ESPN

ANDOVER, Mass. — Jake Pilecki probably won’t lead Acton-Boxboro in scoring or any major statistical category with other key contributors lining the roster of the Colonials.

But that’s not what head coach Rick Kilpatrick needs him to do.

All Pilecki has to do is mimic his production from the Colonials 58-50 victory over Boston Latin (12-3) last night at Regan Gymnasium and the head coach will be happy.

Pilecki poured in five points in the final minute to help the Colonials push past the Wolfpack for the second time this season. The Colonials are now 13-1 on the regular season and Kilpatrick is getting used to seeing Pilecki come up when he is needed most.

“He’s our emotional leader,” said Kilpatrick. “He just brings a lot of energy to our team.”

The teams were locked in a one-possession game after Miles Wright hit a jumper with 1:29 left to go in the game. The Colonials were able to get the ball past the pressure defense and feed it to Pilecki in the post. He felt the defender on his back and instead of kicking it out to an outside shooter he turned and drilled a baseline jumper for a 55-50 lead.

“I wasn’t really thinking,” said Pilecki, who scored eight points on the night and grabbed seven rebounds. “I just got it and knew the shot clock was around (five seconds). I just put it up and I knew I could get over that kid.”

The Colonials came up with a defensive stop on the next possession and the Wofpack were trying to foul, but the Colonials were able to pass it around into Pilecki’s hands without getting a whistle. Pilecki saw the clock winding down, hoisted up a deep 3-pointer and drilled it with the buzzer sounding for the game-clincher.

“I knew there was five seconds and I was just going to pull that no matter what,” said Pilecki.

Pilecki’s clutch performances have not come as a surprise for teammate Kevin LaFrancis.

“He’s been huge,” said LaFrancis. “He’s been the motivator of the team and he’s been the biggest leader for us in the times of the greatest adversity. He’s just shown up in the biggest spots.”

LaFrancis Not Too Shabby: While LaFrancis praised his teammates for clutch finishes, it was the 6-foot-6 center that was the steady force that kept the Colonials afloat in the game.

LaFrancis finished the game with a game-high 27 points and 10 rebounds, with the majority of his buckets coming in the post.

“They guarded us hard, but we felt like we had the height advantage,” said LaFrancis. “We definitely had the advantage on the inside and we tried to exploit that early.”

LaFrancis finished 11-for-17 from the floor and came to life in the beginning of the third quarter. He posted the first eight points of the quarter for the Colonials with a number of post moves. More importantly, he was able to get Mike Wojewodzic and Jack Duggan into foul trouble to break into the depth of the Wolfpack front line.

“That’s what we want to do,” said Kilpatrick. “We want to try and get the ball inside and draw fouls.”

Wolfpack in the Hunt: The emotions were running high for the Wolfpack after dropping the first game of the season against the Colonials and they were in this one all the way to the bitter end.

It’s safe to say that this won’t be the last time anyone hears about Boston Latin.

The Wolfpack are a balanced team with legitimate scorers up and down the lineup. None might be more prolific than Wright. The junior finished with 20 points and showed a good inside game to go along with the lost art that is the midrange jumper.

Wright came away with five steals and nearly threw down a tomahawk dunk on the break that would have brought the Wolfpack a crucial bucket in the final moments of the fourth, but he lost the ball on the way down and it clanged off the rim.

The athleticism is there and he will be a presence that the Dual County League and the rest of the state will have to be aware of.

“He doesn’t realize how good he can be year,” said Wolfpack head coach Brendan Smith. “He’s a young junior. He just turned 16 a littte while ago and he’s not a really a big man but for us he plays big. He’s more of a small forward and he’s going to be a tough cover.”

Added Kilpatrick: “We basically felt that we were going to give him the midrange jumper and we can’t let him get to the rim, because that’s when he’s so tough. To his credit he made them.”

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."

CONCORD, Mass. -- Concord-Carlisle scored early and often on its way to a convincing 35-7 win over Boston Latin on Thursday afternoon. The win moved C-C (5-0, 1-0) into an early first place lead in the Dual County League Small, as Boston Latin fell to 3-2, 0-2.

C-C led 35-0 at the half, with each of their five first half touchdowns coming by way of the “big play”. The Patriots struck first early in the opening quarter as senior quarterback Ryan Hoey found classmate Jackson Finigan on a 47-yard touchdown strike.

“That was all (Ryan) Hoey,” said Finigan. “We actually had a run play called but Ryan checked to the fade and threw a perfect ball that I caught and it was all grass from there on.”

Hoey looked sharp all day controlling the C-C offense, and has been a steadying factor in his first year under center for the Patriots.

“Offensively we did a good job,” said Concord-Carlisle head coach Mike Robichaud. “We talked about the trenches and the edges and I think we did a good job there. We have some running backs that can make things happen if we get to the second level so we were pleased with that.”

C-C star running back George Craan scored the next two touchdowns on long runs of 71 and 55 yards respectively. The senior totaled 156 yards on the day, on only five carries

Junior tailback Tim Badgley got into the scoring action as well, with a 65-yard burst through the middle of the Boston Latin defense midway through the second quarter.

Senior tailback Tyquan Culbreath concluded the first half scoring barrage with a 44-yard scamper through the Wolfpack defense.

C-C has come out of the locker room the last two games and put their opponents away early with big opening first halves.

“It is a credit to these captains and a credit to these seniors,” said C-C head coach Mike Robichaud of his team’s early game execution and focus. “They take a lot of pride in coming out and being real good on first downs and early in the game.”

Boston Latin’s lone score on the afternoon came with 2:59 remaining in the third quarter, as junior Mike Surdek plunged in from two yards out to break up the shutout.

Latin was also playing without injured junior quarterback Miles Wright who was present on the sidelines sporting a hard cast on his right arm. Junior Cal Cahill took the snaps for the Wolfpack on the day.

Huge holes: “The offensive line are all big fast guys,” said Craan. “They do a good job conditioning and at practice and the coaching staff does a great job preparing them.”

The C-C veteran offensive line led by seniors Andrew vanderWilden, Trevor Castrichini, Owen Guattaduaro, Tom Gregory and Thomas Kleyn opened up some monster holes for the C-C running backs to run through.

“The offensive line did a great job,” said Robichaud. “It is a senior group and these guys have played with each other in some tight situations.”

Seniors step up: The C-C senior class has experienced success having advanced to the post season the past two years including a Division 2A Super Bowl appearance last season where they lost to Duxbury 35-13 at Gillette Stadium.

Whether it was captain Henry Bumpus’ big fourth down sack in the first half or the aggressive pursuit tackling of defensive backs Tyler Koning, Anthony West and linebacker Kleyn the C-C defense was up to the task.

“Our defense is led by a strong senior group,” said Finigan. “We have a bunch of hard hitting kids and we are doing a good job stopping the run and pass and whatever is called.”

Hoey, Finigan, Craan, Culbreath and the veteran offense line all led the way for the offense.

Finigan factors in: Finigan was all over the field for C-C. The senior caught a touchdown, returned punts, threw some key blocks to spring the running backs and was a big factor in containing the edge from his defensive back position.

“Probably the guy that is most unsung in our running game is Jackson Finigan,” said Robichaud. “He does a tremendous job of making blocks downfield. When you have good backs half our touchdowns are because Jackson has gotten on someone down field and what was a 30-yard run becomes a 50-yard touchdown. We don’t throw the ball a whole lot but he has just been huge for us the past three years.”

CONCORD-CARLISLE 35, BOSTON LATIN 7

CC (5-0) --- 14 21 0 0 - 35
BL (3-2) --- 0 0 7 0 - 7

First Quarter
C – Jackson Finigan 47 pass from Ryan Hoey (kick failed)
C – George Craan 71 run (Craan run)

Second Quarter
C – Craan 55 run (Evan Boynton kick)
C – Tim Badgley 65-yard run (Boynton kick)
C – Tyquan Culbreath 44-yard run (Boynton kick)

Fourth Quarter
B – Mike Surdek 2-yard run (Jake Hardy kick)

ALLSTON, Mass. -- It may have been one of the most lopsided scores in the 124-year history of the rivalry, but Thursday’s 54-12 victory for Boston Latin over Boston English might be more about the story of the Bulldogs’ accomplishments in defeat than anything.

English (0-11) entered Thursday’s game having scored just one touchdown on the season, outscored 323-6 in an 0-10 season to date. So the ability of the Bulldogs team, one that dressed just 14 players on Thanksgiving, two of whom were playing in their first game ever, to get to the end zone twice was as big of an accomplishment as Latin’s 54 points scored, the most either team has scored in a single game in the history of the rivalry.

“I’m so proud of these guys,” first-year English head coach Chris Boswell said. “We face a lot of adversity – academically, experience, age, ability, equipment. But we knew the kickoff was at 10 a.m., and that’s all that mattered.”

That kickoff had many in attendance at Harvard Stadium wondering if this was going to be the biggest upset in the storied rivalry's history. English’s Richard Monteiro returned the kick 76 yards for a touchdown bringing sunshine to what has been a cloudy season. The team had scored just one touchdown all season coming into Thanksgiving Day, also a game-opening kickoff return in the third
game of the season.

“It was a good start,” said Boswell. “If you saw my reaction, I didn’t get excited. It was the first play of the game. But inside I was jumping up and down.”

The Bulldogs scored again with less than a minute left in the first quarter, when Monteiro broke free at the line of scrimmage and found room of the left side thanks to a Hassan Ingram block, leading to an 85-yard touchdown run, the team’s longest play from scrimmage all season.

“I wasn’t displeased when they ran the kickoff back for a touchdown. I wasn’t displeased when they scored their second touchdown,” Boston Latin head coach John McDonough said. “I was a little pissed at our guys that they let it happen. But I was happy to see English score. The fact they scored twice, I turned around and said, ‘Okay guys, game on.’”

That game was Latin’s running attack, which spoiled English’s Cinderella story. Sandwiched between the two English touchdowns were three rushing touchdowns from Latin (4-7).

Four plays and less than two minutes after the opening kickoff return, the Wolfpack evened things on a four-yard Kenneth Terry run. Tyler Hallinan followed up with a score on a 14-yard rush, and Jhalen Bien-Amie broke free for a 25-yard touchdown. The Wolfpack were successful on both two-point conversions for a 22-6 lead.

After Monteiro’s touchdown got the Bulldogs within 10 points at the end of the first, the fatigue factor for English –- with most players forced to play both offense and defense -- became the difference.

Latin scored on the first play of the second quarter when captain Connor Carrigan ran 23 yards for a touchdown. Hallinan scored his second touchdown of the game at with six minutes left on a 15-yard rush. Tack on successful two-point conversions for each and an English safety late in the quarter and Latin headed to halftime with a 40-12 advantage.

“[English] looked tired at the end of the first quarter and we were still ready to go,” said Terry, who finished what he called the best game of his career with two touchdowns as well as two successful two-point conversions. “We gassed them pretty early.”

Latin added two touchdowns in the second half, the first a 2-yard Terry run and the second a 13-yard rush from David Berry to cap the scoring.

A look at the final score might not show much of a moral victory for English. But for a coach who is looking to rebuild what once was a storied high school football program, things like tripling your team’s offensive production is more than a silver lining.

And that silver lining is what Boswell needs if he’s going to not only keep the few players he does have but also recruit additional bodies to give his team a fighting chance.

“We have to invest in these kids,” said Boswell. “We have to let them know we’re here for them. We want to build a [junior varsity] program and have a JV and varsity team. We want to send kids to the next level and have them play at the next level.”

BOSTON LATIN 54, BOSTON ENGLISH 12

BE 12 0 0 0 --- 12
BL 22 18 8 6 --- 54

First Quarter
BE - Richard Monteiro 76-yard kickoff return (conversion failed)
BL - Kenneth Terry 4-yard rush (kick failed)
BL - Tyler Hallinan 14-yard rush (Terry rush)
BL - Jhalen Bien-Amie 25-yard rush (Bien-Amie rush)
BE - Monteiro 85-yard rush (conversion failed)

Second Quarter
BL - Connor Carrigan 23-yard rush (Bien-Amie rush)
BL - Hallinan 15-yard rush (Terry rush)
BL - Safety

Third Quarter
BL - Terry 2-yard rush (Miles Wright rush)

Fourth Quarter
BL - David Barry 13-yard rush (conversion failed)