ESPN

Catholic Memorial head basketball coach Dennis Tobin forwards along this year's Catholic Conference All-Stars:

LEAGUE MVP: MATT DRONEY, SR., CATHOLIC MEMORIAL
Steve Haladyna, Sr., St. John's Prep
Freddy Shove, Sr., St. John's Prep
Mike Carbone, Sr., St. John's Prep
Bryce Boggs, Jr., Xaverian
Jared Lewis, Sr., Malden Catholic
Kyle Sangster, Jr., Malden Catholic
John Mastascusa, Jr., Malden Catholic
Oderah Obukwelu, Sr., BC High
Charles Collins, Jr., BC High
Jameilen Jones, Jr., BC High
Dan Powers, Sr., Catholic Memroial
Armani Reeves, Sr., Catholic Memorial
Aahmane Santos, Soph., Catholic Memorial

LAWRENCE, Mass. -- Paul Neal slouched on a bench outside the Lawrence High gymnasium, the Lancers head coach exhaling deeply after a hard-fought Division 1 North First Round battle with St. John's Prep that took on a frenetic pace. Then his wide-eyed, unsung sophomore walked by, and Neal extended his left hand for a low-five.

"Great charge, brother," Neal said softly, but with authority. "That sealed the game."

Anyone who's watched Lawrence this year is familiar with the Lancers' affinity for the run-and-gun, and against set plays. So it shouldn't come as a whole heck of a surprise that the kid driving the stake into this 80-69 win over Prep was 6-foot-4 sophomore forward Roberto Speing's crunch-time work on the glass.

Speing had four defensive boards in the fourth quarter, all of them coming in the final two minutes as the Eagles (13-8) tried to rally with a number of attempts from deep. The icing on the cake, though, was taking his third charge of the game with 1:01 left and the Lancers (15-5) leading 75-65, sliding in front of Prep's Tyler Dooley as he crashed into the lane from his right.

"I had to take it," Speing laughed. "Coach Raymond [assistant Raymond Nunez] told me I had to take three charges today, and that's what I did. That was my third one."

Neal recalled a late-night conversation with Speing earlier this season, urging him to continue working hard on the glass -- continue to "dominate the last four or five minutes with rebounding," as he put it -- in spite of the lack of attention from the public. Eventually, Neal told him, people will take notice.

Tonight might have been an eye-opener for some. On the big stage, in front of an enthusiastic capacity home crowd, Speing finished with 10 rebounds -- six in the final frame.

"I think he's finally starting to understand that," Neal said. "He's starting to get recognized. I said, 'Listen, you're the Dennis Rodman of this team. You're the guy that can put a stop on people, and seal the defense'. Tonight, I think he was the man. He rebounded when we needed rebounds."

On the offensive end, meanwhile, it was senior guard Yadoris Arias (31 points, seven rebounds) leading the way with an explosive outburst, which included a 4-of-7 effort from three-point range.

But his most crucial possession was a heady one late in the game. Charging upcourt on a fast break off a long rebound, Arias drifted to the left corner, took a kick-out pass, hesitated for a moment and then pump-faked his defender. Arias drove baseline, took a foul on his way up to a reverse layup, and hit the free throw to complete a three-point play and go up 75-65 with 1:25 left.

"It gave us a lot of momentum, it felt great," Arias said. "Bunch of young guys on the court, they're hyped, they're bringing me up. So it's just a good play."

Stumbling, he continued, "I dunno, it just feels good right now, man. I'm speechless right now. It feels good."

Seniors Franklin Martinez (nine rebounds) and Leonny Burgos both added 14 points, and senior Tre'Von Farley 11, in the winning effort for Lawrence. Prep senior Steve Haladyna finished his stellar career on a good note, finishing with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Need for Speed: Lawrence pushed up the tempo significantly in the second quarter, leading to an 11-2 run to open, and overall it yielded some pretty favorable results. Defenders up top began strafing upcourt as soon as Prep shot went up, leading to long outlet passes. After baskets, the ballcarrier either took a long outlet on the run or brought the ball over halfcourt quickly.

That led to a number of good looks from the perimeter. Lawrence was 5-for-5 from three-point range for the quarter, three of them coming from Arias. But when Neal motioned for the troops to slow it down a bit with under three to go in the first half, the Eagles quickly mounted themselves right back into the game. Haladyna took an entry pass from freshman Marcos Echevarria and kissed a hook shot off the glass; that was followed by a tip-in and backdoor layup from Owen Marchetti.

Prep cut the lead to 41-37 at the half, but Lawrence turned up the speed again in the second half, leading 61-54 after three and never relinquishing control.

"We're not an offensive set team," Neal said. "We've got athletes, and we want to make guys keep up with us. I think execution-wise, [in the] halfcourt St. John's Prep is a much better team -- and most teams we're going to play, you know what I mean? But if we can get guys that we know can run and jump and get the game up and down, I think it favors us."

Playin' Like Jaylen: Folks around Lawrence are still talking about the Lancers' run to last year's Division 1 North final at TD Garden, after entering the tournament a No. 15 seed. Fueling that run was Jaylen Alicea, who played his way into an ESPN Boston All-State nod after averaging 30 points in five tournament games.

Arias considers Alicea a close friend, and displays many of the same characteristics -- same haircut, same chin-strap beard that's long in the chin area, similar-looking tattoos. Arias wore No. 12 last season, but has switched to Alicea's number.

"He was like a brother to me," Arias said. "When we were younger, he always had 12 and I always had 15. He left last year...so I just wanted to keep the number going and represent it well."

With 31 points tonight, Arias is off to a good start in following the momentum Alicea built in last year's tournament.

"He's playing on a mission, because I think he was in the shadows of Jaylen for years," Neal said. "They're different kinds of players, but some things are similar and they're good buddies. So I think it's his time to show he can play without those guys and still accomplish stuff as a team. There's some drive in him from that era, too."

Up Next: The No. 7 seed Lancers await the winner of Thursday night's contest between No. 2 Acton-Boxborough and No. 15 Methuen, with the game likely to be played over the weekend. A-B is the heavy favorite, but Neal said for preparation purposes "I spend a lot of time focusing on us, and then do a few simple changes."

"We want to run, and everybody knows that," Neal said. "And if you can stop that, well, good luck. We're going to try to come at you, no matter who we're playing."

DANVERS, Mass. -- If there's any doubt about East Boston head coach Malcolm Smith's ability to utilize his resources, let tonight's result against St. John's Prep stand as Exhibit A -- and close the case shut.

Dressing just nine players, and without starting forwards Kenny Ramos and Kwandell Bush due to a violation of team rules -- certainly not the first time he's disciplined a key player, nor the last -- the Jets turned in one of their most inspired defensive first halves of the regular season. They held the host Eagles to just 16 points in the first two quarters, then staved off a furious fourth-quarter rally to win, 58-52.

"With this team, it's a bunch of guys that, hey, they just want to do it," Smith said. "They want to do it for their hometown, they want to do it for where they come from. I told them going into tonight's game that, listen, we've got to play this like we're in Dorchester House in the preseason fall league.

"I said fellas, you know, we're undermanned and we've always had some adversity, whether it's dressing five there or seven there, so you've got to take that mentality there. And we always play hard, but you've got to bring it in here a little bit more structured and disciplined, and that's what they did."

The Jets (12-4) dominated the first half, forcing a slew of turnovers with dogged backcourt pressure and sideline traps to make up for their lack of scoring ability at the offensive end. They took a 24-16 lead into the break, and led as much as 41-24 with under three minutes to go in the third quarter before the Eagles (10-6) mounted an impressive rally.

Down 43-32 to start the final frame, Prep cut the lead to 47-45 when Mike Carbone came up with a strip steal at halfcourt and heaved a lob to Steve Haladyna (31 points, eight rebounds), picking up a foul in the process. He missed the free throw, but capped a perfect 5-for-5 start from the field for the quarter with the lay-in.

At the other end, Eastie broke through some intense Prep backcourt pressure to convert some key field goal attempts down the stretch, none bigger than a dunk by Will March (16 points) with under a minute to go. With the Eagles gambling big time in moving their 2-3 zone high up in the halfcourt and converging on guard Pat Santos in the backcourt, he was able to get the ball over the top to a wide open March underneath and make it 57-49.

Freshman point guard Marcos Echevarria hit a three-pointer to close it to 57-52 with 31 seconds left, and fouled Santos to send him to the line and push the lead back out to six. But on the ensuing possession Freddy Shove missed a driving layup with 14 ticks to go, and three bodies converged on the loose board for a jump ball, and Eastie possession.

Helping out: The Jets were most impressive defensively in pressuring the backcourt, and providing help on the perimeter. Anybody who has watched Eastie over the years knows an aggressive press defense is its source of pride, and for the first 16 minutes an array of guards made life difficult for whoever took the ball in, harrassing them from the baseline to over halfcourt. From there, players like Zack Gattereau, Travon Moore, Ian Jones, Andre Senior and Kyle Fox were able to lend a hand.

In the halfcourt, the Prep is traditionally a tough out for its surgery running the motion offense -- a scheme that, by nature, is difficult to gameplan for. But whenever Connolly called for a pick-and-roll, an Eastie defender was usually in proper place on the help side to take a good angle and try to pick the ball off.

Those two areas led to a number of turnovers, both forced and unforced, including 11 total team steals.

"We worked on that yesterday," Smith said of the pick-and-roll defense. "And I don't really think it settled in. But you know, in the pre-game today, [I told them] 'Fellas listen, on their pick-and-rolls we've got to play it NBA-style'. They liked that, and I just thought it was phenomenal today.

"Ain't much I had to do with it, but we worked on it yesterday and it didn't really go that well. But today they communicated exceptionally well on it, they were able to hedge on everything else."

DANVERS, Mass. -- It was one of those games where you could tell early on that it was going to come down to the wire.

Both teams made runs at various points in the games, and answered back when their opponent made theirs. Ultimately, it was No. 2 Catholic Memorial that came out on top 56-55 over No. 16 St. John’s Prep Tuesday night.

It was a rematch between between two Catholic Conference foes who met Jan. 13. Catholic Memorial took home the 89-64 victory.

Prep came out strong, determined to show the teams’ first game was a fluke, and was helped by CM’s early shot selection. While CM coach Denis Tobin was clamoring for ball movement and involving players in the post, his team was settling for perimeter shots that were not falling.

After calling a timeout, his team appeared to settle down and closed the gap on Prep. The Knights’ full-court press flummoxed the Prep offense, forcing them into making errant passes and into turnovers. At the end of the first, CM held a 13-12 lead.

“I have super athletes who can really really harass the ball,” said Tobin. “Then I have (Dan) Powers (15 points) and (Matt) Droney (17 points) who have played four years in the system and really know where to rotate to when the ball is in the air.

"So you take Chris Siggers, Aamahne Santos (11 points), and Armani Reeves (4 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals) pressuring the ball and you have two 1,000 scorer veterans who know where the pass is most likely going to go. Then you have big Gerard Adams in the back if they do happen to break it, so it can be pretty effective.”

The two teams battled back and forth for the remainder of the first half, with no team ever taking a lead of more than four points.

Catholic Memorial took a 25-21 lead into the half, but came out in the third and quickly stretched its lead to nine. As was the case all night, Prep answered back and cut the score to 37-33 heading into the fourth.

Again sticking to the theme of the game, CM started the quarter strong and brought the lead back up to 9 points behind two three-pointers by Powers and Droney. This time, it took Prep a few minutes longer to answer back.

With 2:23 left in the game, CM took a 52-41 lead. After only scoring one basket over the next minute and 45 seconds, Owen Marchetti hit two quick three-pointers to make it 53-50. Because it was so late in the game, Prep was forced into foul-mode, which put Droney at the free-throw line.

It was a spot the newest member of CM's 1,000-point club had been in before. He sank both free throws, making it a two-possession game with about 15 seconds to go.

As the final seconds ticked down, Marchetti heaved the ball from just over halfcourt. It banked off the backboard and went in as time expired, allowing CM to come away with the one-point victory.

“Those free throws at the end mattered a lot,” said Tobin. “We didn’t make all of them, but we made the front ends of one-and-ones with a lot of pressure on. The kids stepped up and did a great job at the line and that just goes to show you that the game isn’t over until the horn goes off.”

Kinks in the press break: In an attempt to beat the CM press, Prep employed Isaiah Robinson in the center of the floor, flanked by Steve Haladyna and Freddy Shove. The idea was to facilitate quick side-to-side ball movement with the three veteran players, preventing the defense from collapsing on one player, while Prep moved the ball over halfcourt.

That was not always the case, however. On multiple occasions Tuesday night, Robinson had the ball in his hands with a light defensive presence around him. Because he is not normally relied on to dribble the basketball much on offense, he committed more than one traveling violation.

On other possessions, the ball pressure from Siggers, Santos, and Reeves was so immense that they were either able to steal the ball or jump in front of Prep’s passes, allowing them to take the ball the other way.

“We weren’t really looking to go back to him (Isaiah) and I think guys were a little timid and not attacking and being aggressive, so they went back to him,” said Prep coach Sean Connolly. “They forced us into a lot of turnovers , and that hurt with (Mike) Carbone out too. He’s another guy that could make better decisions with the ball.”

Carbone sidelined: Carbone, a normal Prep starter, was dressed in street clothes for the game as the result of a concussion. He has been out of action for about a week and a half. This put Drex Costello into the starting lineup and rely on his bench to increase its production.

“Mike’s our best shooter so defenses don’t extend out as much,” said Connolly. “When he’s out, we have other guys who aren’t as consistent shooting the ball so the defense can pack it in a little more. That hurts us I think, especially when we have Isaiah and Haladyna trying to post up.”

Battling the boards: Although it did not come away with the victory, Prep flexed its muscles on the boards the whole game. Two of its players had double-doubles (Haladyna -- 22 points, 12 rebounds; Robinson -- 12 points, 15 rebounds) and a third with double-digit rebounds (Shove, with 15). The leading Knights rebounder was Armani Reeves with 6.

“Overall, we defended and we rebounded, that’s what we were looking to do,” said Connolly. “We haven’t been doing those two things, so I was fairly pleased with that.”

Connolly feels that if he can duplicate that production and get his whole team back and healthy, it could make a run as the end of the season approaches.

“Only if we rebound and defense like we did tonight,” he said. “Those are the two things that have been a glaring weakness. We’ve been stressing those, and I think the kids responded. Obviously our offensive execution was not very good, so to beat teams like this we have to get better on the offensi

DORCHESTER, Mass. -- Maybe the most effective way to slow down No. 1 St. John’s Prep is to play a zone defense, because that is what No. 9 BC High did Tuesday night, and came away with a 53-47 victory.

When Prep’s crisp ball movement was giving the BC High (4-2) defense fits early in the first quarter, BC High coach Bill Loughnane called a timeout.

From that point, his team played a zone defense that double-teamed the Prep (5-1)perimeter players whenever they caught the ball in the corner. This left a player open for a cross-court pass. When Prep tried those, the passes were in the air for so long it allowed BC High to rotate back to that side of the floor. To combat the defensive rotations, the Prep player would try to quickly throw the ball inside to either Isaiah Robinson or Owen Marchetti in the post.

There, they were often met by either BC High’s Justin Roberts, Oderah Obukwelu, or Pete Timmins, who had 8 blocks between the three of them.

“Their zone and their length really bothered us,” said Prep coach Sean Connolly. “We had trouble finishing in and around the hoop because they’re so long. We didn’t do a very good job reversing it against their zone. I thought BC High did a very good job of keeping us to one side and not being able to get ball reversals.”

Prep fell down 43-33 midway through the fourth quarter, but they would not go away quietly. After a Mike Carbone 3-pointer and a Steve Haladyna and-one, the lead was quickly cut down.

It a 45-42 game with one minute left, but Prep could not seem to get that basket they needed to tie the game up. With time running out, Connolly called out for his players to foul to stop the clock.

That put the game in the hands Jameilen Jones and Charles Collins at the free throw line. Jones was a perfect 4-of-4 in the final minute, while Collins was 3-of-4.

While the two appeared poised at the line and ultimately put the game away, the same could not be said for the BC High sideline.

“We were very happy to his those free throws, believe me,” said Loughnane. “We were biting our nails on the bench hoping they would go in.”

Regardless of how unsettling it may have been down the stretch, Loughnane felt it was a good win for his team.

“I thought they played better than us this game, but I thought one of the things we had to show was that we could play with a team such as St. John’s,” he said. “It’s just competing every play and finishing every play, and I thought, after a shaky start, that our guys did a nice job getting on that.”

Prep poor from the line: One aspect of the game that did not help Prep’s at all was their ineffectiveness from the free throw line. As a team, they were 10-of-22. Another problem was their inability to hit from beyond the 3-point arc. Sharpshooters Freddy Shove, Haladyna (15 points), and Carbone (eight) hit only five 3-pointers all game. Shove in particular had a quiet game. He had only one field goal in the game and was 2-of-7 from the free throw line.

“As a team, we were settling for way too many 3’s instead of attacking more,” said Connolly. “But you have to give BC High credit. They did a very good job. We didn’t shoot it well from the free-throw line, but that wasn’t really the issue. I think they out toughed us and they deserved to win tonight.”

“The biggest key for us defensively was keeping them off the free-throw line,” said Jameilen Jones (16 points). “Because Coach told us prior to that, they went 35-of-38 from the line [last week, against New Mission]. So we didn’t want them to get to the free-throw line.”

Swarming D: BC High’s defensive effort was one that other teams around the MIAA ought to take notice of. It had eight steals and 12 blocks, which helped set the tone throughout the game.

“We have to take advantage [of the teams’ height difference],” said Jones. “They were definitely confident coming into the game and ready to go. We play really aggressive defense and Justin [Roberts] and Oderah [Obukwelu] have great chemistry, so down in the post, they’re fine.”

The game-defining block came in the last minute of play. With Prep trying to close the deficit, Haladyna took a pass in the left corner and attempted to launch a 3-pointer. Seeing this, Obukwelu leaked out and jumped up just in time to block the shot and sent it out of bounds preserving the lead.

Ambitious schedule paying off: BC High might have two losses on the season, but it knows its best basketball is ahead of it. Especially when those two losses are against an undefeated team (Acton-Boxborough) and a one-loss team (Charlestown).

“We’re definitely confident, beating a No. 1 team,” said Jones. “I don’t think we’re going to go forward being nervous or anything like that. We’ve played pretty good teams coming up to this, so we should be fine.”

CHELSEA, Mass. -- St. John's Prep head coach Sean Connolly was reminded of his team's 18-2 run to start the nightcap of Tuesday's slate of games at the BABC Holiday Classic, and offered some pointed praise.

"We've been disappointed with our defense early on in the season, and we came out and played a lot better defense today," he said following his Eagles' 69-60 win over the Titans, which puts them in Thursday's finals. The Eagles also beat New Mission in the opening round of the "Class A" division last year's BABC tournament.

Down the other end, New Mission head coach Cory McCarthy was reminded of the start, and offered one of his trademark long, exaggerated groans.

"They kept five guys in the paint, and they dared us to shoot the ball," he said. "And the problem was, we couldn't stretch the floor."

Losing one of their leading scorers Percio Gomez (18 points per game) for disciplinary reasons, and playing star forward Isshiah Coleman for less than 20 minutes due to foul trouble, didn't help matters. But it was domination on both ends of the floor to start the game for Prep (4-0), which opened the game in a sagging man-to-man defense aimed at filling the lanes to force perimeter shots from the Titans (3-1) and taking away dribble-drive penetration.

When the Titans did try to go inside, the Eagles were usually in proper position for drawing contact and using aggression against them; three charges were called on Mission in the opening stanza.

"We were scared of them penetrating, so we really wanted to get the help defense in, and make them have to beat us from the outside," Connolly said. "We did a good of helping up, and stepping in and taking charges."

It was very efficient to start, as the Eagles led 18-2 after one quarter and 37-22 at the break. Mission stormed back in the fourth quarter with a 15-5 run, cutting the Eagles' lead to 56-53 on a Leroy Hamilton (16 points) layup from the baseline with 3:51 to go. But the Prep was particularly efficient in free throws in the fourth quarter to ice it, with the Eagles hitting 15 of 16 from the line -- including a perfect 8 of 8 by Owen Marchetti (12 points).

For the game, the Prep was a very respectable 35 of 38 from the free throw line.

"Our team shot pretty good from the line," said senior guard Mike Carbone, who led all scorers with 18 points. "I don't know how many we missed, but that was definitely our best game from the line."

Senior Steve Haladyna had yet another double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Freddy Shove also had 11 points and six boards.

Rinse and repeat: As impressive as the Eagles' game-opening defensive stand was, they were also just as efficient in breaking the Titans' 2-2-1 full court press. Over and over again, the Prep ballhandler would push the ball up one sideline to halfcourt and heave it down court towards the opposite sideline as a second trapping defender approached.

"We wanted to throw it over the top," Connolly said. "We'd seen them before, and thought they really overextended those two back guys, so we wanted to try to beat it over the top. We felt dribbling through it wasn't a good option for us, we wanted to pass over it."

McCarthy admitted his players were "a little undisciplined" in their press, "because we were too anxious."

"Usually, our idea of our pressure is to challenge the ballhandler," he said. "We backed up. We were just so inexperienced, that we'd be looking at the score as we were running back on defense. The score concerned us so much today. But you know, it happens. We're talented, but we can't be on a pedestal because we have a lot of growing pains to do."

Carbone steps it up: Connolly praised Carbone's effort the last few games, after getting off on a shoddy start to the season.

While not incredible, consider tonight a spin in the positive direction. The spunky 5-foot-8 senior came out firing, with a little bit of his customary swagger, and was 3-of-5 from three-point range, his only field goals of the night (he was 3 of 9 from the field overall). From the free throw line, he was a perfect 9 for 9.

"I haven't been shooting the ball that well lately, and it's gotten to my head," Carbone said. "In practice, I've been focusing on my shot more than anything else I've done. I don't know, it's just the adrenaline, you know? I got into it."

Fab Froshies: One of the most intriguing subplots of this game was the matchup between two freshman point guards, Prep's Marcos Echevarria and Mission's Greg Bridges. Both are undersized for their position, but are quick off the dribble and demonstrate maturity and an overall even keel when it comes to shot selection and distribution.

When the Titans mounted their comeback in the second half, it was Bridges that kick-started it. The 5-foot-5 waterbug notched six assists in the third quarter alone, and eight overall for the game. Echevarria won't be lighting up the score sheet on many nights, what with the Eagles' four seniors' abilities, but he showed a good understanding of Connolly's motion offense, and initiated ball movement.

"I thought their kid played well, he didn't turn the ball over," McCarthy said of Echevarria.

As for Bridges, McCarthy continued, "He has to learn to force the action a little bit, because even as a freshman he makes good decisions. He could do that [six assists in third quarter] all the time. He's still a freshman, still a young boy, so I think what ended up happening is he didn't try to do too much when I wanted him to do more.

"It's scary to say that of a freshman, but he's so talented that he should do a lot more. He should look for his shot, look for the action, and I know that's crazy to say about a freshman but he should force the action. He has to be involved, and he wasn't involved the way he should have."

Here are the final pool play results and playoffs scores from the second and final day of the RBC High School Summer Challenge, at Coolidge Middle School in Reading.

Pool Play
Ashland 59, Austin Prep 42
Central Catholic 58, Acton-Boxborough 36

Quarterfinals
Byes: Central Catholic, North Andover
Manchester-Essex 73, Acton-Boxborough 70
St. John's Prep 60, Belmont 55

Semifinals
Central Catholic 100, Manchester-Essex 77
North Andover 70, St. John's Prep 63

Championship
Central Catholic 72, North Andover 49

TOURNAMENT MVP - LUIS PUELLO, CENTRAL CATHOLIC

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Doug Gemmell, Central Catholic
Tyler Nelson, Central Catholic
Nick Cambio, Central Catholic
Zack Karalis, North Andover
Isaiah Nelson, North Andover
Colby Smith, North Andover
Steve Haladyna, St. John's Prep
Freddy Shove, St. John's Prep
Owen Marchetti, St. John's Prep
Joe Flannery, Acton-Boxborough
Kevin LaFrancis, Acton-Boxborough
Taylor Ketchum, Manchester-Essex
Sean Nally, Manchester-Essex
Chris Bishop, Manchester-Essex
John Dillon, Belmont
Sam Musler, Belmont
Tim Juih, Ashland
Rodney Morton, Malden

We've got you covered from the first tip-off to the final buzzer tomorrow at Worcester's DCU Center, home of six MIAA basketball state championships. But for now, to whet your appetite, here's high school editor Brendan Hall's picks for each of the six games.

DIVISION 3 GIRLS: LEE (24-1) VS. ST. MARY'S OF LYNN (23-4)
The Lowdown: In a season of relative unknowns in Division 3, the Wildcats of Lee dominated Western Mass again, albeit to nobody's surprise. Puncutated by wins over Division 1 finalist Amherst and Division 3 juggernaut Sabis (which was averaging nearly 70 points per game before falling in the D3 West final to Lee), the Wildcats are at it again with that famously dogged press of theirs. Always undersized yet always relentless, they blitzed Pentucket a year ago on the DCU floor en route to their sixth state title in 20 years, and could be up to their same old tricks tomorrow morning. St. Mary's, meanwhile, has size all over the place, led by the senior "Twin Towers" of 6-foot-2 center Tori Faieta and 5-foot-11 forward Cassi Amenta. The Spartans beat Lee a month ago, 71-60, in a tournament just before the start of the MIAA playoffs.
Hall's Pick: History says to never take Lee lightly -- no matter what shape or size it comes in. But unfortunately, there is just too much size to be accounted for on St. Mary's side of things. Not that they're unbeatable, but I just think the Spartans will control the glass. St. Mary's, 50-45.

DIVISION 3 BOYS: WHITINSVILLE CHRISTIAN (22-2) VS. WATERTOWN (19-5)
The Lowdown: Another matchup that on paper looks uneven, the Whitinsville Christian Crusaders boast plenty of size behind 6-foot-9 Hans Miersma, who dominated Lenox in Wednesday night's Central/West semifinal. Meanwhile, Watertown's tallest player is 6-foot-3 senior forward Connor Stockdale -- whom head coach Steve Harrington likens to another point guard on the floor -- and Marco Coppola, one of the state's leading scorers with 25 points per game. Whitinsville excels in the 2-3 zone but isn't afraid to quickly drop it and play straight man should they get into early trouble. But this is Harrington's Raiders, which means you're likely to see four things: weakside post, four out, pick and roll, perimeter shots. In other words, don't take the Raiders lightly, especially if they don't try to challenge Miersma immediately at the rim.
Hall's Pick: The tale of the tape favors Whitinsville, just based on the size it wields in the frontcourt. But Steve Harrington is one of the best coaches in New England, and you can guarantee he's going to draw up a hell of a game plan to try and neutralize the size advantage. Whitinsville Christian, 65-64.

DIVISION 2 GIRLS: ARLINGTON CATHOLIC (20-6) VS. MILLBURY (23-1)
The Lowdown: The Arlington Catholic Cougars -- led by Emma Roberson, Nicole Catizone, and sisters Rachel and Maura Buckley -- can be viewed as a green bunch with all of their youth abound. But on Monday night at TD Garden, they pulled off one of the more impressive feats in recent EMass Finals history, clawing back from 18 down with six minutes left in the first half to take a halftime lead over Hopkinton and hold it up. Meanwhile, Millbury has burned opponents in the transition game all season long, beating opponents in the playoffs so far by an average of 16.5 points per game. Out on the break, seniors Julie Frankian (19.1 points, 8.3 rebounds) and Sydney Bloomstein (9.5, 6.1) have been as formidable duo as we've seen in Division 2.
Hall's Pick: Sorry, AC. That was an amazing comeback you pulled over Hopkinton over the Garden. But this is Julie Frankian's moment in the sun. Millbury, 60-48.

DIVISION 2 BOYS: NORTHBRIDGE (20-5) VS. NEW MISSION (21-4)
The Lowdown: Mission was the odds-on favorite in Division 2 headed into the season, and hasn't done a whole lot to convince otherwise. Led by three Northeast-10 ready senior guards in Samir McDaniels, Kachi Nzerem and Darius Davis; as well as Charles Gunter, Leroy Hamilton, and Isshiah Coleman on the blocks; the Titans have begun to find that scoring touch around the rim that was missing for stretches this season. They also like to wear opponents out with a smothering, physical man-to-man defense -- as head coach Cory McCarthy often tells reporters, "The uglier, the better." Good news for the Titans: Northbridge relishes in that style, too. Eight of its players were on the Rams squad that won a Division 2 football Central Mass Super Bowl this past fall, and have brought that aggressive mentality to the floor with forwards (and brothers) Thomas and Harrison Murphy. Also watch out for Corey Pryor, who burned Sabis on Wednesday night with a series of uncontest layups en route to 24 points.
Hall's Pick: Cory McCarthy is known to fill up a reporter's notebook fairly quickly with his endless arsenal of money quotes. But the one that still resonates above the rest is the one he gave our correspondent Adam Kurkjian back in December: "I love these kids. I would do anything for these kids. And I feel like they will eat glass for me." Remember that one if this is close in the waning minutes. Mission, 58-47.

DIVISION 1 GIRLS: ANDOVER (26-1) VS. AMHERST (22-2)
The Lowdown: Amherst, written off the in preseason after the transfer of Mariah Lesure to Tabor Academy, has rolled through Western Mass, and arrives in Worcester after a thrilling overtime defeat of Algonquin in Tuesday's Central/West state semifinal. Much of the Hurricanes' emergence has to do with the maturation of their junior class led by Brianna Leonard (11.1 points), Morbasaw Nkambeo (10.0) and Kristen Ferrola (9.3). The Golden Warriors, meanwhile, were one of several heavy favorites in Division 1 headed into the season, and save a lone regular-season blip to Central Catholic have done nothing to deter that thinking. Much has been made of Andover's Division 1-ready backcourt led by Marist-bound senior Natalie Gomez-Martinez and BC-bound junior Nicole Boudreau, the state's newly-anointed Gatorade Player of the Year. But the Warriors excel on the boards, too, behind junior Ally Fazio and sophomore Devon Caveney.
Hall's Pick: At the risk of jinxing this...should Andover win, I don't think it's out of the realm to think the Warriors have a shot next season at making it the first Division 1 girls three-peat since Haverhill in the mid-90's. Long Live The MVC. Andover, 70-60.

DIVISION 1 BOYS: ST. JOHN'S PREP (24-1) VS. ST. JOHN'S OF SHREWSBURY (21-5)
The Lowdown: After the loss of Ryan Kelley (ACL tear) and stalemate of a Central Final defeat of Fitchburg (40-38), some questioned whether Shrewsbury was ripe for the picking. The Pioneers put an end to that doubt on Wednesday night, handling a talented Northampton squad with physical defense and clutch shooting from Matt Harrington. Head coach Bob Foley is known for his Princeton-ish offense, this year led by forward pivots Matt Palecki and Richard Rodgers, but we've seen the Pioneers transition teams to death in state championships past (Lynn English, 2009, anyone?). This marks the fourth straight D1 final appearance for SJS, while Prep is making its first appearance since 1974. The matchup of the day might be Pat Connaughton versus Rodgers (we'll just assume that's what Prep head coach Sean Connolly will do for now), but the Eagles have prided themselves all year long on the work of their role players. Every game, it's a different kid stepping up, between Steve Haladyna, Freddy Shove, Mike Carbone, Owen Marchetti and Isaiah Robinson.
Hall's Pick: It's going to be a rockfight on the court, and both student sections are going to be rocking out. And I do mean rocking. I literally can't wait. By the way, every high school fan ever, you've got your work cut out for you after Northampton's "Full Metal Jacket" routine the other night at DCU. Prep, 45-41.

BOSTON -- Mansfield scored seven points in the first quarter, all by senior Jeff Hill. In the second quarter when the St. John’s Prep Eagles’ section in the TD Garden chanted “sin-gle dig-it!”, there is a chance that may have been in response to Mansfield coach Mike Vaughan being quoted this week as saying that defense could be deemed a “weakness” of the Prep.

Although they were able to avoid a total thrashing, the St. John’s Prep defense put on a clinic and stunned the Hornets who were unable to score consistently, finally dropping in a 64-55 decision that put the Eastern Mass Division 1 title on a course to the Spring Street campus.

“I guess I misspoke a little,” said Vaughan. “I meant if they had a weakness, that was where it was at.”

Mansfield’s usual offensive leader scorer, Michael Lofton, was kept to 10 points, five of those coming in the fourth quarter.

“Coach prepared [us] for them, but he didn’t really talk about them being that good at defense, just offensive wise,” said Lofton. “He knew that our defense would be able to beat their offense, but unfortunately their defense was pretty good tonight.”

St. John’s Prep (24-1) coach Sean Connolly prescribes to the "Understanding by Design" method used by teachers: choose your desired outcome first, and then implement the necessary exercises to produce the desired result.

“We wanted to work him (Lofton) the full court all day and pressure him… try to wear him out a little bit,” said Connolly. “Connor Macomber did a very good job on him throughout the game.”

The leading scorer for Mansfield (24-3) was Hill with 20 points. In the fourth, with 5:59 left, Hill scored off of a Joseph Gracia assist to cut the Prep's lead to 44-41. Connolly called a timeout, but the Prep players had internal conversations before he addressed the huddle, according to Notre Dame-bound senior forward Pat Connaughton (23 rebounds, 15 points, five steals, five assists).

“Before coach started talking, everyone paused and I think everyone thought the same thought,” said Connaughton. “That was really like a time check. ‘We got here, are we satisfied with just getting here or are we trying to do what we’ve been saying we’re going to try to do all season?’”

Although Lofton got another steal and Hill scored on a drive to the hoop off of the outlet pass to make the game 44-43 with just over five minutes to go, the score slowly spaced out from that point. With 2:45 to go, Steve Haladayna (20 points, six rebounds) scored on a Connaughton assist to make the game 52-47. On the next trip to the basket, Connaughton drained two free throws to spread the lead out to 7.

Mansfield would come closer, within six on a Lofton score with 1:03 left to make it 57-51, but sophomore Kevin Conner and senior Daniel Dion would be the sole Hornets to score in the last minute; the rest of the team was stifled by the Prep’s swarming defense. Connaughton felt that although Mansfield worked their way back into the game, his team was not sticking to their game and that contributed to the potential comeback.

“We were just trying to hold the lead, but that’s not how we play,” said Connaughton. “We play to try to extend the lead, we play aggressively and that’s how we built the lead in the first place, so why not go back to that?”

Sophomore Isiah Robinson had eight points, seven rebounds, two steals and a block for the Prep. He was not a staple in the lineup in the beginning of the season, but as time has passed, so he has grown.

“He’s getting better and better everyday,” Connolly said. “He’s a big body, he rebounds well, got good post moves, so it’s just a matter of him finding his rhythm. We’ll probably be running a lot of offense through him next year.

“I felt like I should step up and make some plays out there,” said Robinson. “I know that I am a sophomore, but I felt I could go out there and do it; coach believes in me and the team believes in me.”

Freddy Shove also scored seven points and had three steals for the Eagles.

“He’s just all over the place,” said Connolly. “He works hard, he sprints after rebounds, he defends, he boxes out, he’s a very physical kid. He does all the little things that don’t show up on the stat sheet a lot.”

“They’re deep, they’re talented and they give you a lot of different options,” added Vaughan, saying that there is a good reason why the Eagles were predicted to win the state title during the preseason. “They don’t sub to weaken, they sub to reload and tonight was no different.”

LAWRENCE, Mass. -- Nobody seemed to know too much about this gangly, shaggy-haired kid named Freddy Shove when the junior arrived on the St. John's Prep campus this past fall, fresh from Lynnfield High, to try out for the school's basketball team.

"I knew him from playing summer league, but other than that I had no idea," admitted Notre Dame-bound senior captain Pat Connaughton.

All the 6-foot-2 Shove offers on a given night is hustle -- granted, in bunches. And last night, in the most crucial moments of this massive Division 1 North semifinal tilt before a capacity crowd at Lawrence High, all those little things -- all those kamikaze crashes to the boards after every shot release -- added up to give the Eagles just enough to hold off and knock off defending D1 state champ Central Catholic, 63-60, to return to the TD Garden for a second straight appearance in the D1 North final.

Prep (22-1) now awaits the winner of tonight's Lawrence-Lynn English semifinal at Reading High, while Central ended its season 21-3.

"He's been like this for us all year," Prep head coach Sean Connolly said of Shove. "He works non-stop, he works as hard as anyone you'd expect. He goes full-out all the time."

Shove put in a season-best 15 points to go along with nine rebounds, helped catapult the Eagles along with Steve Haladyna (23 points) in a 12-0 second quarter run, and toiled in rotations against Central's big man, 6-foot-7 Assumption commit Jimmy Zenevitch (33 points, 13 rebounds). But he'll most be remembered for his efforts in the final 2:30 of game, in which he sandwiched a foul-drawing put-back in between two crucial offensive boards.

"Just crash the boards, make Zenevitch work," Shove said of his mentality tonight. "Zenevitch doesn't box out as well, but he grabs the rebounds because he's 6-foot-7. So, you have to look for the spots where he's not, and just hope the ball bounces that way, and just get behind the players and go for the ball."

Said Connaughton, "He's brought toughness. We had George Sessoms bring a lot of the toughness last year, and Freddy's brought it this year. He goes hard every single practice, every game, every single second of every single time he's on the floor. So that's huge to get us over the hump."

The Eagles turned in arguably their best defensive rotation of the night, with Shove on the floor, as the Raiders had 16 seconds out of a timeout to create a shot from behind the arc. With Luis Puello stalled off a high screen, and Jaycob Morales under heavy pressure out of a double, they ended up settling for their third option -- Zenevitch -- hucking up a contested 30-foot three-pointer that clanked as the buzzer sounded.

Meanwhile, Connaughton finished with 17 rebounds but a miserable 12 points on 5 of 23 from the field, including an unheard-of 0 for 9 in the fourth (a stanza for which he usually reserves his best performances) -- "I had a bad game, that's the bottom line," he said.

In his place, Haladyna -- who watched game film of his sub-par performance against the Raiders two weeks ago to get pumped up for tonight -- stepped up in a multitude of dimensions. First, he shook a defender in transition with a euro-step to spark a 12-0 run at the start of the second quarter. Then late in the third, he gave the Eagles their biggest lead of the night at 50-35, when he took a Mike Carbone inbounds pass, drew a foul on the way up to a successful floater, and hit the ensuing free throw.

"[Connolly] was on me real bad about that [last game]," Haladyna said. "So that definitely motivated me."

The and-one seemed to re-energize the Raiders, as they outscored Prep 25-13 the rest of the way. Freshman Tyler Nelson took a Zenevitch outlet and nailed a three in transition to cut the lead to eight, then cut it to as close as 57-56 with two made free throws. But in the waning minutes, and with a four-point lead, the Eagles used stall tactics and were able to reset the shot clock with crucial long rebounds by Shove and Isaiah Robinson.

"I said this at the end of last season -- they were going to be the No. 1 team headed into this year," Central head coach Rick Nault said of the Eagles, who entered both the preseason and postseason as the top overall squad in ESPNBoston's state-wide MIAA poll. "I said it again two weeks ago, and I'm saying it again now. They're the best team in the state.

"They're so well-coached. And it's not just all about Pat. I mean, Haladyna's a sensational player, he took it to us tonight. They had other kids step in, Shove had a tremendous night, he attacked Jimmy at will. They just have a lot of the right pieces, and they do all the little things so well."

Brendan Hall is a high school sports editor for ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter.

DANVERS, Mass. -- Freddy Shove clutched the basketball he had just wrestled away seconds ago and punched the air as he went to the line with 0.7 seconds left, his St. John's Prep squad ahead by two over No. 1 Central Catholic, and the navy-clad student section to the left of him screaming in euphoria.

For the first time in his career, and his head coach Sean Connolly's tenure at the Prep, the Eagles came away with a win over the Merrimack Valley powerhouse, gutting out a 72-70 win after the Raiders crawled back from a seven-point deficit with under three minutes left to take a brief lead with 50 ticks left. With the win, the Eagles (19-1) now await the result of tomorrow night's clash between Madison Park and No. 3 Cambridge (17-1), to find out whether they'll get the No. 1 overall seed in Division 1 North when the MIAA Tournament seedings are unveiled Friday morning.

Make no mistake, had 6-foot-5 sophomore Isaiah Robinson not deflected Jaycob Morales' inbounds pass with 3.8 seconds to go, unleashing a scrum that led to Shove scooping up the ball and drawing a foul, this could be an entirely different narrative.

"We were trying not to let an easy shot get off," said Robinson (eight rebounds). "I took to the pass when it came in, and it's history from there."

But don't get it twisted, either -- simply put, in the final 30 seconds of the game, Pat Connaughton happened.

The Prep's Notre Dame-bound, ESPNU 100 superstar quietly put together his umpteenth double-double of the season (23 points, 16 rebounds), but he'll most be remembered from this game for two plays he made in the final three possessions to carry the Eagles to victory.

First, with 23 seconds to go, Connaughton went to the hole on a play that was initially designed for him to hit running mate Steve Haladyna coming off a back screen. Instead, Connaughton ended up leaping to snatch a lob pass away from Luis Puello, dribbled to the middle of the paint, gathered and floated it at the rim.

"It was more like a hop step to get in between Puello and [center] Jimmy [Zenevitch], and then I kinda of rose up and just tried to concentrate on hitting the glass, and that was it," Connaughton said.

Ten seconds later, at the other end of the floor, Connaughton swatted the 6-foot-8 Zenevitch (32 points, nine rebounds) as he went to the hole, sending the home crowd into an uproar. Puello (12 points) fumbled his dribble on the ensuing inbounds pass, and he tugged the the ball with Prep's Mike Carbone (21 points) for a jump ball that gave Central possession again, and Morales (10 points) with the inbound with 3.8 seconds left. Both Connolly and Central head coach Rick Nault used a timeout before Robinson came up with the deflection to seal the game.

"It don't want to say it was like a last wind, but it was more like 'Alright, last two minutes, this is where the game's decided'," said Connaughton, who took the duties of matching up with Zenevitch all night. "And it just kinda came down to that [block]."

Said Connolly, "Pat made some big plays at the end, I mean he really stepped up. He took the game over for us at the end. You expect that out of someone like him."

The teams were tied at 55 apiece headed into the final frame, but the Eagles jumped out to a seven-point lead with a series of free throws, Connaughton hitting the first of two free throws to give them their second-largest lead of the game at 69-62 with 2:43 left.

But things quickly went south for Prep, as the Raiders (19-2) deployed a full-court man-to-man press to cause some turnovers and create some baskets around the rim with swift entry passes. The turning point, though, came when Zenevitch made a swat on Haladyna that very nearly looked like a goaltending call; Connolly, infuriated, turned to the refs to protest but was immediately hit with a technical foul.

Freshman Tyler Nelson (10 points) hit the two free throws, and the Raiders took a 70-69 lead with 1:17 left on a nice feed from Puello to Zenevitch.

"I was kinda going like this," Connolly said, feigning a brushing motion. "And I touched him, and he said because I touched him he called the T. So...I don't know, but it looked like a goal tend to me."

Connaughton tied it up at 70 by hitting the first of two free throws with 56 seconds left, and then came through with the heroics a handful of seconds later.

PLUGGING PUELLO

Last week, following the Raiders' buzzer-beating win over archrival Andover, Luis Puello was asked by an ESPNBoston reporter whether he expected to be assigned to Connaughton tonight, to which he responded, "Of course. I don't care if he's 6-7, you know what I mean, I'll play him all night. We'll see what happens."

On the soccer pitch, they might call Puello's defense of Connaughton "marking". The junior, considered one of the state's best on-ball defenders, followed Connaughton all over the floor wherever he wandered when the Raiders went to man-to-man sets. And while Connaughton ended up with a double-double, it wasn't without its share of troubles.

"He's got very quick feet, probably one of the best on-ball defenders I've ever seen in high school," Connolly said. "He makes it tough. I mean, you've got to work to score on Puello. He does a good job denying you, he's physical, moves his feet better than anyone I've ever seen. So I mean, he makes you work."

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

CARDIAC CARBONE

With the Eagles holding a 36-31 lead at the half, but some of their key players like Haladyna in foul trouble, they turned to junior Michael Carbone for some big buckets in the third quarter. And boy did he deliver, scoring 11 points (two 3-pointers), knocking down all his free throws and going 3 of 4 from the field.

"Mike had a very good game. He's a tough kid," Connolly said. "He stepped up and made some big shots for us. I mean, he's been playing well. He did a very good job defending Morales, made him work the whole time, so he did a great job for us."

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Freddy Shove rebounded an errant three-pointer, took the ensuing foul and went to the line to further cement the fourth-quarter comeback his St. John's Prep Eagles were about to pull off, all the while his his teammates stood at the other end of the floor quietly taking some deep breaths.

"Those are the best feelings," said the Eagles' Notre Dame-bound star Pat Connaughton, who got hot in the second half of this 62-53 win over the Chicago-based Perspectives Charter. "You’re standing on the court, game’s pretty much over, you’re up by nine, 13 seconds left, it’s kinda like our job here is done."

Granted, the comeback was aided by the absence of the Wolves' Durant-ish superstar, Kentucky-bound senior Anthony Davis (30 points, 16 rebounds, seven blocks). With 2:30 to go and the Eagles holding a five-point lead, Davis landed awkwardly -- and hard -- on his right wrist, and lay in pain before walking off the floor and into the trainer's room. Davis, the No. 2 player in the Class of 2011 in ESPN's latest rankings, was not made available to the media following the game, but Perspectives head coach Cortez Hale said "It’s nothing serious, he’s just going to put in in a splint and get it iced."

At that point, though, the Eagles had already found a way to neutralize the Wolves' size advantage with a suffocating full-court press, trapping Davis at halfcourt to force one his deep outlet passes to the guard, essentially putting the game unto someone other than the superstar with guard-like handle.

"I just think we needed to speed the pace of the game up," Prep head coach Sean Connolly said. "We were kind of lackadaisical in the first half, like I said I wanted to make their guards have to make decisions with the ball. I think that was where we had a little bit of an advantage on them."

In all, Prep outscored Perspectives 29-11 in the fourth quarter, led by Connaughton (19 points, 13 rebounds, five steals, three blocks) and Steve Haladyna (25 points, six rebounds). After starting the quarter on a 7-2 run, Prep ultimately went ahead on three dazzling plays from Connaughton in a 70-second span. First, Connaughton pulled up at the top of the key and sank a three -- his first of the day, after missing the previous eight -- to make it 49-49. On the other end, he scooped up Davis' errant free throw and, with Mike Carbone lined up for a trey at the right wing, crashed through the lane and tip-slammed the errant three.

"I was just trying to be aggressive," Connaughton said. "At the beginning of the game, I was being passive and wasn’t hitting my shots, so it made me feel like it has to be a little more passive, because when you’re shooting and you’re not hitting your shots, you kinda feel like ‘alright, am I shooting too much?’ I’m not looking out there to just jack up shots, get my points, im out there to get a win."

On the ensuing trip down the floor for Perspectives, Shove drew a charge from Jarred Elliot, setting up a go-ahead three from Connaughton and a 54-51 lead with 2:47 left to go. Haladyna then helped shut the lid, converting a layup for a 56-51 lead and creating openings in the half-court for Connaughton to drive and take fouls the final minute.

"I thought we handled it well," Connaughton said of the last four minutes. "I think we had a spread there pretty much the whole fourth quarter where we’re attacking and playing hard, being aggressive, but then near the end we kinda got a little passive again, they almost came back but we closed them down really well. We hit our free throws for the most part. They were up almost the whole game, but in the end we did what it took to win the game."

Quite a difference from the first half, when the Eagles were miserable from the field, shooting just 21.2 percent -- including just three of 17 from three-point range -- against a stiff Perspectives zone that had Davis collapsing to the paint from the baselines. In all, Connaughton and Carbone combined to go just 2 for 20 from long distance.

"Our gameplan was basically to make the shooters drive and force them to be drivers not shooters," Hale said. "We knew they were pretty good shooters so we were basically putting a hand up and forcing them to drive to Anthony’s [Davis] side. We did that great in the first three quarters but then in the fourth quarter Pat [Connaughton] got comfortable when he hit those shots and got real happy."

DANVERS, Mass. –- St. John’s Prep protected its perfect record (8-0) and pole position, pulling out a win tonight over No. 23 Catholic Memorial, 65-62.

“It’s a big game, we’re rivals,” St. John’s coach Sean Connolly said of the up-and-down game. “We’re fighting for first place in the league, so stuff’s going to happen,” he added, referring to the aggressive play which resulted in numerous jump balls, separating of players and screams from both bleachers at the referees.

“They have a great player who could take over and make some plays for them,” Catholic Memorial coach Denis Tobin said. “We have some very good players, they have a great one at the high school level.”

Tobin was referring to Prep's leading rebounder and scorer for the game, Pat Connaughton, who came down with 20 boards and put up 27 points. He also racked up six assists and four steals.

“Beating them at home in front of this crowd was huge,” the Notre Dame-bound Connaughton said. The fact that the game didn’t have a clear winner until the final buzzer sounded might have contributed to the emotion."

With a minute left in the game, CM’s Dan Powers (14 points) got an outlet pass from Matt Droney and made the open court layup to put CM (6-4) within one, at 63-62, after coming into the fourth quarter down 48-40.

“I think that we got careless with the ball,” Connolly said of the Eagles losing their third quarter lead.

St. John’s didn’t score on their next possession, and Powers pulled down a rebound . The ball made its way to Droney, and he drove to the hole and was fouled, but failed to make either free throw with 41.1 left in the game.

Connaughton got the rebound after the second miss, tried to make his way up the court but was fouled with 37.8 on the clock. He made the first, missed the second, leaving St. John’s up by two at 64-62.

CM’s Matt Goreham got the rebound off the miss and down the other end the ball was put in the hands of freshman guard Aamahne Santos (10 points) who tried tie the game a layup, but was fouled. He also, missed both of his free throws.

“We wouldn’t have been there without him,” added Tobin after the game. “And he’s a freshman.”

Connaughton got the ball, got down the court and made a few circles dribbling and was eventually fouled. He made the first, missed the second.

“I missed a few free throws at the end of the game,” said Connaughton, shrugging of his other stats.

CM got the ball, and a chance to win, but a missed three and tip in that followed came up short.

“We learn new stuff every game,” said Powers. “Like if we hit four free throws at the end of the game, we win.”

The Knights were not always fighting from behind; at the half, they were up by three and had control of the game.

“CM is a good team,” said Prep’s Stephen Haladyna (13 points). “They get the game [going] up and down real fast. “

Up 29-26 at the half, the Knights had Connolly and the Prep players making adjustments, and they did, outscoring CM 22-11 in the third on the heels of Connaughton and junior Freddy Shove scoring eight in the quarter.

“In the first half, we were playing into their hands, their defense was hyped up,” said Shove. “We needed to come stronger in the second half, coach addressed that. We had to have them fear our defense.”

In the fourth, the Eagles almost lost the lead because of CM’s tenacious defense and some miscues by his team, according to Connolly.

“We were trying to dribble through a trap instead of passing over it,” said Connolly. “But you’ve got to credit CM, they were all over the ball.”

Although a close one, Connaughton still thinks the win is a high value for the team.

“We haven’t beat CM on our home court since my freshman year,” said Connaughton. “It’s really a turning point in our season."

MACOMBER HURT

With 1:37 left in the game, St. John’s senior captain Conor Macomber was stripped of the ball at half court, fell and hit the back of his head. He was bleeding, helped up from the floor and off the court. According to coach Connolly, he was en route to the hospital to get stitches after the game. No further report was given.