If St. John's (Shrewsbury) is the measure by which basketball greatness is gauged in central Massachusetts, the Fitchburg boys team is standing exceedingly tall today.
Buoyed by the 20 points of junior guard Quinton Perkins and 13 points from senior Steph'fon Teague, Fitchburg halted the 15-game winning streak of top-ranked St. John's and became the first team in the region to beat the Pioneers in more than a year with a 58-56 home victory last Friday night.
Perhaps even more impressive about the win by Fitchburg (12-7) was this: the game wasn't quite as close as it appeared. The Red Raiders led by 18 points after both the second and third quarters, and still held a 55-45 advantage with two minutes to play in the game.
Much to the credit of St. John's (15-4), the Pioneers cut their deficit to three with 13 seconds remaining but Perkins hit two foul shots for Fitchburg to push his team's lead back to five. St. John's player T.J. Kelley hit a 3-pointer with two seconds to go for the final points.
"Any time you can beat (St. John's), it's a great win for your program," Fitchburg coach Paul DiGeronimo told the Worcester Telegram. "This was a great high school basketball game."
Of the late-game push by St. John's, DiGeronimo added, "we were playing six kids, and they were tired, but they sucked it up as best they could. You never expect St. John's to go away, so we battled right to the end and hit the free throws when we had to."
St. John's hadn't lost a game since dropping a 74-66 decision to Washington Catholic Athletic Conference member Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) at the D.C. Basketball Classic Dec. 12. The Pioneers hadn't lost to a central Massachhusetts team since January of 2010, when they fell to North High.
Matt Palecki of St. John's
Photo by Anthony Nesmith
St. John's was led by junior forward
Matt Palecki, who scored 21 points.
Richard Rodgers (13 points) and
Matt Harrington (10) also aided in the Pioneers' bid to overtake the big lead established by Fitchburg.
"We knew how good Fitchburg was, and we were ready, but they just outplayed us in that first half," St. John's coach Bob Foley said. "They outrebounded us and got to the loose balls a little faster."
In Foley's estimation, how close had St. John's come to a miraculous comeback?
"I wish I had one more timeout left."
HERSHMAN, MANFIELD USE 3-BALL TO ROLL STOUGHTON
Mansfield (18-2) has long-range plans for the postseason in MIAA boys basketball. How fitting. Long range is often what makes the Hornets go.
Backed by a school-record nine 3-pointers from 6-foot junior guard
Brian Hershman and a season-high 16 treys by the team, Mansfield knocked off Stoughton, 75-59, in the Hockomock League Winter Classic.
Brian Hershman of Mansfield
Photo by Mike Braca
Six-foot-4 senior point guard
Michael Lofton recorded 13 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots for Mansfield, while
Joey Gracia added 12 points. Hershman hit six of his 3-pointers in the first half as Mansfield raced to a 41-20 lead at intermission.
"(Hershman) is a tremendous player for us and a great leader, as well as a good defender," Mansfield coach Mike Vaughn told the Boston Globe. "Tonight he played with extra power because he was wrongfully kept off the (Hockomock) all-league team."
SKIPPERS SAIL TO SOUTH SHORE CLINCHER
The
Cohasset boys (16-2, 14-2) gained a share of the South Shore League title for the first time in 14 years as
Shane Haggerty scored 18 points in a 60-49 win against second-place Mashpee (18-2, 13-2).
"I'm just so happy for these kids," Cohasset coach Bo Ruggiero told the Boston Herald. "They've made boys basketball relevant in this town once again."
Robert Jones (13 points, seven assists),
Sam Richardson (12 points),
Kyrel Jaundoo (nine points, 16 rebounds) and
Robbie Maloney (eight points, 12 rebounds) also contributed to the Clippers' cause. Cohasset limited Mashpee to 4-for-15 shooting from the floor in the final period.
"We went to our man-to-man defense," said Ruggiero. "I thought we did a terrific job of digging in and making some excellent stops down the stretch."
Eric Lopes scored 13 for Mashpee.
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