By Jim Stout
MaxPreps.com
The sixth annual Spalding Hoophall Classic at Springfield College was marked throughout its four-day course by high-profile interstate and intersectional games.
When it came down to the final day, however, nothing impacted the host state more profoundly than a battle of Springfield-area rivals, one of whom had been the lone remaining undefeated team in the region.
Holyoke can no longer lay claim to being unbeaten.
Mount Vernon, N.Y., vs. Norcross, Ga., was one of the feature games of Day Four, but three Springfield area rivalry games were conducted as well on the Dr. Martin Luther King holiday. Division I Holyoke dropped from the ranks of the unbeaten in the first of the three, falling to Division II South Hadley, 51-40 at Blake Arena.
Sabis beat New Leadership, 78-53, in the area's charter school rivalry game while Springfield Central beat Commerce, 69-61, in the public school showdown.
For Holyoke (8-1), its cold-shooting performance against South Hadley (34 percent from the floor, 27 percent from the line) came on the heels of an impressive win at the Classic over Deering, Me.
South Hadley improved to 7-2 with the win, getting 17 points and nine rebounds from Ryan Marcus, as well 11 points from Colin Lacey and 10 points and eight rebounds from Ryan Garvey.
"I think a lot of the credit goes to South Hadley; they played a solid game and did all the fundamental things right," Holyoke coach Bill Rigali told the Springfield Republican. "They did what we wanted to do, go to the basket and get us in foul trouble."
Holyoke was playing without center Tim Dunn, who missed his second straight game with a sprained ankle. Before it was over, three Knights fouled out.
South Hadley was shorthanded as well, missing senior guard Dave Lopes (ankle) and senior forward Travis Ortensi (hip flexor). South Hadley coach Jeff Guiel used only six players in the contest.
"It's a big win for our program and a big scary place for our guys to play," Guiel said. "I asked our guys to fill the holes. We're not that deep so for this year, we had to stress one stop at a time, one rebound at a time, all the clich‚s."
Commerce Gives Bishop Loughlin a Run
Earlier in the Hoophall Classic, Springfield Commerce fell behind Bishop Loughlin of New York City by 18 points in the first half, but rallied in the second half to within two before falling, 66-62.
"We came ready to play," said Commerce's Jensen Cruz, who led the Red Raiders' comeback bid with 19 of his game-high 29 points in the second half. "Do you know how big they are? We came ready to play. We didn't quit. That's Commerce Pride, right there."
"We have a lot of pride, what we call Commerce Pride," Commerce coach Gary Mindell told the Springfield Republican.
"We weren't about to quit. We talked about it in the second half, making them call the first timeout, and they had to do that. We were down 18 at the half. We got it down to 12, then 10, then single digits, and we got it as low as two points, and really had a legitimate shot at the end of this game to pull it out and steal it. Unfortunately, we just ran out of time."
Bishop Loughlin (6-6), which plays with the likes of Christ the King, Rice and St. Raymond's in the City, featured Marcus Matthews, who has verbally committed to play at nearby University of Massachusetts. UMass coach Travis Ford was in attendance.
With three players taller than 6-foot-6, Loughlin out-rebounded the much smaller Commerce team, 44-23. Commerce slipped to 6-2.
"Tonight, this team (Loughlin) had the same kind of quickness we had, as well as superior size and superior strength," Mindell said.
"But our guys kept battling, and we kept finding a away. And as we got closer and gained momentum and gained more and more confidence, we really started believing that not only could we get close, but we could also win the game. So I'm very, very proud of my guys."
Oakmont Regional Stays Hot
Oakmont Regional (9-1, 4-0 Mid-Wach C) continued to roll as it scored a 58-43 victory at Lunenburg last Friday.
The Spartans had a tough time early in the game as Lunenburg's physical play matched that of Oakmont's; the teams stayed within four points of each other for the opening 12 minutes. Junior center Greg Beaudoin led the Spartans with his inside play at both ends of the court.
Oakmont finally took charge when junior captain Blake Sheldon drained a 3-pointer with 3:45 to go in the first half, putting Oakmont up, 25-18. Moments later Beaudoin, capped Oakmont's 7-0 run with a three-point play of his own.
Oakmont then put the game away in the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers from junior Ethan Deslaurers and Sheldon, sending the Spartans up 48-32.
"(The 3-pointer) is a shot that we sometimes go to a little quicker than I wish we would," Oakmont coach Garry MacEwen told the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise. "I wish we would be a little more patient, but shooters have to have the green light.
"It's always tough (to play) here," MacEwen added. "This place is no easy win. Lunenburg is a tough place to play. They played hard. (Lunenburg's Jake) Proctor played harder than anybody on the floor tonight. I commend him for the hustle."
BC High Steals Last-Second Win From Catholic Memorial
Boston College High, the No. 1-ranked team in Eastern Massachusetts, remained unbeaten last Friday as it rallied to edge No. 12 Catholic Memorial, 69-68.
Point guard Chris Hurley won this Catholic Conference thriller for the Eagles, making a steal with 18 seconds remaining and driving for the game-winning lay-up.
"(Hurley) is the heart and soul of our team," BC coach Bill Loughnane told the Boston Globe. "He is always in the middle of things. The team looks to him for direction, especially down the stretch."
Andrew Yanulis, a 6-foot-7-inch senior, scored a game-high 17 points for BC High (7-0).
Julian Colarusso paced Catholic Memorial (6-3) with 16 points.
CM erased a 40-30 halftime deficit and nearly pulled off the upset. The Knights hit 11 3-pointers.
"There was nothing we could do," said Loughnane. "They (CM) were beating us off the dribble, so we went to the zone and they rained threes on us."
Madison Park Endures vs. East Boston
In another Eastern Mass battle between top-ranked teams, visiting No. 4 Madison Park committed a ghastly 27 turnovers but still managed to knock off No. 3 East Boston, 57-51.
Madison Park (7-0) played without 6-foot-6, 250-pound center Peterson Bernard but Raheem Singleton scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the second half to help compensate. Singleton went 9-of-10 from the foul line in the second half, including a 6-of-6 performance late in the contest. He also grabbed 10 rebounds.
East Boston dropped to 6-1.
Boston vs. Big Three Challenge Set
Basketball X-perts, a Boston-area organization that conducts development camps, clinics and showcases, will sponsor the first Boston City League vs. Big Three Conference Challenge on Sunday, Jan. 21, at UMass-Boston.
Boston English will play New Bedford at 2 p.m., followed by East Boston vs. Brockton at 4 p.m.
Khari Roulhac, the assistant athletic director at Mass Bay College; Harold Miller, the assistant coach at Assumption College, and former state basketball great Eggie McRae are the co-founders of Basketball X-perts.
Uxbridge Coach wins 300th Game
Uxbridge coach Mark Donahue posted his 300th career victory last week in a 62-47 win at home against Auburn. Donahue won his first varsity game as head coach on Jan. 16, 1979. There will be a ceremony honoring Donahue prior to the next Spartans' home game against Northbridge Jan. 23.Lexington coach Bob Farias joined the 500-win club with a victory against Reading. Farias registered 104 wins with the JV squad when he first arrived at Lexington in 1969, before taking over the varsity program in 1975.
Jim Stout is the MaxPreps.com master photographer for the Massachusetts/Rhode Island area and a Northeast region columnist. He may be reached at j.stout@jmstout.org
