Massachusetts: Basketball State Champs Crowned
By Russ Waterman
Mar 17, 2009, 12:00am
Rodgers has stellar performance for St. John's;
Zenevitch dominant with 28 points and 26 rebounds as Central Catholic takes Division 1 girls title.
Six new boys and girls state champions were crowned with the Central Catholic, Notre Dame Academy and Swampscott girls squads each claiming their first state championships.
Division 1 Boys
Sophomore forward Richard Rodgers had a career-high 28 points to lead four St. John’s starters in double figures and spark the Pioneers to their first state title since 2000, 80-62, over Lynn English. David White and Anthony Trapasso contributed 15 points each and 6-foot-9 Dartmouth-bound center Matt Labove added 10
St. John’s (19-4) never trailed, but the game was tied at 33 following a 15-1 Bulldog run spanning the second and third quarters featuring eight points by their standout junior guard Ryan Woumn (17 points).
The Pioneers finally spurted ahead, 56-44, with White feeding Rodgers for three easy layups and Labove punctuating the run with a resounding dunk. The Pioneers made 13-of-17 free throw attempts in the final eight minutes and 22-of-26 overall to seal the win.
Lynn English (25-3) also got solid contributions from Travone Berry-Rogers (13) and Jose Rivera (10).
“It’s very tough because they’re so good and they really jump all over you and they expect to steal the ball,” Pioneer head coach Bob Foley said of the Lynn English pressure. “But if you can beat it, you’re going to get an easy hoop and Richard Rodgers just fed off that.”
Division 1 Girls
Boston College signee Katie Zenevitch scored 28 points and grabbed 26 rebounds to spur Central Catholic to its first state title, 67-62, over feisty Shepherd Hill.
The 6-3 junior center made all 10 of her free throw attempts, including six in the last quarter, and was difficult to stop inside and out.
The Raiders (22-3) jumped out to an early 20-8 lead but the Rams stormed back and took the lead at halftime on a Mary Barbale 3-pointer. Central Catholic was down by as much as five, 52-47, in the fourth quarter until it came back to tie the score.
In the last 41 seconds, the Raiders broke the deadlock by outscoring Shepherd Hill, 7-2, with key plays made by Mia O’Connor (block), four free throws by Zenevitch, a steal and layup by Ashley Evangelista and a free throw by Gabe Polce.
Meghan Boutilette had 17 points and Barbale added 12 for Shepherd Hill (21-5).
“It was a team effort,” Zenevitch said. “I had a lot of points but it takes everyone to win games like this. We needed every player to do their job to beat them. They (Shepherd Hill) played a great game.”
Division 2 Boys
Marcus McDermott with 20 points was at the top of a Milton scoring parade in an 81-44 domination of Western Massachusetts champion Hoosac Valley to win its first state title in 13 years.
With 14 of 15 players scoring, the senior-dominant Wildcats (22-4) raced out to a 37-22 halftime quarter lead and never looked back.
A Nick Aitken runner at 2:40 of the second quarter closed the deficit to one. But Milton responded with a 14-1 run before halftime and then exploded for a 28-9 third quarter outburst to go ahead, 64-31.
Robbie Burke finished with 15 for the Hurricanes (21-4).
“We have a lot of weapons and usually play 12 to 13 players,” Milton head coach Sean Lopresti said. “But we showed our true colors tonight with our defense. We usually don’t get enough credit for that but we only allowed 57 points a game.”
Division 2 Girls
Notre Dame Academy escaped a frantic Millbury fourth-quarter rally with a 36-33 victory to claim its first state title.
In a defensive-minded battle, the Cougars went ahead, 4-0, in the first quarter and led 17-8 at halftime.
The Woolies fell behind, 33-22, early in the fourth quarter, but staged an 11-1 rally behind Caitlin Bullett (14) and Julie Frankian (10). Two Chelsea Perkins’ foul shots with 48 seconds left made it 34-33.
“We average about 60 points a game so I wasn’t worried about us scoring,” Notre Dame head coach Michael Barrett said of the slow start. “We knew we just had to play tough defense and make our layups.”
Margaret Riordan was Notre Dame’s only player in double digits (13) but it was the Cougars’ defense that proved the biggest key to their title.
Division 3 Boys
Kyle Stockmal scored 25 points and Benyam Kerman added 20 to spark Watertown to its second crown in three years, 68-63, over Sabis, the same school they defeated in the 2007 finals. The only other loss by Sabis (23-2) this year also was to Watertown, 62-47, at the Spalding Hoophall Classic.
Watertown (22-4) made 26-of-32 free throw attempts, including 17-of-22 in the final quarter. Game-high scorer Andre King (32 points) was almost a one-man band for desperate Sabis in the last minute-and-a-half with 12 points as the lead dwindled to as little as three. But the Raiders continued knocking down free throws to clinch the title.
“This is all we’ve been working for the last two years” Stockmal said. “We couldn’t go out any other way besides a win and I’m glad to end it this way."
Division 3 Girls
Allie Beaulieau and Tara Nimkar had 27 and 24 points, respectively, to lead Swampscott (23-2) to its first state title, 72-38, over Quaboag. Swampscott's pressure (24 steals) proved far too much for the seven-time Central Massachusetts champions, who sustained their first defeat (25-1) and never got on track.
Beaulieu and Nimkar combined for 20 Swampscott's 24 points in the second quarter as the Big Blue spurted ahead 35-20 at halftime. Swampscott (23-2) dashed the hopes for any comeback by storming to a 56-26 margin by the end of the third quarter.
Meaghan O’Keefe was high scorer for Quaboag with 17 points.
“We wanted to make to sure the game was played at our tempo,” Swampscott head coach Jack Hughes said. “We didn’t want to get into a half-court game where they were dumping it into their big girls.”
