Upstart Lawrence meets its match in Massachusetts boys basketball

What they lost on the floor paled in comparison to the hearts and minds they won along the way. After all, everyone loves an underdog.

The Lawrence boys basketball team, seeded No.15 when these playoffs began, finally ran out of answers Friday night as No. 1 St. John's Prep (Danvers) scored an 87-73 win over the Lancers in the MIAA Division I North final at TD Garden.

St. John's (23-1) restored order to this talent-loaded bracket in the end by outscoring Lawrence 21-10 in the third quarter to take a 12-point lead. Michael Carbone hit 5 of 5 on his 3-point attempts in the period to help gain the Eagles a 12-point cushion. Carbone finished with a game-high 31 points.

From there, Notre Dame recruit Pat Connaughton took control, scoring 11 of his 28 points to settle the issue and sent St. John's into Tuesday's MIAA Division 1 semifinal at the Garden against Mansfield, which came from behind to beat Newton North, 48-46, in the South final.

MaxPreps Massachusetts boys basketball playoff brackets

Prior to losing in the North sectional final, Lawrence (16-9) felled No. 2 Cambridge (17-2), No. 3 Lynn English (21-3) and No. 7 Westford Academy (18-4).

"This is a team that had the opportunity to play here, and that's a great accomplishment," Lawrence coach Paul Neal told the Eagle-Tribune. "We lost to a team with more experience. I think it made a difference, their experience. They were here last year."

St. John's closest call during its sectional title run came in a 63-60 semifinal win against defending state champion Lawrence Central Catholic, which it lost to in the 2010 North final.

Following a frenetic first half, in which St. John's emerged with a 47-46 lead, the Eagles clamped down defensively in the third quarter.

"We knew we had to try and stop (Lawrence's) transition; we didn't do it in the first half," said St. John's coach Sean Connolly. "But we did a much better job in the second, keeping them in front of us. We were playing up on the shooters too much, face-guarding. We just had to play our regular defense, help each and adjust to it. Carbone hit a bunch of big shots for us, he's been big all year."

Jaylen Alicea, a dynamic figure for Lawrence throughout the tournament, scored 30 points; he averaged 30 points per game in his four sectional outings. Six-foot-7 Jesse Hiraldo, who hit foul trouble in the third, had 11 points and 12 rebounds for Lawrence while Francis Spraus added eight points.

BOUDREAU, ANDOVER ANSWER THE CALL
This is what happens when you challenge Nicole Boudreau.

Pressed by her coach following a sub-par first quarter, saddled with added chores due to foul trouble to point guard Natalie Gomez-Martinez, Boudreau took matters into her own hands. The junior guard and Boston College commit scored 26 points over the middle two periods and finished with 34 points and 13 rebounds, lifting Andover to a 57-51 win against Acton-Boxborough in the MIAA Division 1 North final at the Garden.

"If we didn't have Nicole, we'd have gotten buried today," Andover coach Jim Tildsley told the Boston Herald. "In the first quarter I got on her a little because she wasn't playing well, forcing things a little too much. She really responded and played an excellent game when we needed it."

Andover, 25-1 and the defending MIAA Division 1 state champs, needed Boudreau in particular after the senior point guard Gomes-Martinez incurred foul trouble. The Golden Warriors still managed to build a 20-point lead in the second half before Acton-Boxborough (20-4) made a late-game run.

"Everything gets harder for me with Natalie out because I have to take up the ball and worry about additional responsibilities," said Boudreau. "Luckily the people on our bench stepped up. Mollie Maturah and Olivia Biles, they stepped up with two starters gone to foul trouble. It's definitely a different game because Natalie is one of our leaders out there. I kind of have to take that role as more of the leader and the point guard."

A-B's Elizabeth Belanger scored 16 points in the second half to give her team a shot. She finished with 25 points and 13 rebounds, and pulled the Colonials to within seven at one point in the final period.

Andover will face South champ New Bedford in the MIAA Division 1 semifinals on Monday. New Bedford beat Mansfield in the South sectional final, 47-46, behind 23 points from Allexia Barros.

MILLBURY ROLLS TO ANOTHER SECTIONAL TITLE
Winning doesn't get old. It gets better.

Backed by the play of Assumption College recruit Julie Frankian and senior co-captain Sydney Bloomstein, the Millbury girls won their fifth consecutive MIAA Division 2 Central title by beating Northbridge, 49-30, at Fitchburg State.

"Winning is amazing every time it happens, but it means more to win in your senior year, and feels really cool," Bloomstein told the Worcester Telegram. "I'm so happy for everyone on our team. We all know Northbridge is a great team and a rival. Julie and I play AAU with three or four of their players, so we know them...almost like a sibling rivalry. It's nice to beat them, but at the same time, we're still going to be friends after we step off the court." 

Millbury (22-1), which lost to Oliver Ames in last year's state final, advances to the MIAA semifinals on Tuesday night, when it faces West section champ Wahconah Regional (Dalton) at the DCU Center in Worcester.

Bloomstein scored 18 points for Millbury while Frankian netted 18 of her game-high 21 points during the second half.

"Northbridge has a great team and I was concerned about their size and rebounding," said Millbury coach Steve Reno. "But I thought my inside kids did great — the kids that you don't really see in the scorebook. Payton Bruegger, a freshman, did a great job against their big girls. Meg Crain, same thing. I thought Breanna Winberg held her own. And Jill Perkins always seemed to come out of the pack with a rebound." 

LENOX KEEPS THE QUEST ALIVE
The Lenox Memorial boys team has been hoping all season to send its coach, Brian Cogswell, into basketball retirement with a bang this month. So far the Millionaires have been making good on making noise.

Top-seeded Lenox (20-3) won its first MIAA Division 3 West title in 33 years and a berth in the state semifinals on Wednesday by dismantling New Leadership, 58-31, at UMass-Amherst's Curry Hicks Cage.

The win sets up a semifinal meeting at the DCU Center with Central champ Whitinsville Christian, which beat Quaboag, 57-39, for its own sectional title over the weekend.

"These seniors have been playing in the youth leagues and winning tournaments for an awfully long time," Cogswell told the Berkshire Eagle. "These guys set their goals really high. My personal goal was to get back here and have some fun, see what happens. But from the start, they wanted a Western Mass. title.

"These guys have been talking all year about...they want me to go out on top," added Cogswell, who is an administrator at the school. "You know what? These are the guys going out on top. I'm just fortunate to be in the room."

Kevin Carpenter scored a game-high 21 for Lenox, while Chris Bravo scored 14. Anthony Taylor had 11 for New Leadership.

ADDED SECTIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
* Richard Rodgers, a four-year starter for St. John's (Shrewsbury), registered 21 points, 20 rebounds and four blocked shots as the Pioneers won their fourth consecutive Division 1 Central title with a 40-38 win against Fitchburg at WPI on Sunday.

* Whitinsville Christian advanced to the state semifinals for the second straight year and will face Lenox following its 57-39 Division 3 Central win over Quaboag. Taylor Bajema scored 21 points for Whitinsville while 6-foot-9 center Hans Miersma added 16.

* The Mansfield boys overcame an eight-point deficit in the final 3:36 and won it on a layup by Christopher Jones, beating Newton North, 48-46, for the Division 1 South title.

* The Algonquin Regional (Northborough) girls won their first sectional title since 1979 and their first for 19th-year coach Ron Jones with a 46-36 win over Shrewsbury in the Division 1 Central final.

Jim Stout is the CBS MaxPreps Media Manager for the Eastern U.S. He may be reached at 845-367-2864 or at jim.stout@cbsinteractive.com.