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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

BOSTON -- Looking sluggish in a Tuesday night loss to archrival Boston College High and looking sloppy in the ensuing practices, Catholic Memorial head coach Dennis Tobin was looking for a pick-me-up with his talented Knights.

A visit across the city to Boston Latin, on a snowy early Saturday afternoon, might have done the trick.

The Knights got off to a hot start, and never looked back, as they cooled the red-hot Wolfpack, 75-55, to improve to 9-2 on the season. Senior Dan Powers and sophomore point guard Aahmane Santos led the way for the Knights with 14 points apiece, while senior forward Matt Droney chipped in with 13.

"I think this is a huge win for our team," Tobin said. "[I was] very disappointed after the game on Tuesday night, I don't think we played our best game, and we didn't have great practices after that. So I was concerned coming in. But the crowd, and the fact that it's kind of like a neighborhood rivalry, it jacked these guys up. I thought we stepped up and played one of our better games. In terms of talent, this is probably one of the best teams I've ever had at CM."

The Knights opened the game on a 10-2 run, aided by a Gerard Adams putback and a big Droney three-point play in transition, set up by a long pass from Santos. Wolfpack cut into the lead in the second quarter, but strong transition baskets from Santos, Powers and Armani Reeves never allowed for a serious chance at cutting into the lead.

CM led 38-28 at the half, and 56-43 through three quarters. While it wasn't the Knights' best game from long-range, they were efficient on higher-percentage shots, going 17 of 34 from two-point range through the first three quarters.

Powers notches milestone: Just before Tobin emptied his bench in the final minutes, Powers became the seventh player in school history to notch his 1,000th point, taking a long outlet from Droney in transition to complete it. Several moments later, the game was stopped momentarily to honor Powers.

"I didn't want to think about it coming in," Powers said. "Obviously it was a big non-league game for us coming in, so I tried to block that out. It's nice that I got that, but I wasn't really thinking about that coming into this game."

Tobin was happy for the Westwood native, a tri-captain this season who has been one of the Catholic Conference's best scorers the last few years.

"Great accomplishment," Tobin said. "From sophomore year on, he's been a great scorer. Even today, I don't know how many he ended up with, 14 maybe, but he didn't shoot that well tonight. [But] he still manages to find ways to score. We've had quite an illustrious 50 years of basketball, and he's No. 7 on the list. It's a great accomplishment."

To Catch a Wolf: CM plays some tough man-to-man defense, but the Wolfpack found success against it using high screens to both clear direct paths to the basket in the lane, and open up backdoor cuts along the baseline. Junior forward Miles Wright (16 points, 10 rebounds) and senior guard Jack Duggan (16 points) were the biggest beneficiaries of this strategy, but the Knights adjusted well as the game went on.

"Part of that is when we have the big fella [6-foot-8 Adams] in, he doesn't hedge on screens," Tobin said. "So we have to do a better job communicating and letting the person who's being screened know they're doing it. When we go with the smaller lineup, that wasn't as big a problem. That's something we'll see the rest of the year, and we're going to work on it every day to get better at it."

WEST ROXBURY, Mass. -- Catholic Memorial went down early in the first quarter, fought back and overtook St. John’s Prep in the last minute of the first quarter, but truly opened up the game with a 17-4 run to close out the second quarter, taking a commanding 45-32 lead at the half never to look back at the Eagles, blowing them out by 25, 89-64.

“We play for our runs,” said CM coach Denis Tobin. “At that point, we got a couple of turnovers, we got some hoops… but I think the key to the game was our defensive effort.”

Prep jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, charged by their leading scorer Freddy Shove (30 points, 13 points, five assists, two steals, block) and Steve Haladayna (11 points), but that slowly faded. Catholic Memorial got into the groove, and the teams were neck and neck at 28 mid way through the second quarter.

Catholic Memorials press began to yield turnovers with steals by Matt Droney and Gerard Adams. The presence of Adams, a 6-foot-8 sophomore in the low post, forced Prep into jump shots. But as they came off the rim, players like Dan Powers, Adams and Armani Reeves were there to scoop up those baskets, leading the way for the Knight’s 17-4 run going into halftime up by 13.

“Coach always says the offense will come if the defensive pressure is there then we can beat anyone,” said CM senior guard Matt Droney.

Prep did not throw in the towel though, keeping the game within twenty points during the third quarter, the closest being 63-51 score with 1:22 left after a Shove free throw miss and make, but Catholic Memorial was relentless, grabbing rebounds, forcing St. John’s players into make bad passes and poor shot selection, opening up the lead to 22 by the 6:40 mark in the final quarter.

GAME BALLS

Matt Droney
Droney finished the night with 26 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks. Even at 6-foot-four, Droney was able to drain three three-pointers in that crucial second quarter for the Knights. His game leading scoring afforded his team the win, but the team’s defense is what Droney was most proud of.

Dan Powers
Powers, a 6-foot-three senior, hit five three-point shots on the night, finishing with 17 points coupled with three steals, three assists and two blocks.

Gerard Adams
Adams, a new addition to the Knights’ cavalry this season, finished the night with 14 points, 8 eight rebounds, two blocks, two steals and an assist. Towering over all other players on the floor, when the ball came off of the backboard, if it was close to Adams he got it. If under the CM basket, he put it back up and in with little resistance, and if on the St. John’s Prep’s end, he chucked it into the hands of a teammate to bring the ball up court.

Although he looks more like an offensive lineman than a center, Adams even showed some nifty footwork, backing down a St. John’s defender late in the game and hitting a turnaround off the glass shot. The two steals that Adams got were attempts that the Prep made to shuttle outlet passes to waiting defenders which Adams was able to pick off, the passes thrown the distance of the court and Adams moving to get to them.

“Where he is right now is light years ahead of where he was that Monday after Thanksgiving," Tobin said.

WORCESTER, Mass. -- Catholic Memorial head coach Dennis Tobin was reminded of his frenetic starting off-guard's hot start from deep, and he had to pause for a moment.

"Chris is...how do I phrase this one?" he said rhetorically of junior Chris Siggers, who opened the nightcap of the BasketBull Catholic School Showcase against No. 18 St. Peter-Marian with back-to-back-to-back three-pointers for the No. 6 Knights.

After a brief pause and a flash of a smile, Tobin continued, "When he's hot, he's hot."

The Knights coasted to a 76-63 win, after going 9 of 19 from deep in the first half to take a 47-31 lead into the break. Siggers, a 5-foot-8 Hyde Park resident, finished the day 4 of 7 from deep, including his first three that gave the Knights (3-0) a 9-7 lead they wouldn't relinquish.

But more than his silky-yet-unorthodox delivery -- a rainbow of a high-arching shot, which he says he hones by shooting over 6-foot-8 center Gerard Adams in practice -- it was his defense of the Guardians' star swingman, senior Matt Mobley, that most satisfied Tobin.

The crafty Mobley finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and five steals, and generally kept the game from getting out of hand. But Siggers made life difficult for those 32 minutes.

"He was hot to start the game, but the main thing he does is bulldog-type defense," Tobin said of Siggers. "And he did a super job on Matt Mobley, I thought. Matt got his points, but earned them. I thought Chris did a great job there."

Said Siggers, "I was just feeling it. I was very excited, very amped about the game. I tried to play [Mobley] as best I can, and I was feeling my shot."

The Knights' top shooters, senior captains Dan Powers and Matt Droney, finished with 18 and 14 points, respectively. Sophomore point guard Aahmane Santos also registered five assists, while the sophomore center Adams led on the glass with 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

Senior Steve Flynn also put in 10 points for SPM (2-1).

Run and Gun: The Knights excelled in transition on both ends of the floor. Offensively, they got up the floor quickly off a defensive rebound, and pushed the ball quickly upcourt rather than dribble. That led to a barrage of fast break perimeter shots. When the Guardians forced halfcourt play, one-touch passing around the perimeter created open shots that they hit well enough (the Knights finished 29 of 62 from the field).

"Hopefully we'll look more into the post going forward, but we live and die by the three," Tobin said. "That's just the way we play."

At the other end, the Knights showed some poise in defending in transition, with Armani Reeves and Rich Lopez providing energy off the bench to help the cause.

"My guys toughed it out, I thought," Tobin said. "We've got a lot of speed and quickness. If they can create the open-court game, we can be pretty successful."

McDonough out: The Knights' usual starter at center, John McDonough, was missing from the lineup today with a bone bruise on his hand. Tobin said the length he'll be out "could just be tonight", saying "it's nothing serious."

Praise for Mobley: Singularly one of the state's premier scoring talents, the 6-foot-3 Mobley drew praise from across the way.

"He's good, you've just got to worry about him, stay on him," said his defender, Siggers. "Make sure he's your main focus, play hard. Make sure he doesn't go off like he usually does."

Said Tobin, "He's a terrific player. Very, very quick with the ball, can hit the open three -- we tried to take that from him, that was our focus going in. We knew he'd get his points because he's such a good player, we just wanted to make him earn his points. I thought we did a decent job of that.

Mobley, an ESPN Boston preseason All-State third team selection, could be one of the MIAA's best-kept secrets, if not its most late bloomer. A smooth wing player who demonstrates good body control, first-step acceleration and leaping ability, he's just coming into his own after a solid showing in leagues this fall. Mobley also missed half of last season as the Guardians struggled to an 8-11 campaign.

When asked about the projectability of Mobley, who will likely pursue a post-graduate season next year at a prep school, Guardians head coach Marcus Watson said "his ceiling is untapped".

"His range is unlimited," Watson said. "His ballhandling skills are great. Defensively, his length, he's athletic. He has the package, there's no two ways about it. But another year of development will definitely benefit him."

Growing Gerard: Adams first burst onto the scene last summer with the Boston Amateur Basketball Club, playing limited minutes on the 9th Grade squad that won AAU Nationals in Little Rock, Ark. At a long 6-foot-8 and close to 300 pounds, he poses matchup problems on size alone, even as his sluggishness and overall lack of conditioning is visible.

For starters, in the third quarter Powers took an inbounds pass and lobbed one up to Adams, who caught the ball roughly a foot from the rim and tipped in the ball over the outstretched hands of two defenders. At the other end, Adams stayed out of foul trouble by staying close to the basket, maintaining firm positioning and making himself wide in the lane.

There's not question that the future for Adams, who has reportedly lost 37 pounds since the summer, has potential to be bright.

"Two years down the road, he's going to be tough to stop," Tobin said. "He is right now when we get him the ball. We're not used to having a big man in the CM program, so sometimes we don't look to him. But he's really going to help us when we play a team that manages to get us in a halfcourt game, because now we have a low-post option."