By Jim Stout
MaxPreps.com
The victory was 46 years in the making. All it took was a brief 12-0 second-half burst by the Beverly High boys basketball team to turn its long-awaited dream into a reality.
Sparked by the use of full-court pressure early in the second half, Beverly advanced to the semifinals of the state Division 2 North tournament for the first time since 1961 as it won at Chelsea, 80-61, Saturday night in a sectional quarterfinal game.
Trailing by 36-32 at intermission, Beverly implemented a full-court press to start the second half, one that ultimately resulted in a 12-0 run and helped turned its four-point deficit into a 44-36 lead.
With the victory, its second of the post season, Beverly (14-8) heads for the Division 2 North semifinals on Monday night, when it faces Belmont at Wakefield. Belmont beat Lincoln-Sudbury in another quarterfinal game.
"This is huge for us; Beverly basketball has always been in the dumpster," senior captain Seth Stantial told the Salem News. "No one appreciates us. I know it's only two wins, but it's a big thing for us. We're all really excited and hopefully we can just re-write what Beverly basketball has been about."
"(The press) really seemed to get us going," added Beverly coach Scott Lewis. "We didn't show it until the second half because (Chelsea) scouted us the other night (against Masconomet). We wanted to save it for the second half to see if we could catch them off guard and give them a different look."
The different look proved to make a huge difference in the game.
Six-foot-3 junior forward Matt Tobin hit two baskets during the 12-0 run and Stantial added a 3-pointer to give Beverly its first lead, 39-38, since early in the game.
Even when Chelsea came out of a timeout and cut Beverly's lead back to one, the Panthers answered with a 10-point spurt.
Tobin scored 15 second-half points as Beverly did a better job of getting him the ball up front.
"(Tobin) is our best player and you always want to get your best player as many touches as possible," said Stantial. "Whenever he touches it, all feel at ease and calm."
Tobin finished with 19 points and Stantial kept Beverly going in the first half, scoring 11 of his 18 points before intermission.
But Lewis felt Beverly was settling for the 3-point shot too often in the first half.
"I just wanted to look inside first. It seemed like we were just jacking up that first shot, going into old habits again," Lewis said. "We practiced all week to not do that. We just felt like we had to get Tobin more touches and try to get their big guys in foul trouble. We were making it too easy for them."
Orlando Echverria scored 20 points in the pivot for Chelsea, but spent much of the second half on the bench with three and four fouls.
Beverly also had help from Stephen Hawkins (12 points) and Nate Knudson (10).
Holy Name Knocks Off Marlboro
Nick Haag, who helped ignite Holy Name's run to a Central/Western Massachusetts football Super Bowl title last fall, is at it again in basketball.
Haag's spirited play lifted third-seeded Holy Name of Worcester to a come-from-behind 74-64 win over No. 2 Marlboro on Sunday in a Central Mass. Division 1 semifinal game at WPI's Harrington Auditorium.
The win by Holy Name (18-4) sets up a sectional championship game on Friday night at the Aud against rival St. John's.
"I'm always ready," Haag told the Worcester Telegram. "That's what coach (Jason Chavoor) always tells me, to be ready. I don't look for points as much as shutting my guy down. I felt I needed to bring energy. When I bring the energy to the court, the guys usually rally around me. We needed to play lockdown defense to win."
Marlboro (18-4) had put together an 18-1 run on either side of the intermission break before Holy Name rallied from seven points down.
"We weren't sure what was going to happen," Haag said. "I knew if we were going to win, we'd have to step up in a big way. (Winning the Super Bowl) definitely played a factor. We all worked hard in practice in football. In basketball, my job is to get the guys going. It's chemistry, basically, and playing as a team. I knew if we were going to win, we'd have to step up in a big way. (Marlboro) came out and played hard the whole game."
Ryan Baldarelli scored 23 points for Holy Name, the defending Central Mass. champions, who are aiming for their ninth sectional title. Ryan Brown added 18 points for the Naps, Dominique Price had 12 and Haag and Emil Igwenagu scored nine apiece. Igwenagu also grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds while Haag had six rebounds and two steals. Baldarelli made five steals, while Price had seven assists.
Fourth-seeded St. John's, meanwhile, also advanced to the Central Mass. Division 1 final with a 56-49 upset of top-seeded Milford.
St. John's (18-6), winners of seven straight, will face Holy Name at 7:30 p.m. Friday as it tries for its 15th championship since 1962. Milford finished its season 20-3.
Freshman guard David White led St. John's with 19 points, including six during a 13-0 run midway through the second half that saw the Pioneers turn an eight-point deficit into a 46-41 lead.
"I think what (White's success) comes out of is the leadership of our two seniors (Mike) Cobill and (Austin) Keeley; they are so good to the younger kids and never let them get down, never let them get frustrated," said St. John's coach Bob Foley.
"Early in the year, David would get frustrated in some situations, but he now listens to the seniors and the seniors keep him positive. He did make a turnover or two, but then he comes back and hits those big shots."
Sophomore center Matt LaBove added 14 points while senior forward Keeley contributed 12, including three huge free throws down the stretch.
Hoyoke Ends Cathedral Season
It was Holyoke that allowed Springfield Cathedral to get into the Western Mass. Division 1 playoffs in the first place, blowing a late-game lead to Cathedral on the final day of the regular season. That allowed Cathedral to sneak into the tournament at 10-10.
Holyoke would not be fooled again, though, as it beat Cathedral by 52-40 on Sunday in a sectional quarterfinal round game.
Second-seeded Holyoke (17-5) will play third-seeded Westfield (16-4) in Tuesday's 7:30 p.m. Western Mass Division 1 semifinal at American International College. Top-seeded Springfield Commerce (16-5) will play fourth-seeded Central of Springfield (15-6) in the 6 p.m. semifinal at AIC.
"I told (the players) we would have to knock (Cathedral) down three times," Holyoke Bill Rigali explained to the Springfield Republican. "Most teams, you knock them down twice, and that's enough, but we've had a couple of runs against Cathedral in the past, and we didn't finish the job."
Cathedral, which eliminated Holyoke from the tournament last season, qualified for the 2007 event by overcoming a six-point deficit in the final 50 seconds against Holyoke in its last regular-season game, spoiling Senior Night for Holyoke.
"I thought (Holyoke) was a little better team than us tonight," Cathedral coach Gene Eggleston said. "In the second half, they were just stronger."
Forward Dave Zieja scored 15 points and had 11 rebounds for Holyoke. Postman Tim Dunn added 10 points and 13 rebounds. Nathaniel Pollard scored 12 points.
"We know Cathedral has a great program," Zieja said. "It didn't take a whole lot to get up for this game. They knocked us out of the tournament last year, they knocked my team out of the soccer quarterfinals (last fall), and then there was that upset win at the end of the regular season.
"It seems like Cathedral been beating me left and right, so it was a great win on a team level and on a personal level."
Ortiz's Reign Runs Out With Loss
The 24-year head coaching career of Brockton's Victor Ortiz came to an end Saturday as his seventh-seeded Boxers fell to No. 2 Boston College High, 67-60, in a Division 1 South quarterfinal game.
"It's been a great run," Ortiz told the Brockton Enterprise. "I've enjoyed coaching at Brockton. But it's time to move on. It was a great opportunity to coach high school like that. I'll never forget my relationship with all the players.
"I was lucky to have those people I worked with," he added. "I can't complain about the treatment I received from the administration, and I mean that sincerely."
Chris Hurley scored eight points in the final 1:40 as BC High avoided a potential upset win by Brockton.
"We were very lucky to win," said BC coach Bill Loughnane. "Brockton really took it to us in the second half."
The Eagles (21-0) were arguably saved by their bench. With big men Jake O'Brien hampered by foul trouble and Andrew Yanulis battling the flu, Ryan Sharry came off the bench to score 11 points and grab six rebounds, while Nick McLaughlin and Brian Mahoney hit some key shots.
"The bench came up big and we needed them," said Loughnane. "We weren't sure if Andrew was going to be able to play, but he wanted to give it a shot."
Berkshire County Teams Set For Semis
Lenox and Hoosac Valley will play at UMass-Amherst's Curry Hicks Cage on Tuesday night in Western Mass. sectional semifinal games.
Lenox, 15-6 and seeded third in Division 3, will play second-seeded Sabis International of Springfield (18-3) in the first game of a tripleheader at 5 p.m. The second game features fifth-seeded Hoosac Valley (15-6) against No. 1 Hampshire Regional (19-2) in a Division 2 semifinal.
Last year, Hampshire visited then No. 2 Hoosac Valley as a 10th seed in the Division 2 field, and left Cheshire with a 53-48 victory.
"We have four kids who were there last year," Hoosac coach Bill Robinson told the Berkshire Eagle. "We've switched roles; they're the favorite this year. They have almost everybody back."
In a Division 3 semifinal, Lenox faces a tough Sabis team that easily handled No. 10 Easthampton, 78-61, in the quarterfinals.
Sabis' top threat is Isaiah Wallace, the Bi-County West's leading scorer at 24 points per game. Sabis will try to handle Lenox's one-two punch of Dave Lagarce (16.1 points per game) and Ben Nasman (13.2).
Jim Stout is the MaxPreps.com Master Photographer for the Massachusetts/Rhode Island area and a Northeast Region columnist. He may be reached at 203-563-2297 or at j.stout@jmstout.org.
