St. Bernard’s 63, Gardner 49

The No. 2 Bernardians used an 11-2 run to take a 43-35 lead in the third quarter and relied on sharp shooting, fresh legs and a strong press to capture their second consecutive Division 2 Central Mass. title with a win over the No. 13 Wildcats at Fitchburg State. St. Bernard’s plays South Hadley at 6 p.m. on Tuesday in a state semifinal at the DCU Center. The Bernardians - which outscored Gardner, 19-6, in the third quarter – got 18 points from senior John Crawley and 15 points from classmate Andrew Baron, while fellow senior Justin Valliere had 12 points. Gardner put together a strong first half, getting 11 points from Devin Williams, to cut the lead to 32-30 at halftime, but the Wildcats couldn’t keep up with the defending champions in the second half. Williams finished with 13 points, while Dan Romero added nine and Andrew Gallant had eight.

»Gardner schedule/results

»St. Bernard’s schedule/results