ESPN

Some final thoughts as we put a close on the 2012-13 high school basketball season...

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A FLU SHOT HE'LL NEVER FORGET

After committing to Vanderbilt last August, Lynn English's Ben Bowden told ESPNBoston.com he was leaning towards not coming back out for basketball his senior year, saying "it delayed my pitching", that he lost "alot of interest" from some colleges "because I didn't throw hard as they wanted me to."

"I'm leaning that way so I can be fully prepared, because we've got the [MLB] draft and everything," Bowden told us at the time. "Where it's at right now, I don't see myself playing. But it was fun while it lasted."

Bowden, a 6-foot-4 lefty flreballer, is one of the state's most heralded prospects following his junior season, which started with a perfect game against Marblehead and ended with a spot on ESPN Boston's All-State Team and whispers of draft potential. He was 10 minutes away from spending his winter in the gym sharpening his craft, on his own; but a chance encounter on the first day of basketball tryouts changed all that.

The school was conducting flu shots that day, and the location just happened to be near basketball coach Mike Carr's office. As Bowden's girlfriend was getting her shot, Carr light-heartedly ribbed him about spurning one last winter with the team. After Bowden wished Carr good luck and the two parted ways, Bowden bumped into a half-dozen Bulldogs players, who gave him even more ribbing.

Bowden went home, thought about it, and by 5 p.m. had changed his mind.

And boy, was he glad. The Bulldogs captivated the City of Lynn over the second half of the season and throughout their sudden run to the MIAA Division 1 North finals, with Bowden starting at power forwrad, drawing fans from all four of the high schools to come see their wildly-entertaining brand of run-and-gun. He called the Bulldogs' wild 94-87 win over Everett in the D1 North semifinals "the best atmosphere I've ever played in any sport", and doesn't regret a minute of his time this winter.

"It got me into very good shape, obviously I have no regrets at all," he said. "Even if I got hurt, I wouldn’t have regretted playing at all. It was an awesome experience."

Vandy head coach Tim Corbin encourages multi-sport activity out of his high school recruits, a sentiment many high school baseball coaches support for a multitude of reasons -- primarily, that it encourages competitive spirit, and also works different muscle groups to keep the body in prime shape.

Carr heavily emphasized conditioning this year with his team, concluding practice each day with a grueling 10-minute session up and down the school's four flights of stairs, and it's paid off for Bowden. Headed into his first start of the spring, currently slated for April 10, he says this is the "best I've ever felt going into a baseball season."

"I feel my legs are stronger, I'm pushing off the mound better," Bowden said. "My core has gotten stronger. Everything we did for basketball has helped me in a positive way for baseball."

Talking about keeping his arm loose, he added, "I feel the best I've ever felt going into a baseball seasons, and I think it's because I've lost quite a bit of weight. I'm feeling a lot better and a lot lighter, and also because I was throwing more...By the time baseball started [this season] I was on my seventh week of throwing. I was a lot more ready than I was in any other season. I was smart about my decision to play basketball because I knew I had to get throws in."

As basketball becomes more individualized at younger and younger ages in this AAU-ized era of specialization, we sometimes forget that these sports can bleed into each other. Notre Dame hoop coach Mike Brey first heard about Pat Connaughton after a tip from the Irish's baseball coach. Soccer prowess helped Danvers' Eric Martin and Melrose's Frantdzy Pierrot become more elusive runners in the open floor. And some are quietly wondering if football may end up being the meal ticket for Wakefield super-sophomore Bruce Brown, who excels with the Boston Amateur Basketball Club (BABC) but also turned in a pretty nice campaign last fall at wide receiver. Same with another budding BABC star, Brendan Hill of Mansfield.

Unless you're one of the top players in the country at your position, I'll never understand why some physically-mature high school guards don't at least give an additional sport a try -- but that's a probably a topic for a whole other day. Know that for as much accolades as we've all poured on English's talented trio of guards, Bowden may have played the most important position of all -- the Joey Dorsey, the rock-solid post player down low counted on for rebounds that can keep possessions alive, and facilitate a whip-quick fast break going the other way.

And to think, if his girlfriend hadn't gone to get a flu shot that first day of tryouts, we might be talking about a whole different story in Lynn.

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MORE THAN JUST 'WANTING IT MORE'

You have to think long and hard to find the last time a kid in the Merrimack Valley Conference went from benchwarmer on one team in one season, to league MVP on another team the next.

Chris Bardwell's transformation from garbage-time go-getter at Central Catholic in 2012 to an ESPN Boston Super Team selection at North Andover in 2013 is one that will be held up as a model example of will power. At least, that was the rhetoric being told this winter -- that if you want it bad enough as Bardwell, if you train hard enough, you can make the jump.

Sure, some of this transformation has to do with the mental element. But Mansfield wanted it just as bad as Putnam in the Division 1 state title game, and was unable to prevent the Beavers from continuously leaking out for some uncontested fast break points. Scituate wanted to just as bad as Brighton in the Division 2 Eastern Mass. title game at the Garden, but couldn't cleanly escape on-ball pressure from Nate Hogan long enough to prevent Malik James' last-second heroics.

I think of Bardwell -- also a lefty pitcher with reportedly mid to high-80's velocity -- and I think back to my first months at ESPNBoston.com, in the summer of 2010, when St. John's Prep star Pat Connaughton was one of the hottest names nationally on the recruiting front. In basketball, he was an ESPN 100 prospect with a lengthy list of suitors east of the Mississippi. On the mound, he was an overpowering righty with first five round potential, named by Baseball America as one of the nation's top 100 high school prospects.

Connaughton had big hype, and in turn put in a legendary summer workout regimen to back it up, sometimes putting in eight hours of training a day -- quite literally, treating it like a 9-to-5. After signing with Notre Dame, the results spoke for themselves -- a state championship, All-State recognition in both sports, and a Day 3 selection by the San Diego Padres.

OK, so Bardwell's not Connaughton. The point is, situations like Bardwell's are the product of both opportunity and preparation, and all that will power is for naught if you're not training right. Bardwell came into the last offseason more determined, but he also upped his daily cardio, played more basketball, and changed his diet, cutting out junk and carbonated beverages and increasing his protein intake. Training for both basketball and baseball certainly helped him stay sharp.

Let's not forget had Bardwell stayed at Central, he would have been battling for playing time among a deep stable of forwards, duking it out with the likes of Doug Gemmell, Nick Cambio, Joel Berroa and Aaron Hall. At North Andover, he could fit in snugly as a terrific compliment to one of the state's best bigs in Isaiah Nelsen -- though in the end, obviously, Bardwell turned out to be the star of the show.

Success stories come from anywhere. Just take a look at another former Central Catholic baseball product, Dennis Torres, who was cut four times by the varsity during his high school years yet was drafted by the Orioles last June after walking-on at UMass.

Like Bardwell, he wanted it badly. Clearly, Torres was sick and tired of being sick and tired. But as usual, it's never as simple as pure will power and mental maturation. There's a method, and Bardwell played it right.

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RE-BIRTH OF THE RUN?

When you think of the MIAA's most dominant running teams of the 21st century, there are two programs that come to mind. One is the Charlestown juggernaut of the early 2000's, ranked nationally by USA Today and led by electric scorers like Rashid Al-Kaleem, Tony Chatman, Ridley Johnson and Tony Lee. The other is Newton North, winners of back-to-back D1 state titles behind one of the East Coast's best backcourts in Anthony Gurley and Corey Lowe.

Not about to call it a renaissance, but if there's one thing I'll take away more than anything else from this MIAA season, it's the return of quality running teams to the upper echelon. The two best running teams we saw this season represented two different styles.

There was Lynn English, pushing a white-knuckle pace, using more than 15 seconds of the shot clock only sparingly, and blitzing the opposition coming the other way with in-your-grill, full court man-to-man pressure. It took about half a season for Mike Carr's unique system to click -- but once it did, they were firing on all cylinders. The Bulldogs' backcourt of Freddy Hogan, Stevie Collins and Erick Rosario was as good as any in the state the second half of the season, with the former two earning ESPN Boston All-State honors earlier this week.

With just one real post pivot, senior Ben Bowden, the Bulldogs relied on their guards to generate transiton by forcing turnovers, sometimes flat out ripping the ball out of players' grips for easy fast break points. Carr's emphasis on conditioning was well-known, the the Bulldogs never looked tired.

Many will point to Central Catholic's stark rebounding advantage as to why they were able to lay a dump truck on English in the D1 North Final (they held a 28-7 advantage at the half), but -- follow me here -- that was practically by design. The Bulldogs flat out bailed on offensive possessions once the shot went up, surrendering the advantage and forcing Central's guards to make plays (they did, and did often).

That philosophy stood in contrast to what I felt was the state's best running team this year, Division 1 state champion Putnam. They seemed to play a physical brand of basketball in the City of Springfield this year, and nobody exemplified this better than the Beavers, who made up for lack of height with plenty of linebacker-like bulk in forwards KayJuan Bynum and David Murrell, both ESPN Boston All-State selections.

Throughout the season, Putnam coach William Shepard demonstrated enough faith in Bynum and Murrell's ability to get defensive rebounds that the Beavers' guards could continually leak out of possessions early to get fast break after fast break (Bynum and Murrell combined for 11.4 defensive rebounds, and 19.6 overall, per game this season). When an opposing team's shot went up, guards started strafing up the sidelines in anticipation of a long outlet pass. This led to a slew of production in the D1 state title game from guards Ty Nichols, Dizel Wright, Ki-Shawn Monroe and Jonathan Garcia.

Best of all, these two squads return a ton of talent to keep them in Top 10 consideration for the next two seasons. Both teams must find a replacement for their best big (English with Bowden, Putnam with Bynum), but feature a slew of talented backcourt and wing players to keep the tempo frenetic and the opposition uncomfortable.

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INTERVIEWS OF THE YEAR

My personal favorites for interviews of the year. First, the short category...



And now, the long category...



***

WILL JACK EVER COME BACK?

After Brighton won its first ever state title, Bengals coach Hugh Coleman held court in the media room at the DCU Center, dedicating the state title trophy and season to his lifelong mentor, legendary former Charlestown boss Jack O'Brien.

Anyone familiar with the bond between O'Brien and Coleman knows it is strong. O'Brien came into Coleman's life at a very hectic time -- being born when his mother was 20, becoming the man of the house at just 6 years old, and watching a number of his family members get rung up on drug arrests. He was under supervision of the Department of Social Services when he first met O'Brien as a freshman at Charlestown in 1993.

O'Brien is probably most known for his run of five D2 state titles in six seasons from 1999-2005 at Charlestown, and Coleman was an assistant on the last three. It's worth noting the 2003 squad, which Coleman's brother Derek captained, was the last squad to win both a city and state championship before Brighton did it this year.

"The way Jack O’Brien came into my life...He never recruited me, no one ever said I was going to Charlestown, I ended up going there by chance, he ended up going to Charlestown and it was special," Coleman said. "I lucked out and got the Brighton job four years ago. I probably wasn’t supposed to get it, but I did. A lot of people recruited him out of middle school to go to different schools, but he ended up at Brighton with me. So I think that’s such a great blessing. I’m glad that I’ve been able to be a part of his life, and him a part of my life. He’s made me a stronger person and I hope that I was able to rub off on him. He led us to victory this entire season, including today.

"I definitely want to dedicate this to Jack O’Brien. He should be coaching. He should be coaching, and I have no idea why he’s not coaching in the state of Massachusetts. In my opinion, he is the best coach in the state of Massachusetts. He is, and not just because he won games. He changed the lives of so many of us young men at Charlestown during that time. We went on to go to college. We went on to be great men, fathers, husbands, and you know what? It’s because of what he helped us do from the inside out. He helped us to be great men.

"I’ll be honest with you, I coach and I took the coaching job because he’s not coaching. I couldn’t allow that to...When they said he couldn’t coach, or they wouldn’t allow him to coach for whatever reason, I said I’ve got to keep the legacy going. He’s healthy, he’s a 10 times better man, whatever lesson I guess he was supposed to learn. It’s a shame he’s not coaching, because he is all that and then some."

Wherever he has gone, O'Brien has had dramatic results, producing McDonald's All-Americans at Salem High and nationally-ranked squads at Charlestown. But he has remained out of coaching since his 11th-hour departure from Lynn English hours before the first practice of the 2006-07 season. His name has been linked to jobs throughout Eastern Mass. over the years, most notably Somerville in 2008, but it's unclear when he'll return to coaching.

Still, with 400-plus wins, six state titles, some of the Bay State's most captivating running teams of the last quarter-century, and his age (he just turned 55 last month), there remains faith that he will turn up somewhere. Just where is anyone's guess.

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HALL'S TOP 10 FOR 2013-14

1. Mansfield
Hornets lost just one senior from their 2013 Division 1 state championship run and return the most talent of anyone in the state, including reigning Hockomock MVP Brendan Hill. A healthier Michael Hershman should bolster an already-deep lineup featuring Rocky DeAndrade, Michael Boen, Ryan Boulter, Kevin Conner and Kyle Wisniewski.

2. Lynn English
The returning backcourt of Freddy Hogan, Stevie Collins and Erick Rosario, along with wing Danny Lukanda, makes this team a preseason Top 5. Key will be the development of promising 6-foot-6 sophomore Johnny Hilaire, whose pogo-like leaping ability has begun to draw comparisons to former All-Stater Keandre Stanton.

3. St. John’s (Shrewsbury)
Pioneers return arguably the state’s best backcourt in Davon Jones and Adham Floyd, along with a dynamic frontcourt of T.J. Kelley, Drew Vittum and Charlie Murray. Next year gets interesting in D1 Central, with stalwarts such as Franklin, Westford and Acton-Boxborough joining the fray.

4. Central Catholic
A returning core of Tyler Nelson and Nick Cambio makes the Raiders one of the premier perimeter teams in Eastern Mass once again. Six-foot-6 junior Aaron Hall has big shoes to fill in the frontcourt, with the graduation of center Doug Gemmell.

5. Brookline
If all goes as planned and everyone returns, you’re looking at a coach’s dream. Elijah Rogers is a virtuoso at the point, and a supporting cast of Obi Obiora, Anthony Jennings, Tyler Patterson and Mark Gasperini makes them a formidable foe on size and skill alone.

6. Springfield Putnam
Beavers stand a legitimate chance at going back-to-back as D1 state champs as long as they can find an able replacement for graduating senior post KayJuan Bynum. By season’s end this was the best running team in the state –- who knows what another season of David Murrell, Dizel Wright, Jonathan Garcia, Ty Nichols and Ki-Shawn Monroe will bring?

7. Brighton
All signs point to Malik James having played his last game as a Bengal in the state championship game, but freshman Javaughn Edmonds shows promise to potentially fill the point guard role. Should All-State forward Nick Simpson return, you’re looking at a front line of Simpson and 6-foot-5 sophomore Jason Jones that is as good as any across Division 2.

8. Melrose
Scary as his junior season was, reigning Middlesex League MVP Frantdzy Pierrot could turn in an even more monstrous senior campaign in 2013-14 for the Red Raiders. With realignment shifting many teams in the North, and a quality stable of underclassmen led by freshman point guard Sherron Harris, next year is as good a time as any to strike.

9. Wakefield
Sophomore Bruce Brown is expected to return next season, and that alone makes the Warriors a favorite in D2 North. The question will be whether they can turn their early-season promise into deep playoff production, and whether they can get past the semifinal round.

10. Springfield Central
The Golden Eagles are not without talent, with one of the state's most promising big men in sophomore Chris Baldwin. The question will be if the guards and forwards can get on the same page, and we think after some growing pains this year, cousins Ju'uan and Cody Williams will make this team sharper coming off a disappointing Division 1 state title defense.

Others to watch: Acton-Boxborough, Andover, Braintree, Boston English, Catholic Memorial, Danvers, Haverhill, Holyoke, New Bedford, New Mission, Newton North, St. John’s Prep, Wachusett, Watertown

WORCESTER, Mass. –- Putnam sophomore Ty Nichols stepped to the line and calmly sank both of his free throws with just 7.5 seconds left in overtime.

Those two simple free throws ended as the difference in a wild, thrilling game, giving Putnam a 50-48 win over Mansfield and the Beaver’s their first ever D1 State Championship.

“I stepped to the line and my team had confidence in me,” Nichols said. “My coaches had confidence in me. I’ve been hitting free throws all year and I just took them as regular free throws and they went in.”

Mansfield’s Rocky DeAndrade sprinted up the court, but his jumper was short and Putnam celebrated their first state title in school history.

“It definitely feels great,” Putnam’s Kayjuan Bynum said. “We expected to be here, we expected to play our hearts out and try to come out with a state championship, which we did.”

The Beavers looked like they were ready to win in regulation, up 40-33 with just over 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter, but Mansfield’s Michael Boen came up with a big offensive board and put back while being fouled. His free throw pulled the Hornets within 4. Both teams traded empty trips before Boen hit a corner three to pull within one at 40-39 with 35.7 seconds left.

After Bynum sank two free throws to put Putnam up 42-39, Mansfield’s Ryan Boulter was fouled while shooting a three with just 5.5 seconds left. The sophomore sank all three shots and Putnam wasn’t able to get a shot off before the buzzer.

In overtime, Bynum sank two free throws only to have Boulter answer with a three to give Mansfield a 45-44 lead. Two more free throws from Bynum followed by a layup from Nichols put Putnam up 48-45.

Mansfield answered yet again, this time with 19.9 seconds left when Boulter again drained a three.

But as time ticked away in overtime, it was Nichols’ drive to the basket that drew the foul that ended as the difference.

Mansfield was just 6-of-29 from downtown, but had 19 turnovers, due in large part to a tough Putnam defense.

“At halftime, we spoke about not having hit our stride yet defensively,” Putnam head coach William Shepard said. “We’ve held teams to single digit scoring in a quarter consistently all year. When they came out and held them to 7 points in the third quarter, I could see our guys take a collective breath and say ‘OK, we can do this.’”

Bynum finished with a game-high 15 points, including a perfect 8-8 performance from the free throw line in the fourth quarter and overtime. Boulter finished with 14 for Mansfield, nine of which came in the fourth quarter and overtime.

“Hats off to Putnam with their defensive effort,” Mansfield head coach Mike Vaughan said. “They did a great job, they took things away.”

Putnam finished the season 24-1 with their first ever D1 State Championship. Mansfield finishes 25-3.

“I almost cried, but I stopped myself from crying,” Nichols said. “This feels good, Putnam’s first state championship, this feels good.”

A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR BOTH
Although both Putnam and Mansfield will be losing key seniors to graduation, it’s not out of the question that either team could make a return trip next season.

The 2013 D1 State Champions will only lose one starter, Bynum, and will graduate three others. Mansfield will lose five seniors, but none bigger than senior captain Greg Romanko.

For the Beavers, Dizel Wright and David Murrell (13 and 11 points respectively) will look to lead Putnam to a return trip. Sophomore starters Jonathan Garcia and Ki-shawn Monroe will join classmate Ty Nichols again next year.

The Hornets return a solid core, with sophomores Brendan Hill, the reigning Hockomock League MVP, and Ryan Boulter joining a slew of juniors –- Michael Boen, Kyle Wisnieski, Rocky DeAndrade, Kevin Conner, and Michael Hershman -– ready to take over the reigns of this team.

“This is going to sting for a few days,” Vaugahan said. ”After we wake up in a couple of days, we can make this motivation for next season to get back here. As we said, this isn’t easy. We hope we have an opportunity to represent the South again next year.

"It’s not an easy road and there are a lot of good teams coming back next year. We’re going to show up three days after Thanksgiving and get ready to do this all over again."

BOSTON -– For Mansfield sophomore forward Michael Boen, this was by far the biggest game, and biggest stage he’s ever been apart of.

Playing against one of the best teams the state as to offer in Central Catholic, on the historic parquet floor, before a large crowd at TD Garden one would imagine a 16-year-old would be extremely nervous, especially shooting two free throws with seven seconds left and the game on the line.

Boen certainly didn’t show those nerves as he calmly sunk two free throws to seal Mansfield’s 55-50 win over Central Catholic in the Division 1 Eastern Mass. Championship game Tuesday night.

“I was definitely nervous, but I didn’t try and show it,” Boen said. “That is what we do in practice, we shoot our free throws and it pays off. It really does.”

In a wild last two minutes of the game, Central’s Tyler Nelson canned a three-pointer with a minute to play tying the game at 50. Mansfield junior Kevin Conner then responded with 40 seconds left, putting the Hornets up 52-50. Central turned the ball over on their next possession and then was forced to foul Mansfield’s Brendan Hill with 20.4 seconds left on the clock.

Hill made one of two, giving Mansfield a three-point lead, 53-50. Electing not to have Central attempt a three to tie the game, Mansfield fouled Central’s Jamahl Lopez with seven ticks left setting up a one-and-one situation.

Lopez missed the front end, where Boen grabbed the rebound and was fouled, setting up his two clutch free throws to clinch the win and an EMass championship for the Hornets.

“I was begging for the clock to run faster,” Mansfield head coach Mike Vaughn said. “I knew they were going to make a push and throw everything at us as possible. We just had to weather it. I thought the guys had great composure and we got some key stops when we needed them.”

The game would not have had such a dramatic finish if it weren’t for the dominant fourth quarter from Central junior Tyler Nelson. Nelson scored 12 of his 15 points in the fourth, including two three-pointers. His jumper with 2:19 left actually gave his Red Raiders a 47-46 lead, but Mansfield’s Conner responded on the very next possession.

“He is a tremendous high school basketball player and he does it by working his butt off,” Vaughn said of Nelson. “We were literally chasing him running around, holding a little, bumping a little, doing everything we humanly could to try and get him off the three-point line...Talk about a special high school kid. I don’t want to play him next year.”

It was actually an off night for Nelson, who struggled in the first half, going 0-for-9 from the field and recording zero points. He didn’t record his first points, until a three-pointer two minutes into the third quarter.

“He’s an outstanding player and does so much for us,” said Central coach Rick Nault. “I think he was 0-for-9 in the first half and part of the reason we were down seven. He usually doesn’t shoot like that. They did a tremendous job on him.”

As a team Central struggled offensively in the first half only scoring 17 points and shooting just 26 percent from the field. The Red Raiders trailed 24-17 at intermission. Much of that was because of the outstanding defense Mansfield played.

“It is good team defense -- just team basketball,” Vaughn said. “Just a resilient group that knows how to get stop after stop.”

The Red Raiders came back in the second half shooting 63 percent from the field, but just couldn’t get over the hump after tying the game on a few occasions. They knotted the score at 43 with 5:32 remaining, but Mansfield responded with two straight baskets.

Central took the lead, 47-46, but once again Mansfield responded on the next trip down, and finally Nelson’s three with a minute left tied the game at 50, but the Hornets scored the games’ last five points.

“Every time they needed a play they seemed to respond,” Nault said of Mansfield. “Give their coaching staff all the credit. They made the plays at the end of the game and we didn’t. It seemed like we’d make a play, hit a shot and feel good. We were content with being tied; we didn’t dig in and get a stop. Obviously it is disappointing.”

Central was led by Nelson’s 15, but also got a strong game from senior forward Joel Berroa who finished with 10.

Mansfield had eight players in the scoring column with Conner leading the way with 14. Junior Rocky DeAndrade finished with eight, while Boen and senior Greg Romanko added seven apiece. The balanced scoring is something Vaughan is accustomed to seeing.

“It is kind of how we’ve been all year,” he said. “A kid like (Brendan) Hill, who gets a lot of press only gets five points, but a kid like Kevin (Conner) got in double figures. Last week it was (Kyle) Wisnieski. We’re getting a lot of contributions from different guys and that makes us unique. It is why I think we’re here and why we are able to win.”

With the win Mansfield will move on to play Springfield Putnam for the Division 1 state championship Saturday night at the DCU Center. For the Hornets, they will aim to treat it just like any other game this season.

“We need to come in and play every game like we have, play our best, work our hardest and hopefully we come up with a win,” Boen said.

NOT AT FULL STRENGTH
Central Catholic played the last portion of their season not at full strength, missing two starters down the stretch. Junior forward Nick Cambio was out with an injured hip, while senior Doug Gemmell was dealing with symptoms from a concussion, which just wouldn’t go away.

Nault acknowledged after the game being without those two players made a difference, especially in game like Tuesday, but is still proud of his team for winning four state tournament games.

“Yes, no question, he said. “Not having the two forwards up front, and playmakers around the rim is a big thing. To be without those guys, be in the game and have this run they have nothing to be ashamed of. It was a tremendous run by a team that overcame a lot of adversity.”

The Red Raiders finished the year 21-6 and will return key contributors in Nelson, Cambio and Aaron Hall.

MANSFIELD, Mass. –- One of the greatest rivalries in the Hockomock League added another chapter on Saturday, with Mansfield getting the better of Franklin 57-48 in overtime in the MIAA Division 1 quarterfinals.

Mansfield head coach Mike Vaughan and Franklin head coach Dean O’Connor have been on the same staff and both work at the Mass Premier Courts. The program’s familiarity with each other is apparent. They split the season series with each team winning at home and it’s the second straight year the teams have met in the playoffs.

Both sides had answers for one another throughout the game, but in overtime, Mansfield took over.

The Hornets outscored the Panthers 11-2 in the extra period, behind 5 points from point guard Rocky DeAndrade. With Mansfield up 51-48 in the overtime, DeAndrade took an inbounds pass and calmly drained a three to extend their lead to 6.

“He’s been so steady all year just making big plays,” Vaughan said. “The last two games, he’s carried this team just making big baskets. Probably a bigger basket than the three was the pull up he had when we were down 3.”

DeAndrade was key in keeping Mansfield alive in the fourth, chipping in six of his game-high 21 in the fourth quarter. After Franklin point guard Sam Bohmiller hit three foul shots to give the Panthers a 45-42 lead, DeAndrade responded with a pull up jumper to bring the Hornets within one with just over a minute remaining.

“That doesn’t go, they get the ball and now you’re done three with a minute and a half,” Vaughan said. “He makes it, now we’re down one and you live another possession defensively you can stay aggressive.”

It worked as Mansfield came up with a stop. DeAndrade took it to the hoop himself and used a Rajon Rondo-esq fake before laying it in for an easy two to give Mansfield a 46-45 lead with 50.6 seconds to go.

“Rocky was the MVP of that game,” O’Connor said. “He made every big shot and that was the difference.”

Franklin had a chance to end the game in regulation, but their shot from the field missed. Panther junior Pat O’Reilly came up with the offensive board and was fouled doing so. With 6.1 seconds left on the clock, O’Reilly missed the first attempt but banked home the second to tie the game at 46.

Mansfield gave the ball to Brendan Hill, but the sophomore’s jumper was short and the fourth quarter ended in deadlock.

“They defend as good as anyone we’ll ever play,” Vaughan said. “They’re one of the special defensive teams in our division. Every basket is a grind, they don’t give up a lot of second chance points. Our guys stayed with it and battled through it.”

Mansfield took an 11-9 lead after the first quarter after Hornet sophomore Michael Boen came up with an offensive rebound and put back before the buzzer. Franklin’s Chris Rodgers' drive and layup tied the game at 22 just before the halftime break. Mansfield regained the lead after three in similar style they did in the first. Kevin Conner came up with an offensive board and laid it back in before the buzzer to give Mansfield 36-34 edge after three.

But after another nail biter of a fourth quarter, Mansfield persevered in overtime and advanced to the next round.

“We felt like they haven’t been in a lot of close games so if we could be in it late, we could have a good chance,” O’Connor said. “We had a couple of chances to increase the lead to four with some open looks at three. We went cold.”

The Panthers didn’t score a field goal in the overtime and added just two free throws.

“I can’t be mad,” O’Connor added. “We played a hell of a game. I think they have a little more talent than us and we just wanted to out-will them.”

Mansfield will now advance to Tuesday's D1 South Semifinals, at UMass-Boston's Clark Athletic Center, where they will face Brookline.

BITTERSWEET END FOR A STAR
For four years, Sam Bohmiller has been an outstanding player for Franklin High School. The senior point guard comes up short of 1,000 career points and a state title, but his career has been nothing short of tremendous.

Bohmiller scored a team-high 19 points in the loss to Mansfield, despite constant defensive pressure and double-teams.

“We’ve had a lot of good players and Sam is right up there with any of them,” O’Connor said. “He’ just a great kid. I’m going to miss just having him around, never mind basketball. He played his heart out. He doesn’t come out and that was pretty much the whole season, he’s an iron man. He had a hell of a career.”

Opposing coaches won’t miss having to come up with defensive game plans to contain Bohmiller, but know just how important he was to this Franklin team.

“Talk about a special player for four years,” Vaughan said. “A unique player for this league, someone who was fun to watch. He did it without a lot of the game and a lot of the talk. He had to unfortunately follow in the shoes of Jake Layman and Aaron Calixte, but what an outstanding player he is.”

MILFORD, Mass. -– With the new No. 1 team in the state in Mansfield visiting, the No. 23 Milford Hawks (14-2) looked to deliver a knockout punch in the first round.

They landed a shot, but it wasn’t enough to keep Mansfield down, as the Hawks’ first quarter lead turned into a 76-52 loss at the hands of the No. 1 Hornets (16-1).

Milford went toe-to-toe with Mansfield in the first quarter, evening coming away with a 23-22 lead. But as Milford slowed, Mansfield continued to roll, pulling out the 24-point win.

“We’re getting everyone’s best,” Mansfield head coach Mike Vaughan said. “It was a great atmosphere. I said to my guys when they called their first timeout at 13-13, ‘They just threw their biggest punch, and we’re still tied.’”

Milford jumped out to an early lead, and extended it to as much as six. Mansfield bounced back to take the lead midway through the quarter, but a free throw at the end of the quarter gave the Hawks the lead.

“They just came out firing,” Mansfield sophomore Brendan Hill said. “I was real proud of my team, we bounced right back. We took their punch and delivered one back.”

After an exciting first quarter, the Hornets stepped up big defensively, only allowing four Milford points in the second quarter on just one field goal and two free throws.

“I think at some level the game fatigue starts to kick in and the adrenaline level starts to come down,” Vaughan said on the contrasting quarters. “It wasn’t as much of an adjustment as it was just executing the game plan a little better.”

Hill and junior Rocky DeAndrade both finished with a team-high 17 points for the Hornets, while Milford senior David Mercier was the only Hawk in double-figures at 21.

DeAndrade and Hill both found success offensively in the third quarter, when Mansfield turned a 11-point halftime lead into a 16-point difference to start the fourth quarter. DeAndrade had nine in the third.

“They started to press us so that started to open up gaps for us,” DeAndrade said. “I was getting deny defense so I started playing the middle.”

As it has been for this season, Mansfield has received strong play from not only the starters, but from their deep bench. Senior Greg Romanko had 13 points, sophomore Ryan Boulter had 12, junior Kevin Conner had 9 and sophomore Michael Boen had 8.

Conner, who didn’t practice yesterday because his knee was bothering him, added a big spark including a first half dunk, and four second-half offensive boards that kept Mansfield’s lead in safe distance.

“He got two [offensive rebounds] off free throws which is unusual and got the big dunk,” Vaughan said. “Defensively, he was outstanding. I was very happy with his play tonight.”

Milford’s Michael Tracy had eight points, while Michael Titlebaum finished with seven.

Both teams will be back in play on Friday in key Hockomock divisional games as Milford hosts Oliver Ames and Mansfield will host No. 20 Taunton.

A WORTHY REMATCH
Mansfield will now look to continue their winning ways on Friday with a visit from the Taunton Tigers. When these two teams met in the beginning of January, the Hornets edged out a 68-62 win. Now Taunton will be looking for revenge and Vaughan expects another great game.

“I say this with Taunton playing a really good game the first time, but I actually expect a better game out of them,” he said. “I’m excited and I’m happy to be at home. They’re backs are against the wall and they pretty much have to win to stay in [Hockomock] contention.”

In the win last time, Hill had 24 points while DeAndrade had 16. Hill expects the same effort from Taunton this time around.

“A lot of energy,” Hill said on what he’s expecting. “They are fast and quick. I think we handled it really well last time. Hopefully we can get out to a bigger lead and open things up a bit.”

1-0 AS NUMBER ONE
Mansfield was ranked as the top team in the state for the first time this season in the latest ESPNBoston.com Top 25 poll that came out this week, but Hill didn’t feel any added pressure with the new number next to the team’s name.

“It doesn’t get to our team’s heads at all,” Hill said. “We just want to go out and win, we’ll beat anyone we play. We don’t get big heads or anything like that. We just want to go out and win.”

When Vaughan saw they were ranked as the best in the state, it brought back a familiar feeling.

“I got the feeling that I got the first time, in my fourth year, when Mansfield showed up in the Top 25,” he said. “It’s not something you can say often for a team for a suburban town in southeastern Massachusetts that you can be number one.”

But Vaughan noted how often the top teams have fallen in the NCAA this season, and hopes his team can use that as a guideline going forward.

“It puts a bigger bulls-eye on our back,” Vaughan said. “At the end of the day, our guys are realistic. We had goal number one of making the tournament. We had goal number two of winning the Hock. Number three is winning games in the tournament. If we can do those things, our goals are accomplished regardless of the additional accolades.”

MANSFIELD, Mass –- Last year when non-league top dogs Brockton and Mansfield met, the Boxers basically scored a KO with an 18-2 start on their way to a 69-48 win.

This year, the Hornets (13-1) avoided any such blow with great defense, pulling away in the second half to beat Brockton 66-41.

Mansfield saw how dangerous the Boxers (8-4) could be on the offensive glass after they pulled down 21 of them Thursday against Wachusett. They practiced on it in the last couple of days, and it paid off.

“We knew we had to rebound the basketball, and I thought we did that fantastic tonight,” Mansfield head coach Mike Vaughan said. “I thought we did a good job of maintaining the boards which gave us the ability to kind of grind away the first half. In the third quarter, we were able to come out and make a couple of adjustments and create a little separation.”

Sophomore Brendan Hill scored a game-high 23 points a grabbed 9 boards in the win. Senior Greg Romanko and sophomore Ryan Boulter both added 12 for the Hornets.

Brockton jumped out to a first quarter lead, but unlike last year, Mansfield kept pace. With two seconds left in the first, sophomore Michael Boen found Boulter in the corner for a three that gave Mansfield a 13-12 lead. The Hornets never surrendered that lead.

Mansfield stretched their lead to seven at half behind Hill’s six second-quarter points. Not only was Hill able to get to the basket, he added two dimes when the defense focused too much on him.

“He’s special,” Vaughan said. “The fact that he’s a sophomore and that he’ll be wearing a Hornet uniform for the next couple of years brings a smile to a lot of our faces. He has a lot of growing to do still, which is the best part.”

Mansfield sealed the game when they went on a 12-3 run to open the second half, thanks to baskets from Hill, Romanko, Boen, and junior Kevin Conner.

“They ran some very nice offensive sets,” Brockton coach Bob Boen said. “They beat us on a lot of back door cuts. They rebounded the ball well and got some rebound baskets on us. They did everything right in the second half.”

The Hornets outscored Brockton in the third 19-11 to give Mansfield a 45-32 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Hill’s nine points in the pivotal third were a big reason that Mansfield pulled away.

“Brendan is a very good player,” Boen said. “He can do everything. He can pass it, he can rebound it, he can shoot it. They run a lot of plays through him. They have a nice team, they’ve got seven or eight real good players there.”

Mansfield used balance scoring in the final frame, with six different players helping to extend the margin to 25. During the quarter, both Hill and Connor wowed the crowd with two-handed jams.

Junior Nisre Zouzoua led Brockton offensively with 10 points while seniors Israel Thorpe and Jaylen Blakely each had 9.

Mansfield will look to continue their winning ways when they host King Philip on Tuesday while Brockton will look to bounce back against Big Three rival Durfee on Friday.

FAMILY TIES
For Brockton coach Bob Boen, this just wasn’t his second straight year going against a top Division 1 team like Mansfield, it was his second going against his nephew, Michael Boen, a sophomore guard for the Hornets.

“It was very hard coaching,” Boen said. “It was hard to set up and tell my guys to shut him down and not let him get the ball.”

Michael played against his uncle last year when the teams met, but played limited minutes with a small role.

This year, Boen has been a vital part to Mansfield’s success, and helped Sunday with six points and eight boards. Bob Boen didn’t feel Michael had one of his better games.

“It was kind of funny because I don’t think Michael had a very good game,” Coach Boen said. “He might have been nervous playing against me.

“I didn’t have a good game coaching and he didn’t have a good game playing, probably because of the family conflict,” he said.

THE RICH GETTING RICHER
Mansfield sits atop the Hockomock with a 13-1 record and has made statement wins against Amityville (N.Y.) and Brockton, and their lone loss was a six-point loss to New Mission.

Now, they might be getting even better.

Vaughan said that they are targeting Friday as a return date for junior guard Michael Hershman. Hershman has been out the entire season with an injury he sustained early in the football season.

Now Hershman, who led the team in scoring last year alongside his older brother Brian (who graduated), could be returning to an already-potent Mansfield line up.

“He had a good work out yesterday and had another good one today,” Vaughan said. “It’s been a great motivational factor the last couple of practices. I try and keep reminding the kids, ‘what are you going to do when someone who’s going to average 20 plus minutes comes back.’ It’s interesting how quickly practices turn back to be a positive.

“We're excited to have him back and I know he’s been itching to get back.”

TAUNTON, Mass. –- Mansfield sophomore Brendan Hill may not be your ideal point forward, one you would most expect with the ball in his hands for the majority of any given game.

But if you ask the 6-foot-5 Hill, he’s more than suitable to fill the role.

That much was evident Tuesday night as the Hornets (7-1), led by a game-high 24 points from Hill, eked out a difficult Hockomock League road win at Taunton and handed the previously undefeated Tigers (6-1) their first loss of the season.

“The ball is kind of in my hands more,” Hill said. “I like that; I can make plays for other people, score if I can. Just try to take my guy off of all our shooters, and it seems to be working.”

It was actually clearly working, especially in the fourth quarter. Hill scored seven of his 24 points in the frame, and as Mansfield’s floor general, put the game in his own hands to put away the Tigers.

After a 7-0 Hornets run made it 54-47, Taunton answered with a quick 4-0 run of its own to cut the deficit to three with 3:39 left in regulation. But the Hornets answered that with a 6-0 run of their own that gave the visitors firm control, aided by the strong play of Hill. After a jumper from teammate Kevin Conner, Hill took the ball down the floor on the ensuing possession, drew a foul, and sunk a pair of foul shots.

Then, on the Tigers’ ensuing possession, on an inbounds play under their own basket, Hill, guarding the inbounder, stole his pass, took it the other way, and ultimately found a wide-open Kyle Wisnieski for a lay-up that gave Mansfield a commanding 60-51 advantage with 2:10 left and forced Taunton coach Charlie Dacey to call a timeout.

The Tigers furiously rallied and cut the deficit to three with 17.4 seconds left after back-to-back 3-pointers from Corey Green and Fawaz Mass, but the Hornets ultimately made enough free throws to prevail.

“That’s a very good Taunton team, all the picks that have them as a sleeper in Division 1, I agree with it 100 percent,” Mansfield coach Mike Vaughan said. “That’s a very good basketball team and we’re fortunate to get out of here.

“I think that was probably the difference in the game, is that we strung three stops together and three baskets together and created enough separation that when they threw their last punch at us, we were able to absorb it.”

A concise offense: One thing Vaughan was disappointed about from Dec. 28's loss to New Mission was his team’s inability to move the ball on offense.

In that game, he said the offense went about in three passes or less before firing up a shot, which added up as one ingredient to the team’s loss. On Tuesday, however, the Hornets offense played anything but that style, going through a pass-heavy scheme and finding better shots, which worked to their advantage.

Since the Mission game, Vaughn said he’s spent most of practice time drilling in the idea of deeper possessions and running that kind of pass-heavy offense.

“Tonight we got into six, seven, eight passes on a possession, which for any team to play that way is very difficult to play for that many passes,” Vaughan said. “The guys are really starting to buy in to the idea that the same guys are going to get the same opportunities to score, but we’ve gotta get into those deeper possessions.”

While Vaughan has tried to get his team in better sync on offense, he was also telling his guys, specifically junior guard Ryan DeAndrade, to not be afraid to take a shot here or there.

DeAndrade -- while making a number of plays Tuesday finding his teammates for baskets -- took his coach’s advice and poured in 16 points, playing aggressively when opportunites were there for the taking.

“Coach has always been saying don't be so passive,” DeAndrade said. “Look around for your teammates but if the shot is there you need to take it, so I looked for my shot a little more tonight.”

Breathing by the 3: While some detest the moniker “Live and die by the 3,” Vaughan embraces it.

“It’s who we are,” he said. “We’ve gotta shoot them to keep people honest.”

The 3-pointers weren’t dropping Tuesday for the Hornets with the same regularity that they have this season, though. They finished with just four makes from downtown, something Vaughan credited to Taunton’s swarming defense.

“I don’t remember one uncontested shot,” Vaughan said. “I mean there were a couple of times we penetrated and pitched, we’re pulling the trigger and there’s a kid that’s flying from a block who’s getting there because their athleticism and length allows them to do that.”

The 3-pointers Mansfield did make, however, came at crucial junctures. Sophomore forward Ryan Boulter, with his team trailing in the final minute of the third quarter, made back-to-back 3’s to give the Hornets the lead and momentum heading into the final quarter.

Then, as part of Mansfield’s 7-0 run in the fourth, sophomore forward Michael Boen made a 3-pointer from the top of the key, which helped the Hornets gain much-needed separation from the Tigers in the closing minutes.

In the end, DeAndrade and Hill agreed that they have to trust their teammates to hit those shots, no matter how much they’re slumping.

“It’s very important, because this team right here is one of the best shooting teams,” DeAndrade said. “These guys, they know how to shoot, and they’ll keep shooting if you give them the ball, so I trust these guys more than anything. They’re really good shooters.

“They know that if they’re not hitting a shot, the next one they’re gonna shoot they’re gonna hit it,” Hill said. “They have that shooter’s mentality and I think that’s really important.”