the start of the game.

Just hours before tip off, Coleman discovered he would be without three of his starters – one because of injury, the other two because of disciplinary actions within the school.

“Once we found that out, we became very uneasy with the situation because it all happened so quickly,” Coleman said. “We called up a few players from JV and asked a lot from our seniors.”

The win ties Brighton with West Roxbury for the second best record in the league behind New Mission, who beat the Bengals twice in the regular season.

Because of weather postponements, Brighton and West Roxbury have yet to play each other this season, but will settle things in a pair of games next week. On Monday (Feb. 14), the Bengals host the Raiders, and Wednesday (Feb. 16) they play at Dorchester.

By Phillip Shore, Globe Correspondent

Thursday marked a historic night for the North Shore boys’ basketball team, which beat Commonwealth League foe Chelsea for the first time in school history, 67-61.

“I didn’t even know. Our AD [John Lynch] and the old coach [Paul Worth] came into the locker room after the game and told us,” said Bulldogs head coach Jody Norton. “We’ve played them to tough losses before. This was a big league win.”

Norton said the key to the game was how well North Shore performed on the boards, limiting the scoring opportunities for Chelsea. Six-foot-five senior center Jordan Smith led the way, grabbing 12 rebounds, while forwards Tyler Suggs and Derrick Frazier added 8 and 7 rebounds, respectively.

“It was 32-32 at the half. We were able to keep them to more one-shot possessions in the second half,” Norton said. “We were tougher and more aggressive.”

With 48 seconds left and North Shore up 4 points, senior point guard Jordan Castillo hit two free throws to make it a two-possession game.

The star of the night was Smith, who in addition to his rebound tally scored 23 points and blocked seven shots.

“He’s a big body, a big presence,” Norton said. “Where he really makes an impact is on defense blocking shots. Once he gets a few under his belt he intimidates teams from going to the hoop. He’s been doing that for a few years now.”

The win improves the Bulldogs, the top team in the Small division, to 11-0 in the league and 16-1 overall, while Chelsea (12-5, 11-1 league), the best team in the Large division, suffered its first league loss.

Norton said the best part about the win was proving to his team that they can compete with some of the bigger and better teams in the state.

“We play in a conference where we’re the small kids. We just want to compete with schools like them,” Norton said. “We’re trying to raise the bar and improve our program.”

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

Michael Carter-Williams and Khem Birch have been selected to play in the annual McDonald's All-American game for he East and West teams, respectively.

The final roster was announced on the selection show, which aired on ESPNU this evening.

Carter-Williams, a guard at St. Andrews in Barrington, R.I., is the first athlete to ever be nominated from the Ocean State. The 6-foot-5 sharpshooter is ranked the No. 5 guard in the nation according to ESPN, and will play for Syracuse University next year.

Birch, a center at Notre Dame Prep (Fitchburg), was one of six Notre Dame players nominated for the game, but was the only one selected to the final roster.

The 6-9 Montreal native will play for the University of Pittsburgh next year.

The McDonald's All-American takes place March 30 at the United Center in Chicago.

By Bob Holmes, Globe Staff

The once-promising senior year of All-Scholastic basketball player Jules Tavares has officially come to an end following his arrest Sunday in Wareham on a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon. Tavares was a senior guard on the New Bedford High School basketball team.

According to a story in the New Bedford Standard Times, Tavares was arraigned Monday in Wareham District Court on charges he pointed a gun at someone after a fight at a party in Wareham.

Bail was set at $2,500 and Tavares was ordered held at Plymouth County Correctional Facility. Tavares was suspended three times this season and was removed from the team following his arrest.

Last year, Tavares led Wareham to the Division 3 state title, averaging 20 points per game. Following his junior year, he briefly enrolled at Wilbraham & Monson but soon left and enrolled at New Bedford. This winter Tavares was leading the Whalers in scoring at 18.7 points per game.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

The unranked Haverhill Hillies came out strong against No. 2 Central Catholic last night, and looked to upset their conference foe. But in the third quarter, a recharged Raiders team stormed the court, led by senior captain Jimmy Zenevitch, and ran away with a 68-49 victory to improve to 16-1 on the season.

"To be honest, I thought we played very selfish basketball in the first half," Central Catholic coach Rick Nault said. "In the second half, we were making the extra pass, looking for open guys and attacking the basket more. That was the difference."

Zenevitch, who's averaging 18.8 points per game on the season, added 17 in the win. Sophomore forward Joel Berroa chipped in 13, while senior guard Jaycob Morales and freshman sharp-shooter Tyler Nelson finished with 11 points apiece.

For the Raiders, not only did the offense pick up in the second half, but they also tuned up their defense. Nault ordered a full-court press that troubled the Hillies, leading to an abundance of turnovers and transition baskets.

"It was probably the worst defensive half of basketball we ever played in the first half," Nault said. "The energy was their in the second half and the kids responded. We trapped a little and we created some turnovers and got some easy buckets as a result."

The Raiders defense successfully shut down Haverhill's star sophomore center Noah Vonleh, who finished with just 12 points.

With the win against Haverhill, Nault and the Raiders can now focus on their matchup with No. 9 Andover Feb. 17. The two will face off for the third time this year after splitting the first two contests.

By Paul Sulzer, Globe Correspondent

  Barry Santana had 16 points and 16 rebounds, sinking five free throws in the fourth quarter to lead the Tigers (12-4, 9-3 Bay State) to a crucial league win against the Wildcats (13-3, 10-2) last night.

"He brings such energy to our team," said coach Paul Connolly. "He's skilled and he's tough. He elevates our team."

The Tigers need help if they want at least a share of league title. They don't have another shot at Weymouth before the season ends, so they need the Wildcats to lose at least one of their three remaining games. Newton North also faces the challenge of playing its final three games in a six-day stretch, while Weymoth will have an extra day off.

The Globe's Anthony Gulizia and Emily Wright break down the shakeups in the Globe Top 20s for boys and girls basketball.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

Last week, we got the chance to catch up with Charlestown junior Akosa Maduegbunam. The versatile guard is averaging 23.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game for the No. 4 Townies. The best part is we didn’t even need a linguistics expert to help us pronounce his last name ­– he did it for us.
  

They can’t even say my name right at the Globe or spell my name, so how do you say your last name?
 
Mah-do-way-boo-nam
 
Can you spell that for us?
 
M-A-D-U-E-G-B-U-N-A-M
 
Where are you from originally?
 
My family’s from Nigeria but I was born and raised in Boston.
 
How have you been dealing with all this snow we’ve been getting lately?
 
I’ve been staying in – I haven’t been able to go to the gym much. I try to do a little in the house, some push-ups and sit-ups.
 
Have you been doing most of the shoveling lately?
 
I live on a big hill so I gotta shovel the whole hill.
 
Can you take us through your pre-game routine?
 
I don’t like to be early to the [game], but not late.  At least thirty minutes before the game because players go through a lot of emotions. Sometimes I listen to music, sometimes I don’t. My main way to get ready before a game is focus.
 
What’s more satisfying for you, climbing over someone for a rebound or dunking on them?
 
Definitely dunking on them because I like to see the faces of the victim.
 
You had 25 points against St. John’s Prep and Coach Connolly teaches here at Charlestown, so how motivating was it to get the win?
 
It was a big boost for us. Connolly’s a great guy I look up to him as a mentor. After the win after the win, I saw him on Monday and went up to his class and was rubbing it in his face.
 
Are you a big trash talker?
 
Uh, a little bit.
 
You're averaging 23 and 8 a game so what do you do for yourself to make sure you’re an effective corer, but an effective rebounder as well?
 
Sometimes you gotta do little things to get extra points. I probably I get about 14 points ff my own miss. You gotta do the little clean up and get your own rebounds and sometimes I always need the ball in my hands so I go get the ball myself and make sure I get the rebound.
 
What’s the best dunk you’ve ever had on someone?
 
I’ve been slouching this year when it comes to dunking on people. I would say the BC High game when I went baseline.

By Liz Torres, Globe Correspondent

Katelyn Iafolla scored 12 points and Catie Phelan and Alicia Kutil added 11 each as the ninth-ranked Franklin girls' basketball team beat Attleboro, 63-36, Monday for their 14th straight win.

“We make a focus to take control of the game we’re playing. We haven’t even talked about our record,” said Panthers coach John Leighton. “We don’t measure by our opponents, but by how we’re playing."

The Panthers maintained a consistent lead over Attleboro finishing the first quarter with a 23-11 lead and relying on Phelan’s 9 first-half points as they stretched their lead to 41-20.

Attleboro hasn’t seen much luck this season after being down four of its athletes, one of which was Danielle Dunkley, who was taken out Monday with an ankle injury.

“It’s a significant loss for them because you can take a couple of inches off but once you’re down four kids, it’s hard to come back from that,” said Leighton.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

After fielding offers from several marquee Division 1 universities, St. Mark's junior Alex Murphy committed to Duke University and confirmed his decision on his Twitter account today.

Murphy is averaging 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the 16-2 Lions this season.

The 6-foot-8 forward narrowed his choices down to Duke and Florida, where his older brother Erik plays, but chose to play for coach Mike Krzyzewski instead.

Murphy was also considering offers from Kansas, Arizona and North Carolina. Although he is a junior at St. Marks, he's in his fourth year of high school which allows him to join Duke next season. However, he has not reached a decision on whether to stay at St. Marks next year or join the Blue Devils for the 2011 season, said St. Mark's coach Dave Lubick.

Murphy's family has a rich basketball tradition. His father Jay played for Boston College from 1980-84.

By Emily Wright, Globe Correspondent

Mansfield stepped up from the No. 2 spot in the Globe Top 20 girls basketball rankings to No. 1 with another pair of wins last week and remains undefeated, 15-0 overall and 13-0 in the Hockomock (Kelley-Rex). Andover took a tumble to No. 3 from No. 1 after losing to No. 2 Central Catholic on Sunday, while Central moved up one spot No. 3 to No. 2 with their first victory against their Merrimack Valley Conference rival. With this slide of power in the MVC, it's looking like there will be a tie for the title again this year.

A little further down, Scituate fell one spot to No. 10 after losing to Mansfield and Franklin moved into their former spot. Norwell jumped from No. 14 to No. 11 with two more wins. Coyle & Cassidy remains at No. 12. Pentucket is static at No. 13 while Cohasset moved up one spot to No. 14, with Acton-Boxboro right behind them at No. 15, up from last week's No. 17 slot.

Woburn climbed from No. 19 to No. 16 and St. Mary's fell six spots to No. 17 after losing to unranked Arlington Catholic, 56-32. Fenway broke into the rankings at No. 18 with two more Boston City League wins, while Braintree slipped a spot to No. 19 after losing to Newton North. Quincy steps in at the No. 20 spot after Duxbury fell off the ranking chart. Quincy has a 13-2 overall record and a 7-game win streak.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

With snow wiping out many games last week, the front-side of the Top 20 didn't see much action.

However, New Bedford fell three spots to No. 10 after losing to Marshfield. Senior guard Jules Tavares, who's averaging 18.3 points per game, is suspended indefinitely for violating team rules according to coach Tom Tarpey. According to reports, it's the third time Tavares has been suspended this season.

On the back side of the rankings, Mashpee (14-1) moved up to the 12 spot after sitting at No. 17 last week.

The Falcons beat Harwich 83-55, and losses by Newton North (No. 18), Watertown (No. 17) and Wilmington (No. 13) paved the way for five-spot jump.

By Ayoub Kourikchi, Globe Correspondent

If Apponequet still felt alive in the chase for the South Coast Conference boys' basketball regular season title, last-place Case ended those thoughts Saturday. Case beat visiting Apponequet, 69-67, to drop the Lakers three losses behind first-place and defending state champion Wareham.

James McDonnell, Case's 6-foot-9-inch senior center sprinted from one end of the court to block the potential tying shot after a steal and fast-break layup attempt from Apponequet with 12 seconds left in the game.

Apponequet rallied from a 34-34 halftime tie to take the lead by 7, only to see Case rebound to take a 44-43 lead at the end of three.

Senior guard Ben Monteiro powered Case (5-11, 2-10) with 7 third-quarter points that included a a 3-pointer a fast break lay-up off of a steal . He finished with 30 points on 6 of 13 shooting and 3-of-5 3-pointers. He was also 8 for 10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

“The end of the half we said we need to keep it up and match their intensity,” said Case coach Tim Plante. “If you can take the lead then it’s going to be a good game and it's going to be a big battle.”

Junior forward Andrew Kenyon finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds and sophomore forward Matt Plante added 8 points. “We have been getting better and knocking them was a definite confidence booster because we have been on many sides on close games,” said Plante. “We all played 110 percent and gave it everything tonight.”

By Alex Prewitt, Globe Correspondent

Entering Saturday afternoon’s makeup game with Foxborough, Stoughton senior guard Kris Joyce needed 13 points to eclipse the 1,000-point mark for his illustrious four-year career with the Black Knights.

Piece of cake.

The shot that pushed Joyce over the edge came late in the first half, on the back end of four consecutive 3-pointers that put Stoughton comfortably on top. Just one point shy of the barrier, Joyce misfired on his next shot, but calmly stroked another 3 on the Black Knights’ next trip down the floor to enter the record books.

“Coming into the season, we knew he needed to average something like 12 points a game to reach it, but you never know what could happen,” Stoughton coach John Galligan said. “But we didn’t talk about it until it was real close. To his credit, he didn’t force a single shot; he let it come to him and he was very patient.”

The Black Knights (8-6) ended up cruising to a 77-52 win at home over the Warriors to set up a showdown with Oliver Ames on Tuesday for first place in the Hockomock Davenport Small Division. But the moment belonged to the 5-foot-9 Joyce. Once he surpassed the millennial mark, the game stopped briefly to honor the two-year captain and two-time league all-star.

“It was one of those feel-good moments,” said Galligan, who has coached Joyce for over half of his seven-year stint with the Black Knights. “He’s a quiet kid and he doesn’t say much, but you could tell it was special. He had a big smile on his face.”

After a 66-61 loss on the road to Franklin last night, Stoughton had a quick turn-around for the make-up game with Foxborough. The short break between games had little effect on Joyce, who finished with 15 versus the Warriors despite sitting out the fourth quarter.

“I told him, just play your game and let it come to you, because it was going to happen eventually,” Galligan said. “He was very calm and collected.”

By Liz Torres, Globe Correspondent

Manchester Essex rallied behind 6-foot-6-inch senior guard Joe Mussachia, who collected 9 points in the fourth quarter and junior guard Sean Nally, who added two 3-pointers to upset host No. 11 Wilmington, 92-85, Friday.

“Sean and Joe work hard every day, 65 games a year to become the best basketball players they can be and I’m glad they play for us,” said Manchester Essex coach Duane Sigsbury (130-72).

The victory gives Wilmington (12-2) its first Cape Ann League loss and is Manchester Essex’s (11-4) third consecutive victory.

“It was a huge victory to beat a highly ranked state team who hadn’t lost a game in the Cape Ann League. We’re just excited to have played well,” said Sigsbury. “Being one of the smallest schools in the Cape Ann League makes this a huge feat for us.”

The Mussachia-Nally duo played a big role in Friday night’s victory with Mussachia leading scoring at 31 points and 22 rebounds and Nally following with 24 points, 10 assists, and 6 3-pointers.

“In my eyes, [Mussachia’s] a dream-teamer. He does unbelievable things for us and battles diabetes and never complains,” said Sigsbury. “He took his game to another level this year.”

Mussachia has passed up five scholarship offers to commit to Amherst College.

Manchester Essex fell behind by 6 in the second quarter but led, 45-40, at the half and 73-68 at the end of the third. One of the biggest obstacles was tying down Wilmington threat Vinny Scifo.

Senior captain Alex Porter (15 points and 10 rebounds) and senior center Adam Jackson (15 points and eight rebounds) each respectively reached their season game-highs.

“It was about two teams that played great offense. We had to get the ball inside and use our height advantage to spread the floor and dominate the glass,” said Sigsbury.

By Braden Campbell, Globe Correspondent

With 11 seconds left in overtime and the score knotted at 58 in Hopkinton yesterday, Medfield’s Natalie Dickinson stepped to the free throw line.

She and the Warriors were in unfamiliar territory. They had not trailed at halftime this season, let alone been pushed to overtime. She put up her first shot -- and missed.

“The biggest question coming in was, ‘How are we going to handle a close game?' " coach Mark Nickerson said. “Because we hadn’t had one coming in.”

Dickinson shot again, scoring, to put the Warriors up, 59-58. Hopkinton missed on its ensuing possession, with Medfield getting the rebound. After another foul, Lauren Petit stepped to the line, hitting one of two to complete the 60-58 Tri-Valley League win, pushing the team to 13-0 on the season. Hopkinton fell to 8-4.

The Warriors started strong, leading by 3 points after the first quarter. But by halftime, they trailed by the same margin. By the start of the fourth quarter, Hopkinton had increased that lead to 10.

Senior captain Hillary Collins scored 8 of her 11 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Warriors tie the game and send it to overtime.

“I just wanted to have good possessions offensively, and we wanted to be smart defensively,” Nickerson said of the extra period. “Both teams were in the bonus, we wanted to play good aggressive defense, but we didn’t want to put them on the line with the clock stopped.”

In the extra period, Medfield allowed just 4 points in as many minutes.

Hopkinton has been bolstered by the return of Alee Leteria, out with an injury. She scored 21 points and grabbed five rebounds against the Warriors.

“Alee Leteria has been out for most of the season, she’s come back for the last couple games,” Nickerson said. “She certainly looked 100 percent -- if she wasn’t, I don’t want to see her at 100 percent.”

Nickerson said he considered this game one of his teams’ biggest obstacles, and should help prepare his team for the upcoming state tournament.

“I thought they would be one of the best teams, the toughest challenges," he said. “This was a great win for us. It’s good to go in the right direction, playing tough teams into the state tournament.”

Dickinson finished with 8 points and six rebounds. Petit (8 points, 10 steals, 6 rebounds) and Jen Narlee (8 points, 14 rebounds) also put in solid performances.

The Globe's Anthony Gulizia and Emily Wright discuss Cambridge's undefeated boys basketball team and Harwich's 1,000-point scorer Jen Gonsalves in the first installment of Full Court Press.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

Last week, the Charlestown Townies took down top-ranked St. John's Prep, slightly shaking up the Top 20.

The Townies move up to No. 4 from the No. 8 spot, but was the win enough to clip the Eagles wings?

Senior guard Pat Connaughton is leading the charge for the Eagles, averaging 21.9 points per game, and a supporting cast led by junior Steve Haladyna, who's averaging 19.5 points per game is bound to give any team trouble.

Juniors Owen Marchetti and Mike Carbone, who's a threat to go off from 3-point land at any time, help give the Eagles a powerful offense.

St. John's Prep wii face a true test right before tournament time when they take on No. 2 Central Catholic Feb. 23.

Andover slid from No.4 to No. 8 after Lawrence handed the Golden Warriors their third loss of the season last week.

With the basketball season turning down the home stretch, things are about to get heavy come tournament time.

Not much changed in terms of the top 10 except for St. Mary's falling one slot to No. 11 after losing to No. 3 Central Catholic, 63-44. No. 1 Andover through No. 9 Scituate held strong. Each team added at least one W to the win column despite another snow-riddled week.

A little bit lower in the Top 20, Braintree dropped two spots to No. 18 after a 49-40 defeat by unranked Newton North. Natick switched places with Braintree after two victories over Newton North and Walpole. Stoneham's back-to-back losses earlier in the month bumped them out of the rankings and made room for Woburn at the No. 19 spot.

No. 20 Duxbury barely held on to its spot after taking a beating from Quincy 59-40 on Friday night, but the real test of the Green Dragons on-court prominence will come against No. 7 New Bedford tonight at home at 6:30 p.m.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

Dennis Clifford is a seven-foot center at Milton Academy averaging 15.8 points per game and will be trading in his Milton orange and blue for the Boston College maroon and gold next season. We got the chance to catch up with the big fella and ask him a few questions after practice – no ladder necessary.

What are you most excited about playing basketball at Boston College next season?

Clifford: Mostly I think its just being part of the team and playing college basketball. It seems like they’re a family up there and I can’t wait to be a part of it.

Who was your favorite athlete growing up?

Clifford: Id have to go with Shaquille O’Neal. He’s the most dominant center ever and I always try to be like him.

What’s been the best moment of your basketball career?

Clifford: The best moment I think was the open gym last spring when I first saw [Boston College] coach [Steve] Donauhue. I recognized him from Cornell and after the workout I went over to shake his hand and he was wearing the BC shirt.

What’s been the most embarrassing moment?

Clifford: Seventh grade travel, I was going on a fast break and someone threw me a long pass so I tried to outrun it, but it ended up hitting me in the back of the head and everyone started laughing – so I think that’s got to be the most embarrassing part.

What would you say is the best part of being seven feet tall?

Clifford: The best and worse is you get a lot of attention wherever you go – that can come to bite you in the rear end. I’m always getting attention when I go to public places and people are always talking to me.

Do you ever have a hard time finding a date when you’re seven feet tall?

Clifford: They come easier just cause the girls want to get the attention, the only thing is they won’t stop talking about your height.

By Michael Mancinelli, Globe Correspondent

Longtime West Bridgewater girls’ basketball coach Steve Barrett earned his 500th career win on Friday night as his Wildcats qualified for the Division 4 South tournament with a 50-31 road win over Upper Cape Tech of Bourne.

West Bridgewater (10-1) has not missed the playoffs since Barrett was hired as coach in 1981. Barrett credited reaching the milestone with his players’ consistent work ethic over the last 30 years.

“For such a small school we have good, hard-working kids,” said Barrett, a 62-year-old Falmouth resident who doubles as the school's athletic director.

“It’s been a very rewarding experience. I’ve been fortunate to have so many hard-working girls over the years.”

Barrett became West Bridgewater’s coach seemingly by fate.
“My first year in ‘80 I was the boys' coach and then when I became AD in ’81, I thought I may not have time to keep coaching,” Barrett said.

“We didn’t have a girls’ coach that year so I stepped in and I’ve been doing it since. I still love doing it.”

He says West Bridgewater has a strong tradition of producing college basketball players. Those “strong female role- models” have frequently come back to help as assistant coaches. Others have found success in a wide-range of endeavors.

“The best part is seeing kids after they graduate,” Barrett said. “We’ve had so many girls that have become successful attorneys, mothers, housewives and doctors.”

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

The No. 6 Cambridge Falcons outscored host Everett 32-13 in the second half of last night's 48-31 victory over the Crimson Tide.

What was anticipated to be a high scoring Greater Boston League contest between two superior teams quickly turned sour as neither club found an offensive flow in the first half.

The Tide carried an 18-16 lead into the break, but the Falcons took control and finally came to life in the second half.

Unfortunately, for Everett, the offensive struggles only grew worse.

The Falcons held the Tide to just 3 points in the third quarter to take a 28-21 lead into the final stanza, which set the stage for a 20-point explosion in the last eight minutes.

"We moved the ball a lot better in the second half," Cambridge coach Lance Dottin said. "It was the defense in the second half that got us a couple opportunities to get on the break. In the first half we made a lot of bad decisions. We've obviously played better games – better halves, and I got to give Everett credit."

Senior forward Deondre Starling led the way with 12 points for the Falcons, scoring four of them in the fourth quarter.

Classmate Kyroe Qualls-Betts and sophomore center Jacquil Taylor aided the late surge as well, adding 5 and 4 points, respectively. Qualls-Betts finished with 9and Taylor finished with 7.

Starling said that it was the team's stellar defense, anchored by the 6-foot-8-inch Taylor, that helped turn the game around.

"We just talked about coming out strong in the second half after playing sloppy," Starling said. "Our defense motivated the locker room and got everybody back on the same page."

Dottin said that he was happy to get the win, despite the Falcons, who average 69.7 points per game, scoring just 48.

"It's a GBL victory so that's important for us," Dottin said. "We're usually more aggressive on the offensive end. I'm not sure what was going on, but we were able to change that in the second half."

By Lorenzo Recupero, Globe Correspondent

Down by 11 at intermission, and down by 14 with four minutes to play, the resilient Dorchester Bears stiffened defensively in the second half and stunned Burke, 57-56, behind a 3-pointer from junior guard Darius Bass, who nailed the shot with 3.2 left to play.

The Bears (3-8) swept the season series, 2-0, over Boston City South rival Bulldogs.

Coming off a 41-point loss to West Roxbury, coach John Evans called a victory over Burke crucial to the team's playoff hopes. Evans hopes the team can build off the tough win and gather several victories because a .500 record in the Boston City will propel the Bears into the postseason.

Junior Ronnie Jackson powered the Bears with a team-high 17 points, including three 3-pointers in the final period. Junior guard Jeduan Langston sparked the defensive intensity with two steals in the final two minutes. He finished with 10 points for Dorchester.

The Bears will face off next against New Mission.

St. Clement senior girls' basketball player Christy Novembre added to her already-impressive list of accomplishments on Monday night, scoring a career-high 43 points in a 66-55 win over Cathedral.

Novembre’s previous high was 41, which she scored last season vs. Marian.

The 5-foot-6 power forward from Cambridge went 2-for-3 from beyond the arc and drained 11 free throws.

“She’s dominant because she’s very aggressive,” said coach Shawn Thornton. “She has a handle like a guard but power like a forward.”

Novembre is approaching 1,500 career points, having surpassed the 1,000-mark as a junior last season. Thornton believes she has a chance at 2,000 if the Anchormen make it to the state title game at TD Garden.

St. Clement improved to 10-3 overall and clinched a postseason berth.

“It was huge, coming from a league standpoint,” Thornton said. “Secondly, clinching the tourney with seven games left is a nice comfortable feeling.”

Even more impressive, Thornton said, is Novembre’s ability to pass. She collected five assists, including three to 8th-grader Victoria Brown, who scored 10 points.

Novembre is the only senior on the starting five, which includes two 8th-graders and two juniors.

“We have a very young team, so we call on her to do a lot of things,” Thornton said.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

Jules Tavares and the New Bedford Whalers slid down the rankings in the new boys basketball Globe Top 20 after losing to then-No. 19 Brockton last week, 88-74. The Whalers went from No. 3 to No. 7.

The win presented the Boxers with a golden opportunity to jump up in the rankings, but a 73-68 loss to new No. 3 Lynn English warranted just a two-spot jump to No. 17.

After starting the season unranked, the Watertown Red Raiders have cracked the Top 10. A big reason has been the play of Marco Coppola, who is leading the state in scoring, averaging 27 points per game.

Also cracking the Top 20 for the first time this year is No. 18 Mashpee, which made its way in after defeating then-No. 14 Cohasset last week, 66-53. The Skippers fell to No. 19 after the loss.

The top-ranked St. John's Prep Eagles (10-0) continue to soar past opponents, winning by an average of 17 points per game.

Lots of games were canceled last week due to Friday's snowstorm, which left teams such as Andover without any opponents. Some schools managed to fit games in, though, and retain places in the ever-changing Globe Top 20.

The first five positions in the rankings remained the same, but Scituate fell three spots to No. 9 after losing to previously unranked Duxbury Monday night, 57-38. Duxbury joins the list in the No. 20 spot.

No. 6 Newton South, No. 7 New Bedford, and No. 8 Revere each improved one spot, continuing their unbeaten streaks and filling in the gap left by Scituate's slip. The rankings said goodbye to Bishop Feehan (last week's No. 14 team), which has dropped to 4-4, leaving room for Norwell to take over the No. 15 slot, one spot in front of Cohasset.

Braintree steps up two spots to No. 16 after taking down Needham, Brockton, and Weymouth in a four-day stretch. Acton-Boxboro moves up two slots to No. 17, followed by Natick, which lost to Wellesley on Friday and dropped to No. 18.

Go here for the girls' basketball Globe Top 20.

By Bryan Dorval, Globe Correspondent

Rene Castro scored 30 points for Beaver Country Day Saturday in the Beavers' 81-43 victory over visiting Bancroft. Castro went 5 for 5 on 3 pointers and had 14 points in the first half en route to reaching his 1,000th career point mark with 10 seconds left in the game.

Castro, a sophomore, is listed as one of ESPN's top players in the class of 2013 and has already drawn notice from Division 1 schools, including Boston College, University of Massachusetts, and Providence.

By Gabe Souza, Globe Correspondent

Thankfully for the Plymouth North boys' basketball team, Tyler Chafnov picked a good time to have a scoring outburst.

With his team down by 8 and just five minutes remaining, the speedy guard scored 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, including going 8 for 8 from the free throw line, to help the Eagles surge past the home team Dennis-Yarmouth, 56-49.

“This was a really important win for us,” said coach Bill Drew. “With this we get to 5-5 and still stay in contention for the playoffs and a shot at number one in the [Atlantic Coast League.]”

Drew said his players cut the lead and made their final surges by driving the lane and attacking the basket.

Along with Chafnov, Owen Murphy also chipped in down the stretch. The sophomore forward finished with 10 points, 8 in the fourth quarter.

“We just kept attacking and going after them,” Drew said. “[Chafnov] is really quick, good with the ball, and [Murphy] is big and really good around the basket.”

Today McDonald's announced its list of nominees for the 2011 McDonalds All-American Basketball Games. Thirty-three of the 2,000 announced nominees are from EMass schools.

Among those on the list of fourteen boys and nineteen girls from the area are Coyle & Cassidy star Brenna Gonsalves and St. John's Prep's Pat Connaughton.

The final 24 girls and boys will be named on Feb. 10 at 5:30 p.m. on ESPNU. The girls will play at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday March 30 at at Chicago's United Center, and will be broadcast on ESPNU. The boys will play at the same venue at 9 p.m., but will air on ESPN.

Boys

Joe Bramanti, Andover; Ryan Canty and Chirs Sherwood, Brimmer & May; Jimmy Zenevitch, Central Catholic; James Kennedy, Cushing; Joe Mussachia, Manchester Essex; Dennis Clifford, Milton Academy; Samir McDaniels and Kachi Nzerem, New Mission; Tevin Falzon, Newton North; Khem Birch, Sam Cassell Jr., Myles Davis, Grandy Glaze, Angel Nunez and Tyler Strange, Notre Dame Prep; Pat Connaugton, St. John's Prep; Patrick Ackerman, Worcester Academy.

Girls

Natalie Gomez-Martinez, Andover; Amber Dillon, Brookline; Gabie Polce, Central Catholic; Brenna Gonsalves, Coyle & Cassidy; Nicole Beresford, Marshfield; Julie Frankian, Millbury High School; Briana Hunt, Sophie Bikofsky and Kendall Burton, Newton North; Tori Faieta, St. Mary's; Mariah Lesure, Tabor; Clare Sullivan, Rivers; Blake Dietrick, Wellesley; Samantha Mangano, Winchester.

By Seth Lakso, Globe Correspondent

Many high school basketball games were postponed by the weather in Massachusetts Tuesday. Here are some extra highlights from some games that were able to be played.

BOYS BASKETBALL -- Mashpee 66, Cohassett 53
in Mashpee

Senior captain Eric Lopes (25 points, 11 rebounds) led the Falcons (11-1) past the previously undefeated 14th-ranked Skippers (10-1).

Robert Jones started quickly for Cohassett, scoring 11 points in the first quarter and prompting Mashpee coach Matt Veri to use multiple defenses in an effort to slow down the Skipper point guard.

"[Jones] is the MVP of the South Shore League already", Veri said.

To start the second half, the Falcons, trailing by 7, went back to man-to-man defense, with senior Andrew Eubbs guarding Jones -- who would finish with 24 points.

Junior guard Zach Orcutt (14 points) and senior forward Zach Daukse (10 rebounds, two blocks) also had strong showings for the Falcons, who have won seven straight games and are primed for a rematch with Rockland (11-1) next Tuesday with first place in the South Shore League up for grabs. Rockland defeated Mashpee earlier this season, 58-41.

BOYS BASKETBALL -- Fairhaven 56, Old Rochester 54
in Mattapoisett

Senior forward Adam Mullen (20 points) hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to give the Blue Devils the stunning win over Old Rochester. Junior guard Billy Lessa was the leading Devils' leading scorer with 27 points.

BOYS BASKETBALL -- Everett 69, Somerville 68 (OT)
in Everett

Junior forward Alain Jeanty (20 points) hit a free throw with 2 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Crimson Tide (7-1) over the Highlanders (7-2) in a Greater Boston League showdown. Everett 6-foot-5-inch senior captain Erno Deshommes led all scorers with 22 points.

GIRLS BASKETBALL -- Bishop Stang 51, Martha's Vineyard 48 (2OT)
in North Dartmouth

Junior forward Carly Tripp scored a team-high 21 points, including 6 points in the second overtime, for the Spartans. Four of those points came on back-to-back possessions where Tripp came up with steals, going coast-to-coast on each to give the Spartans a 4-point lead.

"This was [Tripp's] best overall game of her career," coach Eric LeVie said. "She played great 'D' and finished when it counted most."

Senior captain Alyssa Aguiar finished with 20 points.

"Alyssa was our leader, she stepped up tonight, but that's something we expect from our captain," said LeVie.

With the win Bishop Stang improves to 1-2 in the EAC.

Jillian Sadlier had 21 points for the Vineyarders, including a three-pointer at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime.

GIRLS BASKETBALL -- Norwell 68, Harwich 54
in Harwich

Sophomore center Brenna Diggins collected 19 points and 16 rebounds as the No. 15 Clippers (11-0) erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to record their 11th consecutive victory.

According to coach Matt Marani, the rally stemmed from the team's strong effort on defense, especially from Darci Vierra, who drew Jen Gonsalves as her defensive assignment for most of the game. Vierra held the Rough Rider star -- who reached the 1,000-point mark for her career this month -- to just 13 points for the game.

Marani gave much of the credit to Leah Smith. "Leah played the role of Gonsalves in practice all this week, running our defenders all over the place. She only played two or three minutes tonight but she had a much bigger impact on the game than just that.

"As a team we really benefitted from her effort."

Junior forwards Allie Debenedictis (18 points) and Ryanne Williams (17 points, 10 rebounds) had strong efforts for the Clippers as well.

By Ian Tasso, Globe Correspondent

Brian Malger delivered a go-ahead 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining to lift Quincy to a thrilling 63-60 victory over host Whitman-Hanson Tuesday night.

Whitman-Hanson went into the half with a 32-17 lead, but the Presidents ripped off a 17-2 run and completed their comeback in the waning seconds, improving to 7-4 (6-1 Patriot League).

Oliver O’Sullivan had a game-high 20 points for Quincy, and Luke McDonough added 14 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth straight double-double.

Malger finished with 9 points.

By Liz Torres, Globe Correspondent

Zach Hurynowicz and the Burlington boys’ basketball team made their mark Monday toppling Lexington 66-61 for their first victory over their Middlesex League rival in 12 years.

Hurynowicz, a senior guard, hit three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and scored 32 points to become the third player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau, the first Burlington player to do it since the 1980-81 season.

Hurynowicz cracked the mark seven minutes into the first quarter.

‘‘We opened the floor and he penetrated,’’ said Burlington coach Tom Lyons, whose squad improved to 7-4 overall and moved into second place in the league. ‘‘It was a back-and-forth game, but we just made bigger plays and bigger baskets.’’

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

At the start of the season it was the defending state champion Central Catholic Raiders that occupied the No. 1 spot in the state, and there's no doubt that they're primed for another run at the title.

But as the mid-point of the season approaches, it's the No. 1 St. Johns Prep Eagles that have a strangle hold on the competition.

Behind senior guard Pat Connaughton, the Eagles took down No. 3 New Bedford, then-ranked No.10 New Mission and No. 15 BC High. Coach Sean Connoly's crew is averaging 70.7 points per game, and is surrendering just 55.3.

Senior forward Jimmy Zenevitch is leading the way for the No. 2 ranked Raiders, who fell to Andover 55-52 in last month's annual Christmas Tournament.

The Raiders nipped the Golden Warriors earlier this month, winning 64-55, and are fighting for superiority in the Merrimack Valley.

The New Bedford Whalers fall in at No. 3 and are off to a 7-1 start behind senior guard Jules Tavares, who is averaging 19.2 points per game, since starting the season ranked at No. 12.

Tavares erupted for 32 points as the Whalers gave the Eagles a scare in late December, but they came up short and lost 81-77.

No. 4 Lynn English has proved its dominance in the Northeastern Conference so far, defeating opponents by an average of 17 points per game.

Andover established some credibility since knocking off then top-ranked Raiders in the Christmas Tournament, and senior guard Joe Bramanti and the No. 5 Golden Warriors look to make some noise in the MVC.

Sitting at No. 6 is Acton-Boxborough and senior guard Wes Schroll is leading the Colonials, scoring 16.8 points per game.

The Cambridge Falcons, after starting the season at No. 15, swoop in at No. 7 atop the Greater Boston League. Jacquil Taylor, the Falcons 6-foot-11 inch center, is averaging 13 points per game.

Sophomore guard Jared Terrell and the No. 8 Weymouth Wildcats were unranked at the start of the season, and have made some noise in the Bay State Conference since upending then No. 2 Newton North this month.

Terrell, who electrifies the crowd when he slams home thunderous dunks, is averaging 16.7 points per game.

No. 9 Franklin, which also started the season unranked, is emerging as the top-gun in the Hockomock league.

With big wins over King Phillip, No. 10 Charlestown and East Boston, the Panthers have the potential to take a shot at the Division 2 title.

Charlestown rounds out the Top 10 and the Townies are 8-1 since starting the season unranked.

The Townies took down No. 15 BC High 65-55 in early December.

--

Click here for the full list of our boys basketball Top 20.

By Bryan Dorval, Globe Correspondent

Down by 2 points with 12 seconds left, Jake Layman stepped to the foul line for King Philip. Jake had been playing some of his best basketball all week and this was no different, he was ready for this situation. The first shot went down easy, nothing but net. Taking a deep breath Layman put up the second shot. What happened next would seem to be in slow motion to all in attendance. The ball bounced off the rim right into the waiting hands of the Warriors' Tim Sheehan.

Sheehan took the rebound and scored the winning basket to lift King Philip to a 72-71 victory over Canton.

Bolstered by the outstanding performance of Layman's 39 points, 18 boards and 5 blocks, King Philip had dominated the entire game. It led by 13 at half and increased that lead to 19 points. Then Canton switched up its defense, fouling King Philip and forcing it to the line. The new strategy worked, King Philip went 16 for 31 at the line, opening the door for Canton and allowing the Bulldogs to close the gap. “They got us out of our comfort zone,” said coach Sean Mcguinness.

Despite the hard effort of the Layman-led Warriors, Canton was able to come back and even take the lead. With 12 seconds left Layman was forced to the foul line. Layman has averaged more than 20 points a game this season, and had scored 70 points in the last two games.

By Lorenzo Recupero, Globe Correspondent

The Cohasset Skippers (9-0,7-0) are in the midst of one of their best seasons. According to third year coach Bo Ruggiero, the Skippers' 74-62 victory over South Shore rival Abington Friday night was the first since 1997. The Abington Green Wave had the Skippers' number on speed dial for the previous 26 consecutive games.

Ruggiero dubbed it a " historic victory" not just for his team but the school as a whole.
Senior guard Robert Jones spearheaded the charge with a game-high 30 points, including a crucial 11-12 clutch performance from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. Shane Haggerty and Sam Robinson combined 28 points in the win.

Calvin Seng sank a buzzer-beater that clinched Greater Lowell's third win of the season last night against Commonwealth Large opponent Lynn Tech, 75-74. The host Gryphons (3-6, 2-3) took down the Tigers (6-4, 3-2) for the first time in four years after losing to them most recently, 75-54, in the season opener Dec. 14.

The Gryphons took their first lead with less than two minutes remaining in the contest. Lynn Tech led, 23-12, in the first quarter, 42-33, at halftime and 58-52 after three.

First-year Greater Lowell head coach Joe Kane thinks that the win came down to the fourth quarter when Seng scored 8 of his 12 points and the team stepped up on defense. "Seng stole the show in the fourth quarter," Kane said. "He's a starter and he just got going and wanted to win."

The junior guard also had 5 of the team's 13 steals, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Teammate Dominic Dar scored a game-high 28 points, but Kane credits Seng with taking over the show during crunch time. Dar was held to 5 points in the final quarter. Greater Lowell outscored Lynn Tech, 23-17, in the fourth quarter.

Kane hopes that a takedown of the No. 2 team in his conference will be a catalyst for the team to progress. "The win just means we’re hopefully going to go on a roll," Kane said. "The kids are playing harder in practice and realizing that they can compete in the league."

Greater Lowell travels to Ashland Tuesday for a 4:45 nonleague game.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

NEWTON -- All eyes were on Newton North junior guard Michael Thorpe, but it was Weymouth's Jared Terrell who stole the show.

The 6-foot-2-inch sophomore guard scored eight points and recorded four steals in the fourth quarter to steer the No. 15 Wildcats to a 56-51 win over the No. 2 Tigers. Terrell finished with 14 points and five rebounds.

"Jared [Terrell] is just a freakish athlete," Weymouth coach Jim Dolan said after the win. "We needed him to step up, make a couple steals and finish and he did that."

After Newton North's sharp-shooting guard Thorpe went on a 13-point tear in the third quarter, the Tigers carried a slim 36-34 lead into the final frame. Thorpe finished with 24 points on the night to lead all scorers.

Newton North opened the fourth quarter with a free throw by freshman Aaron Falzon, but Weymouth senior guard Jon Perez drained a 3-pointer to tie the game 37-37.

Weymouth responded with an 8-2 run, courtesy of six points by Terrell. The high-flying guard stole an errant pass, dribbled the length of the court and threw down a thunderous dunk. Terrell scored on the Wildcats' next possession before giving the Tigers defense a bad case of deja vu.

Once again, Terrell stepped in the way of a pass, dribbled the length of the court and slammed it home.

"It's a big momentum change," Terrell said. "You gotta anticipate the steals and everything just comes to you."

After Falzon scored and ended the Wildcats run, Newton North pulled within four, trailing 45-41.

But Terrell struck again and stole his fourth pass of the quarter and landed his third dunk.

"Jared Terrell shooting a dunk is a very high percentage shot," Newton North coach Paul Connolly said. "When you give up those little bit of runs in a possession game, those are huge plays."

After Weymouth hit two free throws and Falzon hit a pair of his own, the Tigers trailed 51-48. Newton North junior Luke Westman went to the line, but missed two free throws.

Westman added one more free throw on the next possession, but Wildcat junior Khary Bailey-Smith went to the line and added two for a 53-49 lead.

Tiger senior Avi Adler-Cohen hit a jumper to make it a two point game with 17 seconds left, but Bailey-Smith added another free throw for the 54-51 lead. With the clock winding down, Adler-Cohen missed a 3-pointer and Bailey-Smith iced the game with two more free throws.

The victory was only Dolan's second against Newton North in the past eight years.

"I'm really proud of my kids," he said. "We want to get better everyday and it happened to come against Newton North."

Weymouth improves to 8-0 on the season while Newton North falls to 5-2.

By Zac Vierra, Globe Correspondent

Junior forward Kayla Papazian collected 14 points and 15 rebounds as Archbishop Williams beat No. 10 St. Mary's, 54-53, last night in Braintree, handing the Spartans their first loss of the season.

The No. 15 Bishops got off to a quick start and built an 18-point lead before settling for a 29-14 advantage at halftime.

But the Spartans (9-1) would not go down without a fight. In the fourth quarter they went on a 25-13 run to cut the Bishops lead to 2. Senior center Tori Faieta scored 12 of her 18 points to help lead the comeback.

With six seconds left and the Bishops holding a 52-50 advantage, junior guard Mari Barry got fouled and drained a pair of free throws giving Williams a 4-point cushion, icing the game. Barry went 4 for 4 on free throws in the last minute of the game.

Williams coach Jim Bancroft described the game as a confidence builder for his team. “It was a big win,” he said. “We were lucky to build up a cushion in the first three quarters in order to hold on.”

The win improved the Bishops to 5-1, 3-1 in the Catholic Central League. Sophomore guard Sara Ryan added 12 points in the victory.

Seniors Faieta (18 points) and Cassi Amenta (17 points) led St. Mary’s in the loss. They fell to 3-1 in the Catholic Central.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

LAWRENCE – Central Catholic coach Rick Nault watched eagerly from the sidelines as his team’s offense exploded for 26 points in the fourth quarter of a 64-55 victory over Andover Saturday night.

The No. 4 Raiders improved to 7-1, while the No. 3 Golden Warriors fell to 6-2.

“We pulled away at the end,” Nault said. "We made some plays, some defensive stops and we hit some big buckets when they were scrambling on defense. I think that was the difference.”

 The red-hot Raiders drained four 3-pointers, five field goals and four free throws in the final eight minutes of the game, and scored just 1 fewer point than they did the entire first half.

The victory came just 11 days after the Golden Warriors dethroned the defending state champions, grinding out a 55-52 victory in the annual Christmas Tournament.

“There’s a lot of history between the two schools and it’s been a great rivalry,” Nault said. “There’s not a whole lot that separates these two teams right now and we got [Andover] one more time down the road. We’ll find out in round three who’s on top.”

Throughout the first 24 minutes of play, the two teams fought tooth-and-nail and the Raiders carried a slim 38-36 lead into the final frame.

In the final seconds of the third quarter, emotions escalated as Andover senior guard Joe Bramanti and Central Catholic senior guard Jaycob Morales traded elbows and exchanged words before being separated by the officials and escorted back to their benches.

Raider senior forward Jimmy Zenevitch believed that this was the turning point in the game.

“I just told [my team], ‘I’m more confident than [Andover] and they’re losing their mind,’” Zenevitch said. “When Joe [Bramanti] and Jaycob [Morales] got into that little tussle, that’s when I knew we had them. When Joe loses his mind, his game goes away and that’s when we took over.”

 Morales said the whole thing was more of a miscommunication, rather than an exchange of hard feelings.

“Me and [Joe] are pretty cool and I knew he didn’t mean to swing his elbow,” he said. “We both were swinging them back. I got a lot of respect for him and he has a lot of respect for me, we just got all excited.”

Following the mix-up, Zenevitch sparked a 12-5 Raider run when he drained a 3-pointer and a field goal after an early Andover score. Zenevitch finished with 18 points and five rebounds.

Holding onto a 50-43 lead with three minutes to go, the Raiders expanded their lead to 10 when junior guard Luis Puello hit a 3-pointer that electrified the sell-out crowd.

“The crowd's our emotion – point and factor,” Zenevitch said. “When they come out like they did tonight, I don’t know if there’s anywhere else like this to be honest.”

After Puello’s shot, the teams traded baskets before Andover sophomore Sam Dowden hit a free throw and Bramanti converted an and-one to cut the deficit to 6.

But before they could get any closer, freshman guard Tyler Nelson hit the Raiders' fourth 3-pointer of the quarter and gave his team a 58-49 lead with just over a minute to play.

“[Nelson] is our second leading scorer and he has a ton of confidence in himself,” Nault said. “And for him to get a open look, that was the straw that broke the camel's back.”

Despite Andover scoring 6 points in the final minute, Morales added four free throws and sophomore forward Joel Berroa scored a wide-open layup to ice the game.

Throughout the contest, Berroa used his 6-foot-3-inch frame to assert himself in the paint and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

“My team always told me to try my best and get in there and keep on fighting,” he said. “I was just playing my game and I was just getting my rebounds and doing the best I can.”

Berroa and the Raiders outrebounded the Warriors 38-31, and Andover coach Dave Fazio said that made all the difference in the outcome.

“We gave up about 20 defensive rebounds and that’s our biggest deficiency,” Fazio said. “Until we figure that piece out, we're going to lose those tough games. They made some big shots, but at the end of the day, they got so many extra shots.”
 
 

By Anthony Guliza, Globe Correspondent

FRANKLIN -- The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association's basketball committee today discussed the possibility of adding a Super Eight-style postseason tournament, but the idea won't be revisited until April.

The event would follow the format used in ice hockey. The top eight teams in the state would be invited, and if teams chose to compete, they could not compete in their respective state tournaments.

“We would take the best teams, and put them in a double-elimination tournament,” MIAA assistant director Tony Romano said after the meeting. “Conceivably, you can be a Division 2 school that has such outstanding talent that they might consider for the tournament. This is the first time that the committee has introduced this and it’s not going to have any real discussion until the April meeting.”

Romano added that there are several obstacles.

“You have to have structure - you have to have some sort of recommendation process,” Romano said. "There’s a lot of work to be done before we could even crystallize what it might look like.”

Methuen Athletic Director Jim Weymouth said that he would like to see a Super Eight format.

"I think it’s a good idea, I like the way hockey does it," he said. "It gives some of elite teams the opportunity to play better competition right away, rather than going through first round games which are often lopsided.

"It’s going to take some time to develop a system that works and each year the teams can change. You might need a few more teams than hockey, but I like the idea."

The MIAA also explored the possibility of expanding the Division 4 boys and girls tournament to include central and western Massachusetts schools.

The matter will be discussed further at the statewide Division 4 alignment sub-committee meeting Jan. 18.

‘‘We’re looking to explore whether there is a feasibility that we could do this doing this state wide,” Romano said after the meeting. “And we’re looking to explore this because we’re getting some interest from the smaller schools in central and western Mass. When they advance in the tournament, they end up going against larger schools.”

Last night saw a quartet of basketball players eclipse the 1,000-point mark for their careers.

Watertown improved to 6-0 behind the play of sharpshooting guard Marco Coppola. Coppola, a senior, poured in 24 points to go over the 1,000-point mark in the Warriors' 55-49 victory over Woburn.

"Marco is a leader, he brings toughness to the court and has the will to win," said Watertown coach Steve Harrington.

Gloucester's Adam Philpott also reached the 1,000-point plateau.

Heading into the Fishermen's gave vs. Danvers, the senior needed 27 points to reach 1,000. He scored 28 in his team's 70-46 victory.

Harwich junior Jen Gonsalves didn't waste any time, scoring 16 points in the first quarter against Mashpee to reach 1,000 for her career.

Gonsalves is the sixth Rough Rider to reach the 1,000-point mark and fastest in the programs' history.

In the 70-47 victory, she had 18 points, 10 assists, and 9 steals, despite sitting out the second half..

Revere senior forward Morgan Jenkins topped the 1,000-point mark with a 20-point, 15-rebound performance in a 76-36 victory over Peabody.

By Ayoub Kourikchi, Globe Correspondent

The Braintree boys’ basketball team won the John Adams Tournament consolation game 61-57 in overtime against Quincy.

Braintree led throughout the first half and was up 32-20 by halftime.

Quincy came back and tied it at 37 by the end of the third quarter.

With 30 seconds left in regulation, guard Pat Ellis scored a layup following a steal. During the play, he was grabbed by the waist and intentionally fouled, and he then made two free throws to tie the score, 54-54.

During overtime, the big basket of the game came with about 40 seconds left. Sophomore Steve Lee's jump shot put Braintree up by two, and he was fouled on an ensuing play and made one of two free throws.

“We had a big lead and we hung in there,” said Braintree coach Bob Crook. “Everyone contributed, even though they might have not played. It was a good team win.”

Senior Cam Hooper led Braintree with 20 points and was named to the all-tournament team. He averaged 15.5 points throughout the tournament.

Braintree lost to North Quincy 61-52 in the semifinals.

“This morning we practiced and talked about playing together as a team,” said Crook. “We talked about being a good teammate and supporting each other no matter what is happening and to stay enthusiastic. They all played with more passion and enthusiasm.”

By Liz Torres, Globe Correspondent

Wilmington won its second consecutive William Larry McGrath Christmas Tournament last night with a 69-41 win over Tewksbury, led by two-time tournament MVP junior guard Timmy McCarthy’s game-high 22 points.

“He struggled at times, but this year, in my opinion, he’s as good as anyone in the Cape Ann League and the entire north area,” said Wilmington coach Joe Maiella.

After a slow buildup that put Wilmington in front 28-19 at halftime, Wilmington (4-1) surged in the third quarter behind five 3-pointers from McCarthy to take a 56-30 lead. Senior center Derek O’Dea added nine rebounds and junior forward Cole Peffer had 14 points. Peffer was also named the all-tournament team.

Junior guard Vinny Scifo returned from an ankle injury and scored two points.

“We didn’t have him tonight and were definitely at a disadvantage. I mean he played, but he wasn’t himself,” said Maiella. “But having him out there still forced Tewksbury to cover him and give McCarthy open jump shots."

Scifo and McCarthy average 16 points per game.

“Both can shoot 3-pointers and can get to the rim and are very unselfish. To have two kids averaging 16 points a game shows how unselfish they are,” said Maiella.

Maiella said Wilmington has been led by seniors Chris Frissore, Nick Godzyk and O’Dea.

“The three are all fantastic and they know their job and role and play tough defense and scoring as well,” he said. “This season we’re a year older and are trying to get better every single day and hope in the end to contend with Andover and Masconomet.”

By Ayoub Kourikchi, Globe Correspondent

In a thrilling double overtime performance, Apponequet's boys basketball team edged South Coast conference rival Dighton-Rehoboth 81-73.

“It was a total team effort," said Apponequet head coach Jim Cabucio. "There was balanced scoring from both teams and we did a great job keeping our composure."

Both teams were tied at half 28-28, with Apponequet leading after three quarters by two, 46-44.

However, Apponequet found itself down by five in the fourth quarter with 1:39 left in the game. Junior guard Tyler DiMelo buried a 3-pointer to bring the Lakers within two. With nine seconds on the clock, 6-3 senior forward Matt Japelonski scored in the post to tie the game.

Dighton-Rehoboth’s Austin Fiero, who finished with 29 points on the night, forced the second overtime with a 3-pointer to tie the game as time expired.

Apponequet junior guard Eric Couto rose to the occasion during the second overtime with four key points. He finished with a team-high 22 points. The Lakers had eight points in double overtime.

“We played hard man-to-man defense," Cabucio said. "We were getting defensive rebounds and were able to convert some baskets.”

Apponequet benefited from balanced scoring, with point guard Matt Schell contributing 13 points and six assists.

“He was very instrumental," Cabucio said. "He hit two threes and hit key free-throws and did a great job running the offense.”

Center Jordan Goetz, a 6-6 junior, recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Apponequet moves to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in South Coast conference.

The first round of the Greater Lawrence Christmas Tournament may undoubtedly be the best Tuesday night when No. 1 girls basketball team Andover faces off with rival No. 2 Central Catholic at Methuen.

The game between the undefeated squads is slated for 7:30 p.m.

Andover (4-0) coach Jim Tildsley is looking forward to the first of what should be four meetings between the team's this season. Andover and Central Catholic will play once in the tournament, twice in the regular season as Merrimack Valley competitors and then will likely meet again in the playoffs, according to the 16-year veteran coach.

"We're always excited to play Central [Catholic]," Tildsley said. "It's a great rivalry. We've got a lot of respect for each others' programs."

Despite his excitement for the game, Tildsley is also wary of the Katie Zenevitch-less team. The Raiders have four freshmen on varsity for the first time since coach Sue Downer took over the program 15 years ago.

Tildsley's biggest concern is that Central Catholic has begun to perfect their inside game, a different strategy than in last year's contests where the ball was constantly kicked out to Zenevitch on the perimeter for the easy score.

Downer is confident that with evenly dispersed shooting, Central will have an edge over the competition.

"This year, we’re kind of a different team," Downer said. "We have lots of kids with double figures in games. In terms of a scouting standpoint, there’s a plethora of kids that can put the ball in the basket."

Watch out for Andover junior guard Nicole Boudreau who notched her 1,000th career point last week against Methuen. The Boston College bound Super Teamer and All Scholastic dropped 21 points in the game.

In addition to our high school basketball previews, we also dropped our high school basketball Top 20s on Friday, leading with Central Catholic as the Globe's No. 1 boys team and Andover sitting atop the girls basketball rankings.

St. John's Prep's boys basketball team is our No. 2 team. While Newton North, Andover and Mansfield round out the boys' top five.

Central Catholic's girls basketball team remains No. 2 in the Globe rankings after last season's runnerup finish. They're followed by Mansfield, Wellesley and Durfee in the top five.

For all of the Globe's rankings, visit our Top 20s page.

We published our high school basketball previews Friday on Boston.com. Here are summaries with links to each of the previews.

Division 1 boys basketball
Central Catholic is looking to capture its third Division 1 state championship in four years. Despite losing 6-foot-11-inch center Carson Desrosiers, who hit the game-winning shot with five seconds left in the Raiders' 56-55 victory over St. John’s (S) in last year’s finale, coach Rick Nault has three returning starters. “This is the most talented, athletic group we’ve ever had,’’ he said. Read more.

Division 1 girls basketball
After Andover electrified crowds from the TD Garden to the DCU Center in the final days of the 2009-2010 season, the defending Division 1 champion is looking for a repeat of a phenomenal year. The Golden Warriors have jumped out to a 4-0 start this season, but they’ll have to get through competitors like Merrimack Valley rival Central Catholic and South powerhouses Mansfield, Newton North, and New Bedford before they can celebrate again in March. Read more.

Division 2 boys basketball
Andre King and Kamali Bey averaged a combined 55 points a game last year and helped lead Sabis International Charter School to the Division 2 state championship. But this season they’re both gone – King graduated, Bay transferred – and coach Jim Mack is left trying to reinvent his team’s identity. “It’s just not going to be the same scoring,’’ Mack said. “We’ve got to be more disciplined both offensively and defensively.” Read more.

Division 2 girls basketball
With the departure of Lauren Batista from Oliver Ames, Alexis Peters from Fontbonne and Hannah Brickley from Melrose, last years’ top three teams from Eastern Mass. are all doing some rebuilding. Reading, Scituate, Foxboro and Bishop Feehan are all in the running for bragging rights this season. Read more.

Division 3-4 boys basketball
Wareham is entering the season hoping to defend its Division 3 state title; of course, the Vikings know that “defending’’ is a strong word. The Vikings lost seven of their top eight players and three 1,000 point scorers, including current New Bedford-standout Jules Tavares. They expect to get offense from senior forward Juwaun Gamble, who poured in 16 in a recent win over dangerous Martha’s Vineyard. Coach Kevin Brogioli hopes the changes on the back of the jerseys will make the bulls-eye on the front that much smaller. Read more.

Division 3-4 girls basketball
The adage that defense wins championships couldn’t ring more true for the top girls’ basketball teams in Divisions 3 and 4. With the constant shuffling of lineups because of graduating seniors and transfers, teams always start with the basics. A successful season starts with a strong defense. “It’s easier to gel on defense,” Manchester-Essex coach Lauren DuBois said. “You look for certain people to score on offense, but everyone has to play defense. So you get experience there.” Read more.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

Free throws win games. So do full-court layups with two seconds left on the clock.

Weston sophomore Bianca Brueckner raced up the court off an inbounds pass and scored the game-winning layup with two second left to give the Wildcats a 41-40 victory over the Waltham girls basketball team. Waltham fouled Weston an astounding 36 times, giving the Wildcats 55 attempts from the charity stripe.

Weston could have won the game by 34 points ... that is, if they hit their free throws. Linda Martindale's squad shot 38 percent (21-of-55) from the line.

By Seth Lakso, Globe Correspondent

The Scituate girls basketball team ended defending Division 2 state champion Oliver Ames' 25-game winning streak with a 46-42 victory in its season opener.

With four minutes remaining and Oliver Ames up four, the Sailor defense forced a jump ball. The possession arrow, and the momentum, favored Scituate. Kelly Martin slashed to the basket and cut the Tiger lead to two.

“We had the momentum early”, said Scituate coach Bryan Buckley “but we lost it in the third quarter and the first part of the fourth, but with that series of plays you could just feel us getting it back.”

Martin and Megan Otto, both guards, scored on the next two possessions to put Scituate up two.

With five seconds remaining and Scituate's shot-clock down to one second, junior Katie Lemire scored her first points, a jumper as the buzzer sounded that ended Oliver Ames' comeback chance.

“[Lemire] played great defense all game night, but she sure picked a great time hit that shot,” said Buckley. “She really proved her worth today.”

Martin and Otto combined for 11 of Scituate’s 14 points in the fourth.

Scituate outscored Oliver Ames 26-17 in the first half, but in the third quarter, Oliver Ames found its rhythm and finished the period up one.

The loss Oliver Ames' first since falling to Foxborough 49-45 in the season opener last season.

Caitlyn Abela led Oliver Ames with 14 points, and Scituate managed to keep Nicole Bostic, the only returning starter from last year's team, in check. She finished with five points, all in the second half.

Even though Oliver Ames lost its all-time leading scorer and Gatorade Player of the year in Lauren Batista, it returned six players, including Bostic, who was second on the team in scoring last season.

“[The win] is a huge confidence boost. We’ve had some success before, but to beat a team like O-A after giving up the lead in the third like we did, was great. We now know we can play with anyone,” Buckley said.

By Seth Lakso, Globe Correspondent

Last night, Nicole Boudreau became the fastest player in Andover girls basketball history to reach the 1,000 point plateau, doing so in just 52 games. Boudreau, who was a member of the All-Scholastic super team as a sophomore, led the led the Golden Warriors to an 80-51 win in Methuen. She scored 21 points, had 10 steals and dished out 8 assists.

Just 40 seconds into the fourth quarter, Boudreau reached 1,000 points and the game was stopped as the entire Golden Warrior team surrounded their captain and presented her with flowers.

“She’s really put a lot into basketball,” said Andover coach Jim Tildsley “She gave up golf in the fall, where she was a one handy-cap playing on the boys’ team and has focused herself on the game and you can see it paying off.”

For the season, Boudreau is averaging 22.5 points per game and has led the Golden Warriors to a perfect 3-0 start and 16 wins in a row dating back to last season. Since Boudreau’s first game as a freshman the Golden Warriors have gone 46-8.

“Everyone used to think she was a three-point shooter, but now she’s got that mid range jumper and can drive to the hoop as good as anyone” said Tildsley.

Boston College has already taken interest in the junior, offering her a full scholarship to play at the Chestnut Hill campus after her senior season at Andover. Boudreau also has offers from Quinnipiac and Villanova.

The 5-foot-10 Merrimack Valley All-Conference player has averaged 19.2 points per game since dawning her varsity uniform three years ago and helped lead the team to the Division 1 state title last season.

If Boudreau can stay healthy she’s a lock to surpass Charlotte Muller’s scoring record at Andover high and has a chance at the school’s all-time mark set by Chris Vetrano in 2003-2004 of 2,090 points.

By Liz Torres, Globe Correspondent

Trinity Catholic's Taina Malary came just short of her own state record of rebounds in a single game (40) with 36 in her team's season-opener, a 54-30 win over Nazareth.

"We can compete with anybody as long as she's on the floor," said Falcons coach Peter Scafidi.

The senior captain carried her team with 12 blocks, 10 points, seven assists, and six steals. The two-year varsity starter’s rebound stats tied for the eighth highest total in the country, according to Scafidi.

"She wants the ball more than anyone else. She will block a shot and grab the rebound herself just like Bill Russell," Scafidi said. "She has great timing, waits for ball to be released by the shooter, taps it, and grabs it herself and bang."

The 5-9 center has 830 career rebounds with a concrete chance of approaching 1000, said Scafidi.

Malary led the Falcons to a 10-10 finish last year, averaging 23.7 rebounds per game en route to Trinity Catholic's first appearance in the state tournament after an eight-year gap.

"She's not the biggest kid, but she wants the ball more than anyone else on the court," Scafidi said. “We don’t win a game without her.”

Rivers' Clare Sullivan has signed a letter of intent to play for Holy Cross' women's basketball team next year, the school said in press release.

Sullivan, a 6-3 forward, is a native of Belmont. She averaged 14 points per game and 8 rebounds as a junior for the Weston school. She was named to the ISL all-star team for the last two seasons.

"Clare is a prototypical low post presence who can catch and score with both hands on the block," said Holy Cross coach Bill Gibbons. "She is fundamentally sound and is a tremendous shot blocker."

Holy Cross also announced the signing of two other girls, Ashley Cooper (Rumson, N.J.) and Emily Parker (Johnston, Iowa).

Girls basketball star Khadijah Ellison reacts as she signs her national letter of intent to play for Mississippi State at Burke high school in Dorchester. Also seen are Ellison's mother Diane Eilison, left, and brother Jamal Elison, 19. (Josh Reynolds / For the Globe)

By Emily Wright, Globe Correspondent

With her effervescent personality permeating a classroom at Jeremiah E. Burke High School, 18 year-old Khadijah Ellison took in the crowd assembled before her and joked that she had forgotten her contract to play Mississippi State basketball at home.

After finding a pen and settling into her seat surrounded by friends and family, the honor-roll student and life-long athlete signed on to play as a Bulldog at 3:20 p.m.

Ellison, who stands 5-7, visited and strongly considered Temple before making her decision, but said she fell in love with Mississippi State.

“I liked the girls. I talked to the players to see how things were [at Mississippi State],” Ellison said of her visit. “I love everything about it.”

Mississippi State is an NCAA Division I program and a member of the Southeastern Conference. The Bulldogs posted a 21-12 record last year and made it to the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament before losing to Florida State, 74-71.

Burke coach John Rice believes that Ellison’s combination of talent and intelligence will take her far.

“She just has a God-given ability,” Rice said. “Many players and student athletes have the talent but they’re missing the academics, or some have the academics but they’re missing the talent. This kid has the talent and she’s gotten it done in the classroom.”

Rice knows that Ellison has what it takes to continue striving in college.

“She’s not facing the New Missions and the Dorchester Highs anymore, she’s going into the Georgias and the Kentuckys,” Rice said. “She’s ready for it. She’s not intimidated. She’s not fearful of it.”

Mark Leszczyk is the coach of Roxbury Community College women’s basketball team and has worked closely with Ellison at the Reggie Lewis Center over the past four years. He also credits her “God-given” talents as an invaluable asset.

“The best thing about [Ellison] is that she's not afraid to share the basketball with her teammates,” Leszczyk said. “Actually, I think the glory kind of scares her. She doesn't like to be in the spotlight. She just wants to be part of the team and that's what makes her so special.”

Ellison, whose athletic endeavors started on the Pop Warner football fields at a young age, didn’t realize her potential as a basketball player until she started high school.

“When I first heard [people talking about me], I was like ‘okay, so, what’s next on our agenda’,” Ellison said. “You know, I never really paid attention to [what people said].”

Johnna Fisher, a 6-foot-3-inch senior center for the Winthrop girls basketball team, has signed a letter of intent to attend Division 1 Central Connecticut State University. In another signing announced yesterday, Billerica lacrosse star Grant Whiteway has signed to attend UMass-Amherst.

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If you're a coach or athletic director and your student-athlete has committed to play sports in college, shoot us an e-mail at hssports@globe.com.

St. Mary's girls basketball player Tori Faieta will sign a letter of intent for a full scholarship to play for Stonehill College, according to a press release from St. Mary's.

Faieta, who is hearing impaired, led St. Mary's to a 17-7 record last season. She'll sign her letter of intent 3 p.m. Monday at St. Mary's.

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If you're a coach or athletic director and your student-athlete has committed to play sports in college, shoot us an e-mail at hssports@globe.com.

Khadijah Ellison, who averaged 25 points for Burke's girls basketball team in the Boston City South League, has committed to play for Mississippi State next season, said Bulldogs coach John Rice.

She'll be signing her letter of intent at 3 p.m. Monday at Burke high school.

Ellison led Burke to a 14-5 season, scoring 30 points in a season-ending loss to Ashland in the Division 3 South quarterfinals. She had made a verbal commitment to Boston College in her sophomore season.

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If you're a coach or athletic director and your student-athlete has committed to play sports in college, shoot us an e-mail at hssports@globe.com.

By Liz Torres, Globe Correspondent

It looks like Boston College will be welcoming Andover's 5'10" junior guard Nicole Boudreau in the fall of 2012, according to confirmed reports from coach Jim Tildsley. Boudreau committed to the Division 1 program earlier this week.

The Globe All-Scholastic racked up a team-high 19.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game last season to pilot her team to a Merrimack Valley championship and Division 1 state title.

Just days after learning he would be replaced as Somerville’s girls’ basketball coach, Brian Harris wants an apology from the school he coached at for 18 years.

Saying he hoped to ‘‘assist somewhere,’’ this winter, Harris, 55, also was clear something had to happen first. ‘‘Not until Somerville apologizes to me for calling me a bully.’’

Somerville named former Wheelock and Simmons coach Shannon Clark as new girls’ varsity basketball coach Monday. Harris was told his style of coaching was confrontational and hostile and now he feels Somerville is standing in the way of his getting another job. He feels that when asked about his coaching career and why he was removed from his position, Somerville officials will say no comment.

‘‘That’s haunting me,’’ said Harris, who won 260 games at Somerville including a 14-7 mark last winter. ‘‘They’re almost blackballing me for any jobs that come out.’’

Harris has spoken with attorneys but no one representing him has contacted Somerville officials yet.

By Emily Wright, Globe Correspondent

St. John’s Prep’s Pat Connaughton committed to Notre Dame yesterday afternoon. The two-sport athlete will be receiving a scholarship for basketball but will also play baseball.

The senior averaged 24 points and 17 rebounds per game in the 2009-2010 basketball season and considered Boston college and UCLA as well before making his decision.

“I enjoyed my visit [to Notre Dame]. My visit really made me make the decision,” Connaughton said. “And making the decision was tough. I had no idea where I was going to go until last night.”

Connaughton is “really excited” to play for the Fighting Irish and said that he’s used to playing two sports.

“That’s what I’m doing now."

Domonique Bull, a Worcester native, has committed to play for the University of Rhode Island after getting offers from Virginia Tech, Miami and Washington.

Bull is a 6-foot-3 combo guard that plays at Tilton High School in New Hampshire. But Eastern Mass residents may know him better from his time as a starter on the BABC 16-under AAU National Championship team. Bull graduates from Tilton in 2012.

Longtime Somerville girls’ basketball coach Brian Harris’ fight to keep his job is still alive after the school offered the job to another candidate and was declined. As a result, Harris gets to try again ... if he wants to.

After a process that included interviewing with a community committee, the athletic director, the headmaster, and the superintendent, it came down to a brief conversation.
‘‘Today in a 10-second conversation she [AD Nicole Viele] said out of that process we identified one qualified candidate. He was offered the position and he declined.’’

That candidate according to Harris was Jeff LaCure, who was girls' basketball coach at Notre Dame of Worcester last winter.

‘‘He (superintendent Tony Pierantozzi) said to me he had some questions regarding my internal policing controls, I think is how he described it.’’

But Harris said it was the headmaster’s decision as communicated by Viele. Harris plans to speak to friends today to figure out if we wants to reapply for the position he's held for the past 18 years. Somerville won the Greater Boston League title the last three years and has made the tournament 16 out of his 18 seasons.

In this 2008 file photo, New Mission basketball coach Cory McCarthy, center, spoke to his team before a game against Brighton High School. McCarthy is going to be honored with the Bob Hurley Sr. Excellence in Coaching award. (Globe file)

In an event sponsored by Reebok, New Mission boys basketball coach Cory McCarthy will be awarded the first annual Bob Hurley Sr. Excellence in Coaching award Thursday in Canton by the famed high school basketball coach himself.

McCarthy led the Titans to the Division 4 state title with a 75-47 win over Cathedral at TD Garden. His team finished 23-1 on the season. McCarthy also coached the New Mission girls basketball to a state championship title in 2007.

The award comes in the mix of coach Hurley being honored with a lifetime achievement award by Reebok. Hurley, the long-time coach of the St. Anthony High School boys basketball team in Jersey City, N.J., will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this year. He compiled a 957-106 career record and is only the third high school coach to be inducted into the hall of fame.

The MIAA announced this morning that it has rescinded the remaining portion of the punishment handed out to Lynn English boys' basketball coach Buzzy Barton for his role in the recruiting of an East Boston basketball player.

Barton was scheduled to miss the first 10 games of the upcoming season but that part of his punishment, which included not being allowed to coach in last winter's MIAA tournament, was rescinded by a sub-committee of the Board of Directors.

"That's great ... awesome news,'' said English athletic director Gary Molea. "We took our hits last winter and our kids deserved this. Now we can move on and start with a clean slate."

Wellesley High School announced the hiring of Glen Magpiong as the school's new head boy's basketball coach.

Magpiong has been part of the Wellesley basketball staff since 2004 as both a varsity assistant coach and freshmen coach. Prior to coming to Wellesley High, he was the head girls' varsity basketball coach at Acalanes High School in Lafayette, California. Under his direction Acalanes won the North Coast California State Championship. He has also been an active AAU Coach with the Bay State Jaguars since 2003.

Lawrence Academy guard Denzel Brito just gave his verbal commitment to Loyola University Chicago head coach Jim Whitesell a few minutes ago, according to his coaches at the Groton-based prep school.

The 6-foot-1-inch shooting guard chose a scholarship offer from the Horizon League school over interest from a number of other mid-majors, among them Hofstra, New Hampshire and Florida Atlantic. Interestingly enough, he turned down a football scholarship offer from UConn because he wanted to play basketball in college.

Brito was one several Spartans to win ISL and NEPSAC championships in both football and basketball.

A who's who of prominent coaches is expected at the New England Basketball Coaches Clinic last this month, to be held at Springfield Central High School.

Former New Jersey Nets coach Lawrence Frank will be speaking, along with big names such as Kansas' Bill Self and Indiana's Tom Crean. Local coaches like Derek Kellogg (UMass), Steve Donahue (Boston College) and former Celtics interim coach John Carroll are all expected to speak, as well as Wagner head coach Danny Hurley.

For more information, click here.

St. Mark's senior forward Melsahn Basabe announced on his Twitter account over the weekend that he will indeed be  following Fran McCaffery to the University of Iowa.

"It's official -- I'm an Iowa Hawkeye now," said the 6 foot 7 swingman, who averaged nearly a double-double (13 points, nine rebounds) for the NEPSAC Class C runner-up Lions this past season.

Basabe, a Long Island native, initially committed last year to Siena, coached then by McCaffery. When McCaffery accepted the head job at Iowa last month, Basabe agreed to listen to new head coach Mitch Buonagaro's pitch before asking for a release from his National Letter of Intent. Current NCAA rules don't allow a player to back out of his or her letter of intent unless the school allows, however most schools will agree to release them if they ask.

The athletic swingman then visited Iowa City two weekends ago, before making up his mind this weekend. In McCaffery's uptempo style, Basabe figures to be an immediate contributor.

To clear up some confusion here...

Various news outlets reported today that Lawrence Academy point guard Shabazz Napier, who committed to UConn last month, will be signing his National Letter of Intent tomorrow. However, the school's communications department confirmed today that he officially signed the letter yesterday and faxed it over to the Storrs, Ct. campus.

So tomorrow's Letter of Intent signing is more of an informal yet ceremonious procedure, to be done back in his hometown of Boston in front of friends and family. Napier, a Roxbury resident who turns 19 in June, spent three years at Charlestown High before transferring to the Groton campus two years ago and re-classifying as a sophomore. He is re-classifying again to the Class of 2010 so he can enroll at UConn in the fall; he has already met minimum academic qualifications by the NCAA standards.

Central Catholic head coach Rick Nault confirmed this evening that his star center, the 6 foot 11 Wake Forest-bound Carson Desrosiers, will stick to his commitment and not ask for a release from his National Letter of Intent.

Desrosiers, a two-time Globe Super Teamer who was last seen leading the Raiders to a Division 1 state title last month, signed with the Deacons in November of last year. But when head coach Dino Gaudio was abruptly relieved of his duties two weeks ago, there was speculation that Desrosiers would ask for a release from his letter of intent. Current NCAA rules state that a school does not have to release a player from his or her scholarship if there is a coaching change, but many schools will agree to a release if the player requests for one.

Former Nuggets head coach Jeff Bzdelik was hired at Wake last Wednesday and flew down this morning to meet Desrosiers in his Windham, N.H., home and make his pitch. Nault said Desrosiers "really liked what he had to say."

Desrosiers, currently ranked in the Top 75 nationally for the Class of 2010 by ESPN, leaves Central Catholic as one of the most decorated players in program history. The Raiders won two state titles over the last three seasons. thanks in no small part to the sharp-shooting big man who averaged 16.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, 6.5 blocks, 4.5 assists and 42.1 percent from three-point range.

Wake Forest head coach Dino Gaudio was fired yesterday after a disappointing season. For one of its local commits, Central Catholic forward/center Carson Desrosiers, the news comes as a surprise.

Mass Rivals AAU coach Vin Pastore was with the 6-foot-11 big man when the rumors first hit the blogosphere at 3 p.m. yesterday, and says the two-time state champion and Globe All-Scholastic was in "shock".

"I think that's the word he'd use," Pastore said. "You've won an NCAA tournament game, that makes you one of the top 32 teams in the country. I think shocked is the right word."

As for the near future, Pastore and Central Catholic head coach Rick Nault both confirmed that Desrosiers will sit on this one and think about it over the weekend. Pastore also confirmed that Wake Forest interim head coach Jeff Battle has contacted both Desrosiers and his family to explain the situation.

New NCAA rules state that even under a coaching change, a player can only be released from his or her National Letter of Intent if the school permits (a.k.a. "The Calipari Rule"). Generally in these situations, though, most schools will grant a release if the player requests it.

"Division 1 schools are not required to release a player, but it is common practice that most schools do a release," Nault said in an email this afternoon. "We will give this some time before any decisions are made."

That leaves Desrosiers -- who averaged 16.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, 6.5 blocks and 4.5 assists for the Division 1 state champ Raiders this season -- with three options:

1) Hold on to the scholarship.
2) Ask for a release from the scholarship, and hope the school grants it.
3) Take a step back, do a post-graduate year at a prep school, and avoid any penalty.

Given the immediate attention from a slew of big-time programs in the last 24 hours, the third option seems highly unlikely. Because of his NLI, Desrosiers is not allowed to have any direct contact from coaches not affiliated with Wake.

So in the meantime, Nault's phone is blowing up -- yesterday alone, he had 32 voicemails from coaches in the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and SEC -- as is Pastore's -- so far today he's fielded calls from Georgia Tech, Marquette, Providence, Arizona, Indiana and UCLA.

All the while, Desrosiers' stock has taken a jump, up 10 spots to 64 in the latest ESPN national rankings of the Class of 2010.

This could get very interesting.

Lisa Poole / For the Globe

Nate Lubick of St. Mark's School has been named the 2009-10 Massachusetts Gatorade boys basketball player of the year.

It's Lubick's second go-round taking a Gatorade bath, after being named the 2008-09 player of the year in the state by Gatorade last year. The 6-9 senior led the Lions to a 23-8 mark in the NEPSAC, averaging 21.7 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.7 blocks per game, according to a release by Gatorade.

“I think it’s a pretty big honor," Lubick said. "Last year, it was something, but now having it in back to back years is an even bigger accomplishment. It brings you into the ballpark of not just a great player but a great person. I’m a good student, and these things show how multidimensional a person I am.”

Lubick was also a 2010 McDonald's All-American and has signed a national letter of intent to play for Georgetown next winter.

Globe correspondent Brendan Hall contributed to this report.

Globe Correspondents Amara Grautski and Evan MacDonald review Saturday's state basketball championships in Worcester.

By Evan MacDonald, Globe Correspondent

WORCESTER -- Central Catholic senior Carson Desrosiers is generally an unselfish player, deferring to his teammates throughout his career.

But with the state championship on the line during yesterday’s Div. 1 state final, he wanted to end his career with the ball in his own hands.

Desrosiers scored 19 points in the second half, including the game-winning shot with five seconds left, as the Raiders downed defending state champion St. John’s of Shrewsbury, 56-55, to win the Div. 1 state title last night at the DCU Center.

The 6-foot-11 Desrosiers had a triple double with 26 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 blocks, capping a sterling career with his second state championship before heading to Wake Forest next fall.

The Raiders (26-1) also defeated the Pioneers for the state championship in 2008.

The Raiders trailed by a point with 16 seconds left, but they fed Desrosiers the ball in the middle of the paint. He said he went to a favorite move for the winning shot. “I was going to go middle, like I’d been doing all night, but they took it away nicely,” Desrosiers said. “So I kind of went to my go-to move from last year, you could say. A fade-away
from the right shoulder, and I kissed it off the glass.”

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Review the in-game chat below.

WORCESTER – Andover had four goals on its checklist. Entering the season, the Golden Warriors wanted to win the Merrimack Valley Conference, the Christmas tournament, and the Spartan Classic. And all hands were on deck to make sure their final aspiration became a reality:  a state championship.

Sophomore Ally Fazio showed poise from beyond the arc, sinking four treys. Junior guard Natalie Gomez took advantage of defensive holes, driving her side-armed layup to the basket. And although seniors Dianna Bill and Alex Alois didn’t produce a bevy of points, they combined for 15 rebounds.

The Golden Warriors were a walking cliché, their performance the embodiment of an all-around team effort, as Andover defeated East Longmeadow, 73-37, for the Division 1 state title at the DCU Center.

“Overall, as a team, I think it’s the best we’ve played,” said Andover coach Jim Tildsley. “We played some great basketball the last half of the season…So I’m just extremely happy for these kids.”

Andover (25-3) began the first by going on a 7-point run. Senior forward Krista Ferrentino, who was the only player to post points for East Longmeadow in the quarter, tapped in a layup to bring the Spartans within 5.

The Golden Warriors continued to wreak havoc, with sophomore guard Ally Fazio (12 points) sinking two treys and sophomore Nicole Boudreau (18) another, during a stretch in which they outscored East Longmeadow by 17 points. Gomez showcased why she’s so deadly, sinking a field goal, garnering a steal, and then going back for the layup to cap the initial frame. Andover notched a convincing 24-5 lead entering the second.

“Freshman year I came here and it wasn’t one of our best games,” Gomez said in reference to Andover’s state championship lost two years ago. “I just wanted to show that we had this year.”

Although Ferrentino (19 points, 15 rebounds) had sank a field goal and then a freebie to start the second quarter, it was senior guard Laurie Bonano who became the second player to post points for her team on a basket a minute into the period. East Longmeadow (19-5) had cut the deficit to 14 about three minutes into the period, but that’s the closest the Spartans would inch.
In the final five minutes before halftime, the Golden Warriors outscored the Spartans by 16 points, which included four shots from beyond the arc. Andover carried a 42-16 lead into the half.

End of game: Andover 73, East Longmeadow 37

The blow out is over.

1:57, Fourth quarter: Andover 71, East Longmeadow 33

They're not running the clock but all the subs are in and they're making their time worth it on the court.

5:34, Fourth quarter: Andover 70, East Longmeadow 28

Andover coach James Tildsley has subbed out stars Natalie Gomez and Nicole Boudreau.

6:58, Fourth quarter: Andover 65, East Longmeadow 26

Arielle Ward scored a bucket in the lane, drawing the foul for East Longmeadow but was unable to complete the 3-point play. She's been steady going to the paint, but hasn't been able to connect until now. The bucket was Ward's first points of the game.

End of the third quarter: Andover 61, East Longmeadow 24

Natalie Gomez has hit a three and gotten a couple of fastbreak buckets as Andover has widened its lead to end the quarter.

East Longmeadow just doesn't look like it can keep up, especially with Andover firing from the outside so accurately. They've got 11 3-pointers in the game.

Gomez has 19 in the game.

6:26, Third quarter: Andover 47, East Longmeadow 18

Nicole Boudreau hit yet another three for Andover. Her team is pushing the lead with the deep ball. They have nine in the game.

End of the first half: Andover 42, East Longmeadow 16

Andover ends the half with only one worry: Krista Ferrintino. Ferrintino has put 10 points in the first half, carrying her team. East Longmeadow has three other scorers on the board two points each.

Nicole Boudreau leads Andover with 13 points. She's hit three 3-pointers. Natalie Gomez has 12 points in the game while Ally Fazio has nine.

1:10, Second quarter: Andover 37, East Longmeadow 16

Nicole Boudreau with another three for Andover. Andover has seven on the game so far.

3:32, Second quarter: Andover 29, East Longmeadow 14

East Longmeadow's Krista Ferrintino continues to pound the ball down low for her team, but Andover is pushing along despite her output. Ferrintino has 10 of her team's 14 points.

End of first quarter: Andover 24, East Longmeadow 5

Andover has jumped on East Longmeadow in the first period, with Natalie Gomez, Ally Fazio and Nicole Boudreau have each put up nice shots, and hit at least one of the team's 3-pointers.

2:04, First quarter: Andover 15, East Longmeadow 5

Ally Fazio gets her second 3-pointer for Andover while E. Longmeadow's Krista Ferrintino comes alive. She's got all five of her team's points.

4:16, First quarter: Andover 10, East Longmeadow 2

Andover has jumped to a nice lead in the first quarter. Ally Fazio has hit a 3-pointer for the team.

6:28, First quarter: Andover 7, East Longmeadow 0

Natalie Gomez has already started hot, draining a 3-pointer for Andover.

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WORCESTER — We're live blogging from the DCU Center in Worcester as Andover takes on East Longmeadow in the Division 1 championship girls game.

For a preview of the game, go here.

Follow along on Twitter at @GlobeSchools

By Evan MacDonald, Globe Correspondent

WORCESTER — Sabis International senior guard Andre King didn’t know how well he’d perform in yesterday’s Div. 2 state final against Falmouth.

He’d been sick with a stomach bug during the week, and wasn’t sure how it would affect him when he stepped onto the court.

But when the game started, he went on to have the performance of his career.

King scored 30 points in the first half, and 37 overall, during Sabis’ 83-52 victory over Falmouth at the DCU Center.

“This feels real good,” King said. “This was our first year in Div. 2. We set the bar. We were doubted the whole season, saying we couldn’t compete with the rest of the [Div. 2] teams. But we proved everybody wrong.”

The Bulldogs (23-2) won their second state title in five years, after claiming the Div. 3 championship in 2006. They moved up the Div. 2 before this season after the MIAA realigned.

Sabis controlled the game from start to finish. They scored on their first four possessions, jumping out to a 9-2 lead after a dunk by sophomore guard Kamali Bey (19 points).

The Bulldogs were relentless on both ends of the floor, forcing three straight Falmouth turnovers as they built their lead. They jumped out to a 29-7 lead after the first quarter, paced by King’s 15 points.

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WORCESTER — We're chatting live from the DCU Center in Worcester with Falmouth taking on Sabis in the Division 2 boys state championship.

WORCESTER – Lauren Battista didn’t hesitate to show the crowd at the DCU Center exactly why she was named the Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the Year.

The senior forward posted 16 of her game-high 22 points in the first half, leading Oliver Ames in a 50-31 victory over Millbury for the Division 2 state title.

“I felt great in the first half,” said Battista, who also tallied 11 rebounds and five steals. “I just started throwing up shots, and they were going in. I don’t even know, some games they fall some games they don’t. I just wanted to give it all I got and just show the crowd and show everyone that we deserved to be there.”

Battista posted the match-up’s first points with a field goal, but Millbury (20-5) was determined to have a better first-quarter performance than last year. Although the Woolies didn’t score a point until the second period in the previous state championship, senior forward Chelsea Perkins drilled a trey about a minute and a half into the period and junior guard Julie Frankian sank another shot from beyond the arc to push the Woolies to a 6-2 lead.

Oliver Ames (25-1) had a surge of its own, tallying 10 unanswered points. Millbury responded with two field goals in the period’s final minute to come back within 2 entering the second.

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Click below to review the live chat held during the game. A recap will be provided shortly.

WORCESTER – At one point during Saturday afternoon’s Division 3 state championship game, Kevin Brogioli turned around to look at his father, Jim, amongst the several thousand gathered in the DCU Center to support his Wareham Vikings. He said he saw tears in the old man’s eyes.

Both father and son had been here before, of course. Kevin was a JV call-up riding the bench for Jim during the Vikings’ run to the state final. And yesterday it came full-circle, with Kevin’s cast of run-and-gunners blowing out New Leadership Charter, 80-57, for the school’s first state title in any sport.

“It was nice to see he was in the stands tonight,” Brogioli said. “I told the kids before the game, ‘You guys win it for you and us, because we’ve all worked hard, and I’m gonna win this one for my dad’.”

Senior Jordan Rezendes (21 points) called it “the best feeling of my life – words can’t describe it.” Junior guard Jules Tavares (25), a Division 1 prospect who threw down two thunderous one-handed dunks, called it “Amazing. There’s no feeling (that’s) better.”

This one was historic on multiple fronts. Most of the season, senior Pat Murphy cut his teeth doing the dirty work in the shadow the likes of Tavares, Rezendes and senior center Ryan Pina (10 points, 17 rebounds). But with the game in hand by the fourth quarter, the Vikings began running almost all of their sets through Murphy, who needed just 10 points to reach 1,000 for his career and had none in the first half.

Murphy finally got his 1,000th with under two minutes to go, with a ball fake and up and under layup. Play stopped as the team mobbed him at center court and hoisted him on his shoulders for a brief moment, while the crowd cheered loudly.

The senior joins Rezendes and Tavares on the list of Vikings to eclipse the mark this season.

“It’s just amazing,” beamed Murphy, who finished with 11 points. “I definitely heard the whole crowd.”

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Review the chat session held during the Division 3 boys basketball championship at the DCU Center in Worcester in the frame below.

It's Wareham (24-1) vs. New Leadership (22-3).

Here are the projected starting lineups for today:

Wareham
G - Darren Gray, 5-10 Sr.
G - Jules Tavares, 6-3 Jr.
G - Jordan Rezendes, 6-1 Sr.
F - Patrick Murphy, 5-11 Jr.
F - Ryan Pina, 6-3 Sr.

New Leadership
G - Eric Brown, 5-10 Sr.
G - Phillip Warrick, 5-10 Sr.
G - Tyrell Springer, 5-11 Soph.
F - Anthony Taylor, 6-2 Jr.
F - DeVonte Vanderpool, 6-3 Sr.

WORCESTER — Pentucket managed to contain an explosive Lee offense for the first two quarters of the Division 3 girls final at the DCU Center in Worcester, taking a four-point lead into the half.

Unfortunately for the Sachems, they still had 16 minutes left to play.

The stifling Wildcat defense was able to hold a tired Pentucket team to just 14 points in the second half while producing 32 of their own on the other side to earn their seventh state championship title since 1989, 56-42.

“We want to wear that other team down,” said Lee coach Gary Wellington. “ They couldn't hit the backboard in the last couple of minutes. We just wore them down.”

Lee's Katie Eckert put in a strong performance in the first quarter, following up a pair of free throws with back to back threes to give the Wildcats an early lead. The Sachems finished well, cutting Lee's lead to three by the end of the quarter.

Pentucket improved their efficiency in the second, out-shooting Lee 18-11 to lead 28-24 at half time.

An Eckert three-pointer cut that lead to three early in the third, and neither team was able to gain ground for much of the quarter. Deft late-period foul-shooting by Lee sisters Alex and Stephanie Young allowed the Wildcats to take a lead into the final quarter. The Wildcats exploded for 17 points in the fourth to take the win.

“This is what we've always been wanting to do, ever since we've been little we've wanted to be here,” Lee's Alex Young said. “It's amazing.”

Young had a tremendous day on both sides of the court, putting 20 points on the board and coming down with 15 rebound, while teammate Katie Eckert scored 15, nine of which came in the first quarter. Pentucket's Ashley Viselli accumulated 19 on the day. She and teammate Tess Nogueira each nabbed 9 rebounds.

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Poor passing from both sides is leading to quick turnovers. Still scoreless after a minute and a half.

Looking at Saturday’s matchups in the state championships at the DCU Center in Worcester, you get a feeling that this is the year for a number of teams. We’re looking at some top-notch players and great stories heading into the games. Here’s a look at each game, who to watch for, and what to expect:

10:45 a.m. Division 3 girls – Pentucket (26-0) vs. Lee (24-1)

Pentucket has the fortune of riding two of the best players in the state, with guard Erin McNamara (15.8 ppg) and forward Ashley Viselli (14.8 ppg) leading the charge. Although coach John McNamara, Erin’s father, stresses that the team can succeed without having to go to the duo’s well too often.

“We have 5-6 kids that can knock down threes,” coach McNamara said. “Depending on what teams are doing to us, we can adjust. The beauty of those two is they’re both very unselfish. When one of them is hot, the other will get them the ball. Not many high schoolers will do that.”

It stands to reason that Lee will have to force Pentucket’s hand in this regard if they want to win. But the Wildcats, the Division 3 Western Mass champions, will also have to face a staggering Pentucket full-court press, which forced 25 turnovers in the Eastern Mass championship against Archbishop Williams. The defensive pressure Pentucket puts on its opponents leads to easy baskets and a transition offense that is well versed in an up tempo pace.

“We do pride ourselves on our defense and our defensive intensity in the full court pressure,” coach McNamara said. “That’s probably going to be the key to the game; how they’re going to respond to it. We’re hoping that holds true and that holds to form.”

Be wary of Lee, though. The team is athletic and they press well, McNamara said.

“They really hit the offensive boards,” he said. “They don’t have a lot of size, they’ve got three 5-9 girls, but they’re good.”

FULL ENTRY

Lauren Battista of Oliver Ames was named the Gatorade Massachusetts Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

The 6-foot senior forward and guard averaged 22.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.0 steals per game in leading the Tigers (24-1) to Tuesday’s Division 2 EMass title, where they defeated Melrose, 60-46.

Battista had 21 points and 12 rebounds. She is Oliver Ames’ all-time leader in career points with 1,645 heading into the state final.

Last night, the Western Mass champions were crowned in Division 1, 2 and 3 girls basketball. This sets the stage for Saturday's state championships in each division at the DCU Center in Worcester. Here's how it looks:

Division 1, 5:45 p.m.

Andover, which beat Mansfield in the Eastern Mass championship at the Garden Tuesday, will play East Longmeadow after the Spartans beat Shepard Hill 55-53 last night.

Division 2, 2:15 p.m.

Oliver Ames, which beat Melrose 60-46 Tuesday, will face Millbury after they beat Palmer 49-29 last night at the MassMutual Center.

Division 3, 10:45 a.m.

Pentucket, which defeated Archbishop Williams Tuesday 62-37 for the D-3 Eastern Mass crown, will play Lee for the state championship after the Wildcats beat Quaboag 56-33 last night.

After taking home EMass titles at the Garden Monday, Central Catholic, Falmouth and Wareham know which teams they will be playing on Saturday for state titles at the DCU Center in Worcester.

Wareham will play New Leadership, which beat Whitinsville Christian 78-76 in double OT, for the Division 3 title at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

Falmouth will face off against Sabis Charter, which nipped Groton-Dunstable 45-44, for the Division 2 title at 4:00 p.m. (Kamali Bey had 16 points and 18 rebounds for Sabis.)

Central Catholic will play defending state champ St. John's (Shrewsbury), which beat East Longmeadow 70-66 in the Division 1 title at 7:30 p.m.

Andover turned on its offensive juices when it needed to, matching Mansfield basket for basket in the fourth quarter to win the Division 1 girls Eastern Mass championship at the Garden 60-52 after a tawdry second half start.

Andover put up only seven points in the third quarter, giving Mansfield hope that it could come back in the game. But after building an 11-point lead at half, the Golden Warriors only needed to match Mansfield's output for the rest of the game. And that's what they did. Mansfield put up 15 points in the fourth; Andover put up 16.

The Golden Warriors held Mansfield to 10 points in the third as well, showing how well both teams clamped down and slowed the game up.

Andover was led offensively by Devon Caveney, who scored 19 points on the day. She nailed four 3-pointers for the Golden Warriors. Nicole Boudreau added 12 points and Ally Fazio had 10. Natalie Gomez chipped in nine in the winning effort. Alex Alois had three points and 12 rebounds.

Briena Walker led Mansfield with 17 points in the game.

--

We're live chatting from the Garden with Andover facing Mansfield in the Division 1 girls basketball state semifinals and Eastern Mass championship.

Oliver Ames had all the answers. When the team needed to go in the post, they went to Tessa Dern. When the team needed a big bucket, they turned to Lauren Battista. When the team needed to hit its free throws, Nicole Bostic drained all of her attempts.

Oliver Ames beat Melrose soundly 60-46 Tuesday at the Garden for the Division 2 girls Eastern Mass championship and will now move on to the state championship Saturday in Worcester at the DCU Center.

Battista led Oliver Ames with 19 points while grabbing 12 rebounds. Dern scored nine points for the Tigers and grabbed another 10 rebounds while teammate Bostic put up 18 points on the night -- hitting 8-of-8 free throws and all six of her attempts in the fourth quarter.

End of the second quarter

Oliver Ames held Melrose to seven second-quarter points as they pulled ahead to 27-22 halftime lead.

Lauren Battista has led Oliver Ames with eight points in the half. Teammate Nicole Bostic has six points and Tessa Dern has another six points.

Colleen Hansom has led Melrose with seven points so far.

--

We're chatting live from the Garden as Melrose (20-3) and Oliver Ames (23-1) battle it out in the Division 2 state girls basketball semifinal and Eastern Mass championship.

Erin McNamara dropped 26 points, Ashley Viselli poured on another 19, and the Pentucket girls basketball team beat Archbishop Williams 62-37 for the Division 3 Eastern Mass championship and a shot at the state championship.

Pentucket played tough nosed defense, forcing 25 turnovers on Archbishop Williams and keeping 6-4 center Valerie Driscoll (six points) out of the paint, to spur the team's offense.

McNamara and Viselli were particularly glamorous in the win, as they carried Pentucket through the finish line. The duo accounted for 45 of the team's 62 points. McNamara added five steals on the day and Viselli added seven rebounds.

End of the second quarter

Erin McNamara has 16 points as she's led Pentucket to a 33-21 lead over Archbishop Williams at the half. Teammate Ashley Viselli has contributed 11 points as well.

End of first quarter

Sarah Higgins gets a last second jumper from the free throw line to end the first quarter. Pentucket 19, Archbishop Williams 11.

--

Join me for an in-game chat as Pentucket (25-0) takes on Archbishop Williams (20-5) in the Division 3 state semifinal and Eastern Mass championship game at 4:20 p.m.

Cohasset completed its perfect season as 25-0 and as the Division 4 state champions Tuesday with a convincing 50-40 win over Manchester-Essex at the Garden.

The Skippers' Meredith Kelly led the game with 19 points in the winning effort. She was followed by teammate and center Tori Lehr with 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Lizzy Ball led Manchester-Essex with 14 points and seven rebounds.

57.9 secs, Fourth quarter: Cohasset 50, M-E 38

With less than a minute, Cohasset has called a timeout. It looks like this one is all but over.

Lizzy Ball has scored 13 points in the game for M-E.

1:56, Fourth quarter: Cohasset 50, M-E 38

Lizzy Ball and Julia Martz are leading the charge for M-E but are still down 14. Ball has hit 3-of-4 free throws in the quarter.

2:55, Fourth quarter: Cohasset 50, M-E 33

Tori Lehr gets an and-1 for for Cohasset.

4:57, Fourth quarter: Cohasset 47, M-E 33

A 3-pointer by by Abigail Biggar for Manchester is followed by big buckets from Cohasset's Tori Lehr. Lehr now has 11 rebounds on the day as well.

5:49, Fourth quarter: Cohasset 43, M-E 28

Meredith Kelly and Carli Haggerty have both gotten baskets in the lane off of putbacks for Cohasset.

Cohasset leads by 15.

End of the third quarter: Cohasset 39, M-E 26

Manchester-Essex ended the quarter on a small run, getting baskets from Lizzy Ball. She also hit 5-of-6 free throws as Cohasset racked up eight fouls in the quarter.

1:21, Third quarter: Cohasset 37, M-E 23

Meredith Kelly got a steal for Cohasset and took it coast-to-coast for a basket. Lizzy Ball followed on the other end of the court with a basket in the lane while drawing the foul. She converted the three-point play.

2:59, Third quarter: Cohasset 33, M-E 20

Both teams are now in the double-digit turnover stratosphere. Cohasset has 11 and Manchester-Essex has 13.

4:25, Third quarter: Cohasset 31, M-E 18

Cohasset and Manchester-Essex appear to have calmed down. We've seen a couple of good buckets out of Cohasset in the third while Samantha Christopher has a couple of shots for M-E.

End of the second quarter: Cohasset 25, M-E 14

We've ended the half with Cohasset up by nine points and Meredith Kelly leading the way for the Skippers. She has 15 points in the game so far.

On the other end of the floor, Julia Martz leads Manchester-Essex with eight points. The Hornets have turned the ball over 10 times in the game, giving Cohasset plenty of opportunties. Cohasset has committed eight turnovers as well.

1:57, Second quarter: Cohasset 23, M-E 14

Meredith Kelly finds her way into the lane again for another bucket. She's got 13 points in the game so far for Cohasset.

2:55, Second quarter: Cohasset 21, M-E 14

Rachel Fredey drained a couple of free throws for Cohasset.

4:17, Second quarter: Cohasset 17, M-E 14

Meredith Kelly hits another shot for Cohasset.

5:56, Second quarter: Cohasset 15, M-E 12

Manchester-Essex already has eight turnovers in the half but they're keeping pace with Cohasset (5).

6:48, Second quarter: Cohasset 15, M-E 11

Julia Martz got an easy layup for M-E. Hornets back in the game.

End of the first quarter: Cohasset 13, Manchester-Essex 8

Cohasset, having let their nerves run their course, started hitting shots and making plays. Mainly, Meredith Kelly scored three straight times down the floor for the Skippers and got her team going. Samantha Crough added a nice 3-pointer.

2:13, First quarter: Manchester-Essex 8, Cohasset 7

Meredith Kelly hit back-to-back buckets for Cohasset, while drawing a foul on one. She converted the three-point play.

3:25, First quarter: Manchester-Essex 6, Cohasset 2

Julia Martz just drained two free throws for M-E.

5:14, First quarter: Manchester-Essex 4, Cohasset 2

Manchester-Essex has committed three turnovers in the first three minutes. But are leading the undefeated Skippers.

Pre tipoff: Starters announced

Cohasset's starters are Carli Haggerty, Lindsey Davis, Meredith Kelly, Samantha Crough and Tori Lehr.

Manchester-Essex's starters are Lizzy Ball, Samantha Christopher, Julia Martz, Alicia Volpe and Abigail Biggar.

--

Back at the Garden today for the Eastern Mass girls championships. We'll be blogging the first game of the day, Cohasset (24-0) vs. Manchester-Essex (13-12) in the Division 4 Eastern Mass championship, and then chatting for the remaining three games. So stick around here at the High Schools blog for live coverage all day.

Here's what Globe Correspondent Amara Grautski, who has covered girls basketball all year, had to say about Cohasset:

Cohasset also has the intangible elements on its side. Not only are the Skippers the best D4 team, but they’re being driven to win by a haunting loss: After a 19-1 season, Cohasset lost to Millis, 51-49, in the South Sectional final last year.

Tori Lehr led Cohasset with 13.8 points per game on the season.

Manchester-Essex, the No. 16 seed in the North bracket made its way to the title game spurred by the play of 5-7 junior Lizzy Ball, who has topped 1,000 points in her career for the Hornets. The Hornets ran through Notre Dame (57-25), No. 1 seed Pope John (58-44), Minutemen (68-39), Pres. of Mary Academy (50-32) and Fenway (53-36) in the North final to get here.

More as the game gets underway. We've got a 2:30 p.m.

Was it the height? The length? It certainly wasn't the bright lights. Madison Park had just dominated on the Celtics home floor all but a few days ago.

No, it was Central Catholic's year. The Raiders (25-1) dismantled the strongest team in the Boston City league to win the Division 1 Eastern Mass championship 59-50 and a shot at the state title next week. Central's Carson Desrosiers piled on 20 points and 15 boards for the night.

If there was a game ball, it went to Desrosiers.

The 6-11 center bound for Wake Forest found himself in foul trouble in the fourth quarter, but his teammates were able to carry the Raiders down in the stretch, locking down the Cardinals' potent offense.

In the defeat, Madison Park's David Campbell dropped 15 points while point guard Spencer Braithwaite scored nine points.

--

We're chatting live from TD Garden as Madison Park and Central Catholic get ready to play for the Division 1 Eastern Mass championship and state semifinal.

The winner moves on to play at the DCU Center next week in Worcester for the state championship.

We're live chatting at the TD Garden as Salem takes on Falmouth in the Division 2 boys semifinal and Eastern Mass championship.

We're chatting live the Bedford boys and Wareham basketball game in the Division 3 state semifinal and Eastern Mass championship.

Cathedral should've known better. Their fans were screaming all night long, "box out!" Yet when it came down to it, they couldn't keep New Mission's twin towers Ousmane Drame (6-8) and Kachi Nzerem (6-4) off the boards.

Drame finished with 17 boards and 24 points, most of the scoring done off putbacks. Nzerem had another eight boards and 10 points. Together, the two anchored the Titans as they blew past Cathedral for a 28-point drubbing, 75-47, winning the Division 4 Eastern Mass championship at the TD Garden.

It was business as usual for New Mission, which has won its last three games by a margin of 41, 32 and 28 points, respectively.

Cathedral was led offensively by Kyle Lawyer off the bench. He scored 12 points in the game. Point guard Carlos Bermudez added 11 points for Cathedral, which struggled to hit shots throughout the day.

Samir McDaniels dropped 17 points on Cathedral for New Mission while point guard Osmel Odena added another 14, solidifying the Titans' offensive output.

--

We'll be chatting all day today as the Division 1, 2, 3 and 4 boys Eastern Mass championships and state semifinals take place at TD Garden.

First up at 2:30 p.m. is New Mission vs. Cathedral. Afterward, we'll tackle Bedford vs. Wareham at 4:15 p.m., then Salem vs. Falmouth at 6 p.m., followed by Central Catholic vs. Madison Park at 7:45 p.m.

You'll see all the updates here, all day long.

Get ready, because this is going to be a marathon.

End of game: Central Catholic 74, St. John's Prep 62

Central was able to hold off St. John's Prep and win the Division 1 North, setting up a matchup with Madison Park in the state semifinal Monday at the Garden.

Jimmy Zenevitch led the Raiders and all scorers with 21 points. He had a steady hand in the game and paced their offense.

On the other end, Pat Connaughton had 17 points for the Eagles.

Fourth quarter: Central Catholic 71, St. John's Prep 58

Central Catholic's Jimmy Zenevitch got loose long enough to get a dunk off as Central has pulled away to a 13-point lead with less than a minute remaining.

Fourth quarter: Central Catholic 67, St. John's Prep 58

A three from Jaycob Morales to put Central up 67-56. It's not so close anymore. Central is stepping up and going back to the basics. That means interior passes to Carson Desrosiers and Jimmy Zenevitch.

There's 1:43 left in the game.

Fourth quarter: Central Catholic 58, St. John's Prep 54

Central is all but ignoring their 6-11 senior center Carson Desrosiers. He just got his first touch in the fourth quarter.

We've got 4:16 to go in the game it's close.

End of third quarter: Central Catholic 54, St. John's Prep 52

Pat Connaughton get a cleanup bucket and drew the foul, completing the 3-point play for SJP.

Stephen Haladyna followed with a quick deuce and SJP is down only two points after being down as much as 15.

Third quarter: Central Catholic 47, St. John's Prep 36

We've just gone through a 3-point barrage. Central, at one point, was up 15 points, but SJP has nailed a couple of threes to keep the game in check.

End of second quarter: Central Catholic 36, St. John's Prep 27

Jimmy Zenevitch (we've been hearing that name a lot today) leads all scorers with 15 points as Central Catholic is beating St. John's Prep by nine points at half.

We're seeing a lot of shots in the paint by Central coupled by some good cutting. SJP is having its moments, but they really haven't gotten any rhythm in the game. We'll see if that changes.

Second quarter: Central Catholic 34, St. John's Prep 27

Jimmy Zenevitch gets a nice bucket in the lane while drawing the foul. He now has 13 points in the game.

Second quarter: Central Catholic 29, St. John's Prep 23

Stephen Haladyna got his second 3-pointer of the quarter for SJP while Central is pounding the Eagles in the paint.

Second quarter: St. John's Prep 18, Central Catholic 17

Pat Connaughton hit two free throws and SJP takes the lead.

End of first quarter: Central Catholic 14, St. John's Prep 11

Strong start for Central but they definitely eased up on SJP.

First quarter: Central Catholic 10, St. John's Prep 3

Great pass from Carson Desrosiers to Central Catholic teammate Michael Alvarez for two. Central already up 10-3 with 4:26 left in the first.

First quarter: Central Catholic 4, St. John's Prep 3

Jimmy Zenevitch scored two quick buckets to put Central Catholic on the right footing for the game.

First quarter: Tipoff

St. John's controls the tip but turns the ball over immediately.

--

We're getting ready for the final game of the night here at the Garden with St. John's Prep about to take on Central Catholic in the Division 1 North boys final.

The winner moves on to play Madison Park, which just beat Mansfield 72-60, in the state semifinal at the Garden again on Monday.

Central Catholic is 23-1 on the year while St. John's is 21-2.

The man to watch in all of this for St. John's is Pat Connaughton who is averaging 23 points per game this season. On the other end of the floor is Carson Desrosiers, who will be attending Wake Forest next year.

Follow along here throughout the game for all the updates or on Twitter at @GlobeSchools.

End of the game: Madison Park 72, Mansfield 60

The game ended unceremoniously — at least for Mansfield. They went up against a machine in Madison Park, never coming to grips with the intensity of their opponents or finding an answer the man in the middle of it all, David Campbell.

Campbell dropped 29 points on the night, pacing Madison Park's offense throughout the game.

Fourth quarter: Madison Park 68, Mansfield 54

Mansfield's Fred baskin has hit two 3-pointers to help spur a small rally. But the game is already out of hand for the Hornets. They're down 14 with 1:28 left in the game.

And did I mention that MP's David Campbell now has 29 points on the night. One word: Unstoppable.

Fourth quarter: Madison Park 56, Mansfield 42

Madison Park now has its largest lead of the game, up by 14 points.

End of the third quarter: Madison Park 52, Mansfield 40

Madison park's David Campbell has 21 points on the night as his team has ran with the ebbs and flow of the game to continue to lead Mansfield entering the fourth quarter.

The big man down low is definitely a big reason for their success.

Third quarter: Madison Park 48, Mansfield 38

David Campbell is at it again. He's hit another shot while drawing a foul. This time he connected on the free throw for a 3-point play.

Third quarter: Madison Park 40, Mansfield 33

Mansfield just committed a shot-clock violation. They're having trouble picking their spots in the game, passing up on open looks for what I presume to be better shots.

End of second quarter: Madison Park 40, Mansfield 31

Kevin Stokes just caught a touchdown pass for a breakaway layup.

Meanwhile, it's been all uphill for their counterparts. Jeffrey Hill had a couple of nice breakaway baskets for Mansfield, but they're in a rut.

MP's senior Spencer Braithwaite and David Campbell are tied for the lead with all scorers 16 points apiece.

Second quarter: Madison Park 30, Mansfield 17

David Campbell has added a couple more buckets as Madison Park has increased its lead to 13 points.

End of first quarter: Madison Park 24, Mansfield 15

Madison Park's Spencer Braithwaite hits a 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds remaining. He's made a number of interesting shots for his team. But teammate David Campbell has been doing damage in the paint as Mansfield has struggled to keep up.

First quarter: Madison Park 6, Mansfield 6

Madison Park's 6-5 center David Campbell scored a couple of baskets in a row. He's the biggest man on the court and already looks like a point of emphasis for his team.

He's already got a foul too.

--

It’s tough to stop a team sporting a 17-game winning streak. But that’s exactly what Mansfield has up against them.

Madison Park (21-1) last lost to East Boston Jan. 5. They've been on a tear ever since.

Mansfield isn't too far off. The 21-2 Hornets are on a 14-game winning streak.

So stay tuned right here for game updates. You can also follow along on Twitter @GlobeSchools.

End of game: Andover 69, Central Catholic 65

Ally Fazio hits 1-of-2 free throws to seal the game. Andover wins the Division 1 north section title.

Overtime: Andover 68, Central Catholic 65

With a steal by Andover's Nicole Boudreau and a foul by Central, Andover Boudreau hits 1-of-2 free throws.

Central's Susan Downer takes a timeout to talk it over. There are 21 seconds remaining in the game.

Overtime: Andover 62, Central Catholic 61

Nicole Boudreau nails a 3-pointer for Andover followed by a Melissa Miller basket on the other end of the floor.

End of regulation: Andover 59, Central Catholic 59

WOW! Katie Zenevitch drains the free throw. Tie game, we're going to overtime.

Fourth quarter: Andover 59, Central Catholic 58

Central's Katie Zenevitch hits a and-1 with two seconds remaining and has an opportunity to tie the game. Andover 59, Central Catholic 58.

Fourth quarter: Andover 59, Central Catholic 56

Central's Gabie Polce hits a 3-pointer with 29 seconds remaining to bring the team within three points. It's the closest they've been since the first quarter.

Central has possession and is looking to tie.

Fourth quarter: Andover 57, Central Catholic 53

A couple of turnovers on both ends of the floor followed by Andover's Ally Fazio scoring with 1:25 left.

Central Catholic's Katie Zenevitch hits a bucket to bring her team back within four with 1:12 remaining.

Fourth quarter: Andover 55, Central Catholic 51

Nicole Boudreau drains two free throws after Central came within two on a steal and deuce by Gabie Polce.

Fourth quarter: Andover 51, Central Catholic 49

Katie Zemevitch is carrying her team on her back. She's pulled Central to within two points, hitting two shots in this quarter.

We're still seeing a good battle between the point guards, with Andover's Natalie Gomez and Central's Courtney Williams going back-and-forth.

End of third quarter: Andover 45, Central Catholic 41

Central Catholic is on a bit of run. They've closed the gap with the help of Courtney Williams, who has hit quite a few buckets for them.

They're pushing Andover. But Natalie Gomez has done everything to make this hard for them. She's hitting shot after shot for Andover.

End of second quarter: Andover 33, Central Catholic 21

Andover is starting to pull away with a 3-pointer by Devon Caveney with 15 seconds left in the half. Before time ran out, Nicole Boudreau drove cross-court for a last second bucket to give Andover two more points and push her team's lead.

Boudreau has 15 points in the game so far. Conversely, Central Catholic's Katie Zenevitch has five points so far.

Central Catholic is struggling to get any shots to fall. They're just having a tough day against a tough opponent. We'll see how they come out of the half.

Second quarter: Andover 28, Central Catholic 18

Ally Fazio just drained a 3-pointer for Andover.

Second quarter: Andover 25, Central Catholic 14

The game has slowed down considerably. Andover is up 23-14 over Central Catholic. Both teams are struggling to find their shot.

End of the first quarter: Andover 20, Central Catholic 14

Andover's Natalie Gomez and Nicole Boudreau each scored back-to-back buckets as Andover finished the quarter up.

First quarter: Andover 13, Central Catholic 2

A 3-pointer by Andover's Nicole Boudreau puts them up 13-2 three minutes into the game.

Central coach Susan Downer called a quick timeout to talk it over.

First quarter: Andover 8, Central Catholic 2

Andover's Natalie Gomez drains a 3-pointer to open the scoring action. Her team has sprinted out of the blocks.
--

In the second game of the day, Central Catholic takes on Andover in a rematch of their Jan. 31 meeting when Andover handed the Raiders their first Merrimack Valley Conference loss (60-54) and won for the second time in three meetings this season.

It's the Division 1 north girls final and this is the only game of the day with some in-season history to look over.

Here’s a look at each team:

Andover (22-3)

Sophomore Nicole Boudreau is known to drop a 20 and 10, racking up double doubles in three of the Golden Warriors’ last 10 games. She’s averaging 21 points per game this season.

Teammates Natalie Gomez, a junior guard, is also known to go for scoring bursts. She’s averaging 13.9 points per game on the season.

Andover is currently on 13-game winning streak and all indications point to this being their year. But I’ve seen crazier things happen.

Central Catholic (21-2)

Katie Zenevitch is a Boston College recruit and she likes to live up to the hype. She dropped 34 points on Peabody last week to help the Raiders get to this game. But don’t overlook teammate Melissa Miller, who threw up 20 points on Peabody as well.

End of game: Mansfield 60, Durfee 50

Mansfield sticks it out, knocking down its free throws down the stretch to beat Durfee 60-50.

They're now the Division 1 South girls champions.

Durfee's Lauren Fiola led all scorers with 19 points — 12 of which came in the second half.

But again, it was the free throws that made a difference down the stretch. Mansfield's Michaela Bowes hits 8-of-8 free throws in the fourth quarter to put the game to rest. She finished with 17 points on the night. Teammates Jessica Eason had 16 and Colleen Hooper had 15 to pace the team through each of the halves.

Fourth quarter: Mansfield 60, Durfee 48

Looks like Lauren Fiola lost her cool, going after a Mansfield player. She was assessed a technical and sent to the bench. Mansfield up 8.

Michaela Bowes hits both free throws off the foul and and then both technical foul shots to put Mansfield up by 12 with 31 ticks to go.

Fourth quarter: Mansfield 51, Durfee 47

Michaela Bowes just hit two big foul shots for Mansfield that killed a run by Durfee that spanned three minutes.

Fourth quarter: Mansfield 49, Durfee 44

Durfee's Lauren Fiola just drained a three to bring the game within five. They've gotten buckets from Denisha Parks and Rachael Camara to spur what appears to be a comeback in the works.

Fourth quarter: Mansfield 46, Durfee 37

Durfee's Denisha Parks just hit 1-of-2 free throws. An off day for her. She has only three points with 3:35 left in the fourth quarter. All of her points have come in this quarter.

Fourth quarter: Mansfield 44, Durfee 33

A sweet backdoor pass to Colleen Hooper for two followed by a bucket by Jessica Eason for a 46-33 Mansfield lead.

Fourth quarter: Mansfield 39, Durfee 30

Durfee's Rachel Camara just drained a three.

Also, Mansfield appears to have trouble following the shot clock. Just had their second violation of the game. That's their second shot-clock violation without an attempt, to be precise.

End of third quarter: Mansfield 39, Durfee 27

Michaela Bowes hit another 3-pointer for her team and finished the quarter strong against Durfee.

Right now, Durfee needs to find a rhythm.

Third quarter: Mansfield 33, Durfee 26

Lauren Fiola at the free throw line drains both of her attempts. She's got 16 points on the day.

Third quarter: Mansfield 33, Durfee 24

Mansfield's Jessica Eason just scored an and-1. It's her second bucket down the court in the paint. She's outworking Durfee's Denisha Parks.

Lauren Fiola scored another bucket for Durfee. She's got 14 points on the game.

Third quarter: Mansfield 27, Durfee 22

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Mansfield's Michaela Bowes and Durfee's Lauren Fiola. Mansfield 27, Durfee 22.

Fiola is appearing to heat up. She's scored five of her team's seven points in this quarter.

End of second quarter: Mansfield 22, Durfee 15

Victoria Shannon went cross court for Mansfield to score a final deuce as Mansfield went up 22-15 over Durfee going into the half.

So far, so good for Mansfield from behind the arc. Three 3-pointers by Colleen Hooper. She leads all scorers with nine points.

Durfee's Lauren Fiola has seven points to lead her team.

Second quarter: Mansfield 20, Durfee 15

As soon as Durfee started getting some buckets, Mansfield got another 3-pointer by Colleen Hooper.

Second quarter: Mansfield 17, Durfee 11

Jessica Eason gets an offensive rebound and putback for Mansfield. 17-11, Mansfield.

Second quarter: Mansfield 15, Durfee 9

Danielle Gauvin ends the drop for Durfee with a 15-foot jumper.

End of first quarter: Mansfield 13, Durfee 7:

First quarter ends with Mansfield up 13-7 over Durfee. Three 3-pointers helped the team take the lead.

Michaela Bowes hit one and Colleen Hooper had two.

First quarter: Mansfield 10, Durfee 7

Quick timeout by Durfee coach Tony Martin after Mansfield scores again. Mansfield up 10-7, on a 8-0 run.

First quarter: Mansfield 8, Durfee 7

Colleen Hooper hits two back-to-back 3-pointers to put Mansfield up.

First quarter: Durfee 7, Mansfield 2

Durfee's Rachael Camara just scored an and-1, converting the free throw. Durfee has jumped all over Mansfield, 7-2.

First quarter: Durfee 3, Mansfield 0

Durfee wins the tip-off and gets an opening 3-pointer from Lauren Fiola.

FULL ENTRY

We're going to be taking in four games today at TD Garden as the North and South section semifinals for boys and girls Division 1 basketball will start at 2:30 p.m.

Here's the schedule:

2:30 p.m.

Division 1 South girls — Mansfield Hornets vs. Durfee Hilltoppers

4:15 p.m.

Division 1 North girls — Central Catholic Raiders vs. Andover Golden Warriors

6 p.m.

Division 1 South boys — Madison Park Cardinals vs. Mansfield Hornets

7:45 p.m.

Division 1 North boys — Central Catholic Raiders vs. St. John's Prep

This is all leading up to the EMass finals and state semifinals at the Garden on Monday and Tuesday between the North and South winners for Divisions 1, 2 and 3. The winners of those games will play the Central and West winners in the state championship March 13 at the DCU Center in Worcester. You can find information on the state finals, including brackets, here and here.

So today is just a preview of champions to come. Stay right here to be in the know on the best teams in Eastern Mass. You can get live updates here at the High Schools blog or follow along via Twitter at @GlobeSchools.

Cardinal Spellman's Mike Perry talks about his team's win.

By Charlie Peters, Globe Correspondent

Burke's Kadijah Ellison scored 30 points but missed a jumper with 10 seconds to play, as her team lost 55-54 to Ashland in a wire-to-wire contest.

Ashland eked out the comeback win led by Blake Underhill's 19 points. Becca Crocetti hit a jump shot with 30 seconds to play to give the Clockers the upperhand in a back-and-forth quarterfinal win in the MIAA Division 3 South.

By Paul Sulzer, Globe Correspondent

Fourth-seeded St. Mary’s (17-6) never trailed in its 48-41 win over fifth-seeded Weston Thursday night in the Division 3 North girls’ basketball semifinals. But Weston kept the game close throughout.

Junior Tori Faieta (20 points, 17 rebounds, six assists) was a terror in the paint for St. Mary's to lead her team. Her teammate Kristen Ferrari added 12 points and six assists.

Weston finished 14-7 on the year.

Here are some post-game impressions from tonight's Charlestown at Central Catholic Div. 1 North first round matchup. Central won handily, 76-42, and will be hosting Andover on Sunday.

• The Red Raiders murdered on the offensive glass, even when Wake Forest-bound big man Carson Desrosiers wasn't in the game. While Charlestown couldn't compete in the height department, Central was always in the right place at the right time.

• The Townies scored four point in the first quarter, mostly because they made it too easy on Central's defense. They rarely drove to the cup (possibly because of the presence of Desrosiers) and settled for far too many jump shots. It seemed as if Charlestown's strategy called for whoever crossed halfcourt with the ball to shoot it. Conversely, Central's ball movement was impeccable and is certain to put a lot of pressure on opposing defense as the Merrimack Valley Champions delve deeper into the tournament.

FULL ENTRY

With 52 seconds remaining against St. John's Prep on Wednesday night, and the score tied 59-59, Central Catholic basketball coach Rick Nault called a timeout.

He wanted to draw up one last play for the Raiders, with a particular goal in mind. Get the ball to Carson Desrosiers.

"In the last two minutes, we go to him every single trip," the coach said.

The 6-foot-11 senior scored the final six points as Central was able to hang on, 65-61, in what could be a preview of the Division 1 North final in a few weeks.

"I don't want to play them again," Nault said. "They're so well-coached. They're so disciplined. They can beat anyone on any given night. It was a state tournament type atmosphere."

Desrosiers, who will play basketball for Wake Forest in the fall, finished with 23 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 blocked shots.

"Carson is a great player," said St. John?s Prep coach Sean Connolly. "It's tough to contain a great player like that."

The Eagles have averaged more than 75 points per game this season, but were held to 61 by the tough defensive unit led by Desrosiers and 6-foot-7 junior Jimmy Zenevitch.

With roughly1,800 fans packing the seats of Central's Memorial Gymnasium, the Raiders admitted to having the advantage. Desrosiers estimated that they haven't lost at home in nearly four years.

"There's no other place in the state that has an atmosphere like that," Nault said. "It just gives the kids a lift. How can you not be excited to play in front of a crowd like that."

"It's a tough challenge, coming in here and playing here with the crowd, but our kids battled," Connolly said. "Playing against Central is a measuring stick. They're usually one of the best teams in the north. Now we know what we have to work on."

Prep junior forward Patrick Connaughton was immense in the loss, scoring 26 points and emerging through double- and triple-team defense.

"Connaughton is just outstanding," Nault said. "We threw our best defensive players at him with Carson sitting on him too, and it seemed like it didn't matter."

Central will likely receive the No. 1 seed in the Division 1 North bracket when the MIAA releases its tournament pairings tomorrow, while St. John's Prep should be somewhere among the top four.

"We're very hungry," Nault said of his team's desire to do well in the postseason. "I tell my kids they need to enjoy this. I don't know if we'll be this good again in the future, so they should have fun every time they step out on the floor."

By Ryan Thomas, Globe Correspondent

The championship game of the Mansfield Round Ball Classic between Lincoln-Sudbury and Woonsocket High School lived up to its name: Instant classic.

The Villa Novans played catch-up all evening long at Mansfield High School, but the team's tenacity paid off as it defeated the Warriors 71-69 in double overtime. Kailey Fugere finished off Lincoln-Sudbury (13-8) in the final seconds of the second overtime when she grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back to score for two of her nine points as time expired.

"The difference was that they made huge shots," Warriors coach Liza Feldman said. "We had three chances to win, but we let them have the last shot too many times."

Woonsocket, which is 13-1 in Rhode Island's Division 1, walked a tight rope all evening. Brooke Coderre, who scored a game-high 30 points, sank a game-tying 3-pointer at the end of regulation. Then, Lauren Masse (8 points) sank another three at the end of the first overtime to extended the game again.

The Warriors were led by junior Bridget Mahoney, who played all 40 minutes while scoring 17 points and grabbing four rebounds.

In the championship game of the Warrior Classic at Foxboro High School, the hosts didn't disappoint, dispatching Hopkinton 61-41 to take the title.

In the Warriors victory, senior captain Kristen Hoffman (17 points) became the 10th player -- and seventh girl -- in school history to eclipse the 1,000-point mark.

She reached the milestone in the first quarter after she scored her seventh point of the game.

By Lorenzo Recupero, Globe Correspondent

Double overtime was a trend in the high school basketball realm on Monday as six teams made it to the sixth quarter on Presidents' Day.

In boys basketball the Austin Prep Cougar's were led to victory by senior guard Jonathan Richard who was instrumental in the victory, scoring a game high 36 points and dishing out six assists in the 77-64 win over visiting Trinity Catholic. In the two overtimes, Richard turned it on and scored double his total in regulation (18).

In girls play, there were some shining moments as well. In the Dedham tournament between host Sharon Eagles and Notre Dame of Hingham, the Eagles (12-7) were able to outlast the Cougars, 71-64. Junior Liz Wluka and sophomore Emilee Daley combined for 51 points and a total 26 rebounds between them in the win. Notre Dame (8-11) was eliminated from playoff contention with the loss.

In other girls basketball play, it was the Stoughton Black Knights that edged the Panthers of Holliston 59-55 in double overtime. Adrienne Lobarno led the way for the Knights with 19 points, including a key 3-pointer in the second overtime that helped pave the way for the Knights' victory.

By Amara Grautski, Globe Correspondent

With both Arlington Catholic and Reading standing at 16-3 entering the Division 2 championship game of the Spartan Classic, it will be Reading taking an edge into the postseason, beating Arlington Catholic 53-51 at St. Mary's High School in Lynn Monday.

Although the final score was close, Rockets coach Kim Penney said her team led the entire game. They were up 25-20 at the half and 42-31 lead through the third quarter, Penney said.

In the fourth quarter, Lindsey Roche dropped 10 of her game-high 20 points to pace No. 9 Arlington Catholic (16-4). And freshman Olivia Healy (17 points) fouled out for No. 13 Reading (17-3) with about three minutes left to play. But the Rockets persevered with gritty man-to-man defense.

"It was a good quality win going into the tournament," Penney said. "We're actually going to scrimmage Pentucket [Sunday] and try and do what we can just to stay on top of our game."

The last time Reading and Arlington Catholic met was in the Division 2 North final. The Cougars took that game, 46-40.

Update: 7:59 p.m.:

Shabazz Napier made his return home count.

The Lawrence Academy junior point guard played up to the packed house at the Reggie Lewis Center, which featured many of his former Charlestown High teammates, by swinging momentum at the start of the fourth quarter in the final game of the Black History Month Classic. He nailed back to back three-pointers - his sixth and seventh of the evening - to make it a 67-53 lead, and the Spartans went on to beat East Boston, 78-66.

"It's an honor to come back to the city again," said Napier, who ended up with 30 points. "You want to put on a show for the spectators, let them know you still got it. It's an honor to see everybody come out here."

Eastie's rivals Madison Park avoided an upset in the first game of the afternoon, storming back with a 15-2 run to start the fourth quarter, and beat Rivers, 61-55. Boston Trinity then beat Lawrence High, 74-64 behind a strong showing from sophomore Roddell Wigginton (26 points, nine rebounds). Trinity is now 8-0 under interim head coach Jose Morton. In the third game, and the lone girls' matchup, La Salle Academy (R.I.) held off a late New Mission rally to win, 58-52.

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Good afternoon from the Reggie Lewis Center, here in Roxbury, where the third annual Black History Month Classic is under way. We've just concluded the fourth and final matchup of the day, with Lawrence Academy defeating East Boston, 78-66. The Jets pulled to within eight to close out the third quarter trailing 61-53, but LA's Shabazz Napier opened up the fourth with back to back three-pointers (his sixth and seventh for the game) to swing the momentum.

Third Quarter: LA, 61-53

LA's Shabazz Napier is putting on a show so far, with 22 points -- including five 3-pointers.

Half: LA, 44-32

LA's Sarkie Ampim is using his length to his advantage around the rim, leading all scorers at the break with 12 points. Senior guard Marcus Grant also has 10 points for the Spartans, with three assists and three steals. Jeff Amazon is leading Eastie, who took a brief lead in the opening minutes, with nine points.

In the preceding matchup, and only girls' game of the event, La Salle Academy (R.I.) fought off a late rally to beat New Mission, 58-52. The Rams were led by 6-foot-3 sophomore Liann Raup (17 points), while New Mission's Chreese Hall poured in 21 in the loss.

Boston Trinity downed Lawrence High, 74-64, in the second game of the day. Trinity was led by a highlight reel-worthy performance from 6 foot 4 sophomore Roddell Wigginton (26 points). The Nova Scotia native backed up the growing Division 1 interest with an above the rim style of play, dazzling the crowd with a series of tip-slams, two-handed dunks in transition and blocks.

This also marks the eighth straight win for Trinity since interim head coach Jose Morton took over late last month. Rick Linet left the program for undisclosed reasons.

The day started with an impressive come-from-behind victory by Madison Park over the Rivers Red Wings. The Cardinals trailed 48-41 after three quarters, but shot out of the gates to start the fourth with a 15-2 run.

Steady play from seniors David Campbell (14 points) and Spencer Braithwaite (14) paced the Cardinals in the comeback.

"But you can’t do that," Cardinals head coach Dennis Wilson said. "A couple of balls bounce the other way, bounce the right way for them (Rivers) and it's an upset. But they (Rivers) played their butts off, I’ve got nothing but respect for those kids."

For the Red Wings, this was a bit of a homecoming. Freshman Carlin Hayman (17 points) lives just up the street from the Reggie, in Mission Hill. Cousins Taariq Allen (16) and Ben Patrick (14) played for Wilson’s Boston Raiders in Pop Warner. Patrick, a junior, is also a resident of Roxbury, roughly four miles from here.

By Seth Lakso, Globe Correspondent

The Whitman-Hanson girls’ basketball team knocked off No. 1 New Bedford in a thrilling 62-53 victory.

Late in the fourth quarter, with the game still in jeopardy, Whitman-Hanson senior Brittany Ford helped to save the game for the undersized Lady Panthers as she came up with two crucial offensive rebounds after missed free throws. Ford ended up with a team-high 14 rebounds, the most important being the last two. She also scored 9 pointsl.

"We tried to come into this game as relaxed as possible," said Panthers coach Jim Daley. "Our fans really showed up and that made for a great atmosphere."

Senior guard Taylor Ferry scored a team-high 21 points while grabbing 13 rebounds for the Panthers (17-3). Junior forward Mary Rose Griffin also came up big, just missing a double-double with 16 points and nine boards.

Junior guard Alyssa Roach scored 22 points in defeat for the Whalers (18-1).

What it came down to was simplifying the game, Daley said.

"Earlier this season, New Bedford beat us, so this time we just tried to take it one quarter at a time," Daley said. "We knew we could beat them in a quarter from last the time we played, so we said, 'let's try to win at least two this time.' " The strategy certainly worked as Whitman-Hanson knocked off the previously unbeaten Whalers.

Whitman-Hanson has only lost to Patriot League rival Hingham and once to New Bedford earlier this season.

Despite allegations of recruiting basketball players at Lynn English High School, head coach Buzzy Barton said he had no knowledge of an assistant telling an East Boston student he could get him onto a Division 1 college team.

The allegations against Lynn English High School were discussed in a Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association hearing on Friday morning at Malden High.

English, a powerhouse under Barton (74-10) and the Division 1 state runners-up,  has four transfer players listed on its team this season — Jarell Byrd (Lynn Classical), Howard Holman (Lynn Tech), Jordan Rogers (Brookline), and Miguel Martinez-Rodriguez (Dominican Republic).

However, the debate centered on former East Boston student Cory McMillan. Headmaster Michael Rubin argued that McMillan was approached by a representative from the Lynn English coaching staff about transferring to play basketball while still a student at East Boston.

"Look at these [transfer] players," Rubin said. "They’re not just middle-of-the-run players, they’re all-stars. Cory himself is a hell of a basketball player. If he didn’t have that talent, he wouldn’t be out in Lynn right now."

McMillan, a junior, transferred to English this season, but was denied the right to play. According to MIAA rule, varsity players who transfer must sit out a year unless given permission to play by the sending school. The receiving school can appeal, but in this case, Lynn English was denied.

Another transfer, Bryan Ortiz (Salem) also started at Lynn English in the fall, and was also denied the right to play this year.

Rubin believes that McMillan was told by an English assistant coach that he could play Division 1 college basketball if he transferred.

Representatives from English did not deny the allegations, but they claimed to be to be unaware that recruiting was taking place.

"Everything that took place was Simmie Anderson (an assistant coach) acting on his own," said Thomas Strangie, assistant principal at English. "When it was brought to our attention, we took immediate action and suspended him for the rest of the year."

FULL ENTRY

By Paul Sulzer, Globe Correspondent

Taina Malary continued her tear on the glass by hauling in 31 for visiting Trinity Catholic in a 60-36 win over Nazareth yesterday.

The 5-foot, 9-inch forward posted rebounding totals of 40 and 21 earlier this week. Dora Ocampo chipped in 21 points for the Falcons (9-9).

By Paul Sulzer, Globe Correspondent

Tenth-ranked Archbishop Williams clinched the Catholic Central Conference title with a 53-52 double overtime win at Cardinal Spellman. The No. 18 Cardinals had a chance to win the game at the buzzer with a shot from the paint, but it rimmed out.

Bishop freshman Sara Ryan hit a 3-pointer with six seconds left in regulation to force overtime. Valerie Driscoll recorded 13 points and 22 rebounds for the Bishops (15-4, 10-2).

By Paul Sulzer, Globe Correspondent

Braintree escaped Weymouth with a 64-62 win after center Pat Delano put up the game-winner with nine seconds left.

Senior guard P.J. Douglas, who scored 29 points for the Wamps, surpassed the 1,000-point mark in the game.

By Paul Sulzer, Globe Correspondent

Sixth-ranked Newton North (8-2) wrapped up an undefeated Bay State league season with a 62-55 win at Needham.

The Tigers were 13-of-14 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. Senior forward Greg Kelley led the way with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

By Julie Gray, Globe Correspondent

Freshman point guard Tajanay Veiga had a quadruple double in Fenway's 57-17 win over South Boston Tuesday night. Veiga had 21 points, 11 assists, 11 rebounds and 10 steals, leading Fenway to victory and outscoring the entire South Boston team.

Senior center Jordan Smith had a triple double with 32 points, 16 rebounds and 10 blocks to help the Northshore boys win 75-52 over Northeast. The win clinches the Commonwealth league title for Northshore.

Senior guard Ryan Chambers scored a career high 39 points in Abington's 98-50 defeat of Cohasset. Chambers has 353 points on the season, making him the leading scorer in the South Shore league. The win secures the league championship for the Green Wave.

By Julie Gray, Globe Correspondent

Peabody defeated Lynn English, 59-58, improving to 15-1 and breaking Lynn English's 29-game winning streak in the Northeast Conference.

Point guard Jenny Fleming hit a free throw to win the game with five seconds left in the clock.

By Julie Gray, Globe Correspondent

The Westford girls improved to 16-1, clinching the Dual County Large division title with a 67-56 win over Newton South.

Newton South entered the second half with a five-point lead. Westford rallied to outscore the Lions 16-5 in the third quarter, taking the lead.

Senior point guard Suzanne Parker had 15 points and eight assists for the Grey Ghosts. In addition, senior forward Asia Ewing hit 1,000 points after scoring 17 points while grabbing 12 rebounds.

Chelsea Rafferty became the third player in the history of the Lowell Catholic girls' basketball program to reach 1,000 points with an 18-point performance in Sunday's 52-37 victory over Matignon.

Rafferty now joins her mother, Donna (Cavanaugh) Rafferty, who was a 1,000-point scorer in high school at Presentation of Mary Academy in Hudson, N.H., graduating in 1984. She was later a scholarship athlete at the University of Hawaii.

The senior reached the milestone with a jumper in the first quarter.

Haley McGuire, the second player in program history to reach the plateau, was in attendance to support Rafferty. McGuire played at UMass Boston before transferring to UMass Lowell last fall.

A 5-foot-8 senior center, Rafferty is averaging 18 points and 13 rebounds per game this season. after earning Catholic Central Conference MVP honors last season.

"She's played even better this year," said her coach, Tom Varnon. "She has great low post moves and she's really tough underneath the basket.

"She;s kind of a throwback player. I'd say she has no more than 15 3-pointers in her career, so she gets most of her points in the paint and at the free throw line."

Off the court, Rafferty has a 4.0 grade-point-average and is the president of the student council. The team captain is still undecided on where she'll go to college in the fall, but she's already made up her mind on a direction for her career.

"She wants to be a high school English teacher," said Varnon, "which means a lot to me, because that's what I am."

By Alex Prewitt, Globe Correspondent

It was a play the BB&N boys basketball team had worked on in practice all year. So when the time came to put it into action, it worked perfectly.

With 4.5 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, sophomore center Eric Olson canned a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, giving the Knights a 51-49 win at home Saturday afternoon over Groton in ISL play.

With the clock winding down, Groton (5-10) scored to go up 49-48. BB&N first-year coach Nick Papas responded by quickly calling a time out, drawing up the out-of-bounds play that freed the 6-foot, 6-inch Olson for a step-back three as the final horn sounded.

"He was our intended target," said Papas, who compared the play he called to the one that famously allowed Duke's Christian Laettner to hit the game-winner over Kentucky in 1992. "Fortunately it went to the right guy and we escaped with one against a team that played as well as we did."

Up 33-20 at the break, BB&N (12-6) withstood a furious rally by the Zebras in the latter half behind a game-high 19 points on five threes from junior guard Dan Flavin.

"Groton, to their credit, played a teriffic second half," Papas said.

Olson also contributed 11 points and 12 rebounds in the Knights' winning effort.

The Trinity Catholic Falcons took down their Central Catholic rival Marian 43-36 in overtime Friday night. After being down by five with just 1:09 left on the clock, junior guard Dora O'Campo nailed two free throws to tie the game at 36 and force the extra period.

From that point on, Falcons junior center Taina Malary took over. Over the course of the game, Malary had an unbelievable 40 rebounds. She also put up five points, six steals, and 15 blocks. And thanks to her impressive defensive performance, her team was able to come from behind and move up to 7-9 overall.

By Ryan Thomas, Globe Correspondent

For Falmouth boys basketball, the Atlantic Coast League crown is one step closer.

The Clippers (13-3, 9-1 ACL) beat the Marshfield Rams (11-3, 9-2) Friday night, 61-46, and are now the only Atlantic Coast team with less than two losses.

"Marshfield is well-coached, so for us to get this win, it was huge," Clippers coach Paul Lundberg said.

Falmouth's offensive production was spread out. Juniors John Lavin and Nelson Baptist had 15 and 13 respectively, while seniors Alessio Tranchel and DK Johnson scored 13 and 12.

Lundberg referred to the balanced scoring attack and the defense played on Marshfield's two top players, Barrett Murphy and Eric Deprado, as keys to the Clippers' victory.

Deprado, who dropped 17 points in Marshfield's 67-54 home win back on Jan. 12, was held to nine. Murphy, who also had 17 that night, scored 15 Friday.

By Julie Gray, Globe Correspondent

The No. 2 Raiders protected their undefeated season on Tuesday night, improving to 15-0 with a 61-47 victory over No. 14 Andover.

Senior captain and center Carson Desrosiers had a double-double with 11 points and 25 rebounds while Junior Jimmy Zenevitch scored 24 points and had 8 rebounds.

Central Catholic remains the only team with a perfect record in the Merrimack Valley Conference.

By Amara Grautski, Globe Correspondent

Coming off its first Middlesex League title in 30 years, Reading wasn't set-up this season to continue that success.

The Rockets graduated five all-star starters, and their promising center, 6-foot-tall sophomore Melissa DalPozzo, tore her ACL in their first game of the year. Reading coach Kim Penney said the pressure was on 17th ranked Melrose heading into the two teams' Middlesex League meeting last night. But even though the Red Raiders defeated No. 15 Reading earlier in the season, the Rockets pulled out the 49-40 win.

"Melrose is a great team, so for my team to beat them showed a lot of heart," Penney said.

The Rockets' scoring was led by freshman Olivia Healy (14 points, 11 rebounds) and junior Carlene Kluge (10 points, seven rebounds, five assists).

Reading trailed by a point at halftime. Although Hannah Brickley (18 points) provided balanced offense for the Red Raiders, the key to Reading's win was shutting down Colleen Hanscom. Penney said senior guard Deshanthi Perera (seven points) showed excellent defense against Hanscom, who scored all nine of her points before the break.

Defense was the difference maker between this meeting and their last — Reading (12-2, 12-2 Middlesex League) only surrendered eight turnovers and held Melrose (14-2, 12-2 league) to only five points in the fourth quarter.

The win puts Reading, Melrose, and 16th ranked Stoneham all in a first-place tie in the league.

"I'm just proud of them, that they're creating their own identity," Penney said. "That's our goal is to be the best we can every day. I'm just proud that they're getting better every day, because that's the sign of a very good team."

By Lorenzo Recupero , Globe Correspondent

"The crowd went nuts, the place was rocking" is how Scituate head coach Matt Poirier described the scene and reaction from the hometown fans and players as senior Sean Mcquaid laid in the game-winning basket with two seconds left, icing a 62-60 victory over Patriot league rival Whitman-Hanson on Monday.

Just two minutes into the game, senior guard Rodney Beldo was forced out of it with a dislocated finger, but it was his team high 16 points and crucial play in the waning moments that made his second half return special.

Tied at 60, the Panthers called a timeout with 10 seconds remaining for a halfcourt inbound pass. In the midst of multiple screens, Beldo was able receive the pass and find a seam in the defense and Sean Mcquaid in the post for the eventual game-winning basket.

"Rodney is special," said coach Poirier, who is in his 10th year coaching the Panthers. "He's a great player, it was a great play, but it's not your X's and O's but it's your Jim's and Joes." Poirier believes that players make great plays like the one his team was able to implement for the win Monday night. At 12-2 overall, 11-0 in the Patriot league, the Panthers qualified for their fifth straight playoff berth. Scituate will play league rival Duxbury on Wednesday.

By Lorenzo Recupero, Globe Correspondent

Fresh off a 70-52 win against Patriot league rival Pembroke, the Duxbury Green Dragons qualified once again for the tournament.

To say head coach Gordon Cushing has been a success at the helm for Duxbury, would be a major understatement — and maybe even an insult.

In his 12-year tenure, Cushing has coached his team to 11 consecutive division tournaments, including a Division 2 state championship in 2006. The one and only time Cushing failed to lead the Green Dragons to the playoffs was in his first year on the job.

By Charlie Peters, Globe Correspondent

Jenicia Duggins scored 24 points in a 63-45 win over visiting Marblehead, and in the process broke the school's all-time scoring record.

Duggins has 1,227 points in her career, with five games left in the season. It was her first field goal in the second half of the game that set the record.

The Bulldogs are now 13-2 overall with a sparkling 11-0 Northeastern Conference record.

By Charlie Peters, Globe Correspondent

In a 49-47 loss to Whitman-Hanson, Hanover's Kelly DuVall scored her 1,000 career point. The senior finished with 23 points.

Elsewhere, Saliah Serrett of Weston had an incredible double-double in a 59-31 win over visiting Tynsborough. In a game that saw Weston qualify for the postseason, the forward scored 13 points and ripped down a school-record 27 rebounds. She also added 6 steals and 5 blocks for good measure.

The scariest part about her game? She's just a freshman, so that record might not stand long.

By Charlie Peters, Globe Correspondent

Coming into their battle against visiting Sandwich Friday night, Marshfield was one of the hottest teams in Massachusetts, having won eight straight contests.

But Sandwich jumped out to an early lead and looked like it would cool Marshfield down. The Blue Knights led by 15 points with just four minutes left in the third when the Rams came alive to win 85-78.

Barrett Murphy and Nick DaPrato led the charge back, and each player finished with 24 points. The Rams are now 11-2.

By Charlie Peters, Globe Correspondent

North Attleboro won 57-56 in dramatic fashion, dispatching visiting Stoughton in double overtime.

Red Rocketeer Ed Fitzpatrick led all scorers with 27 points, but it was teammate Ryan Flannery's free throw with six seconds left that gave North Attleboro the lead. On the ensuing inbound, Stoughton couldn't advance the ball upcourt and threw up a desperation three.

By Charlie Peters, Globe Correspondent

Silver Lake's Courtney Yost, who leads the Patriot League in scoring, torched Middleboro in a 57-29 win Friday night.

Yost, only a sophomore, nearly matched the entire Sachem team, finishing with 27 points.

By Charlie Peters, Globe Correspondent

The Cohasset girls basketball team showed the definition of balance Friday night in a 57-33 victory over Norwell.

Meredith Kelly, Samantha Crough and Carli Haggerty scored 12 points apiece for the Skippers.

Each was a force on the boards as well. Haggerty had 10 rebounds, Crough had nine and Kelly had eight, cleaning the glass on both ends of the floor.

By Charlie Peters, Globe Correspondent

Rockport's boys basketball team is in an unfamiliar position: It's heading to the postseason.

The Vikings clinched their first playoff berth in 12 years with a tough 57-54 win over visiting Pentucket on Friday night.

Rockport is now 9-4 on the season.

By Charlie Peters, Globe Correspondent

Burke High's Khadijah Ellison has been playing at a high level, and national recruiting sites are starting to take notice. ESPN's Super 60 lists her as the top player in Massachusetts and ranked 54th nationally.

A recruiting representative from Michigan State watched Ellison in a 63-41 win over visiting West Roxbury Friday night, according to Burke coach John Rice. The junior made a verbal commitment to Boston College last year but reportedly has not made a final decision about joining the Eagles.

By Paul Sulzer, Globe Correspondent

Scoring eight points in a four-minute overtime period is sometimes enough to win a high school boys basketball game. But for coach Bill Cahill and the Gloucester Fighting Fishermen, it wasn't even enough to keep it close as visiting Peabody poured in 17 points to win 92-83.

"It was like watching Nevada-Las Vegas play back in the day," Cahill said.

The Fighting Fishermen needed a little luck to even get to overtime. Down two with the clock winding down in regulation, backup point guard Gabe Munoz pounced on a loose ball after a scuffle underneath the hoop and laid the ball in to tie the game with two seconds left.

The Tanners were too much in overtime though, as they drained their free throws to hold on.

Junior Adam Thilpott scored 41 points in defeat.

"He was everywhere tonight," Cahill said.

By Paul Sulzer, Globe Correspondent

Twenty Boston-area high school basketball players have been nominated to the McDonald’s All-American boys’ and girls’ teams. They are among the 1,260 boys and 877 girls competing for 24 positions on each team.

The following boys have been nominated: Eric Alleyne, Derek Retos, and Troy Robinson, Brimmer & May; Rod Odom, Middlesex School; Ryan Romich, Groton-Dunstable; Denzel Brito, Lawrence Academy; Carson Desrosiers, Cemtral Central Catholic; Jarell Byrd and Ryan Woumn, Lynn English; Greg Kelly, Newton North; Rodney Beldo, Scituate; and Melsahn Basabe and Nathanael Lubick, St. Mark’s.

Eight girls were also nominated: Christine Ganser, Needham; Valerie Driscoll, Archbishop Williams; Katie Zenevitch, Central Catholic; Demetria Bell, Tabor Academy; Rashidat Agboola, Methuen; Lauren Battista, Oliver Ames; Brittany Obi-Tabot, Watertown; and Asia Ewing, Westford.

The final rosters will be announced next month.

By Liz Torres, Globe Staff

Fenway freshman point guard Tajanay Veiga landed her second triple-double of the season on Latin Academy, dropping 13 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists to keep pace with down Boston City League leading scorer Robbi Cardoza (24 points) and give the Panthers a 65-44 win.

The Panthers (10-3) maintained a sizeable lead throughout the game, with Cardoza being the team's only challenge, scoring 15 points herself in the first half, Fenway coach Steven Drayton said.

Fenway sophomore Kayla Cox added 27 points in the win which qualified the Panthers for the state tournament.