By Jim Stout
MaxPreps.com
You might call this the Immaculate Ascension.
Though Boston College High began the season as the No. 1 team in Eastern Massachusetts and remains unbeaten at 13-0, there is a new top dog in the region.
Madison Park.
Normally a team can't relinquish a No. 1 ranking without a losing game, and there are still those here who feel that BC High may well be the best team in the entire state.
But Madison Park of Roxbury ascended the Eastern Mass ladder nevertheless with its 13-0 start. The Cardinals then validated their Boston Globe ranking last week by winning their 14th game in a row, downing No. 4 East Boston for the second time this season, 75-70, on Malcolm X Boulevard.
The win clinched for Madison Park its first Boston City regular-season title since 1989-90.
In addition to having beaten East Boston (13-2, 10-2) twice, Madison Park has scored wins this season over defending Division I champ and No. 15 Newton North and No. 11 Charlestown.
"We played together and weren't worried about being selfish," Madison Park center Peterson Bernard told the Globe.
"This was the best game. Tons of people, the crowd was going crazy. Coach (Dennis Wilson) gave us like a three-hour speech telling us to work together and play hard and eventually everyone will have their day."
No one had a better day than Peterson, the 6-foot-6, 250-pound junior center. He contributed 24 points, 19 rebounds and two blocked shots.
"Peterson played the best game he's probably played in his life," Wilson said. "Not only was he a beast and such a dominating force on the boards, scoring, blocking shots, and intimidating, he was directing players. He was telling kids to calm down. Usually, they are telling him to calm down. He really grew up today."
"I just got in good position," Peterson said. "(East Boston) did a good job double-teaming me, but I just had to get around them. I've just been working on moving my feet and sliding in practice and listening to my coach."
Sophomore Malik Smith scored a game-high 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Madison Park. Raheem Singleton added nine points, four rebounds and seven assists.
Jarrett Calhoun led East Boston with 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
"We were total cowards tonight," East Boston coach Malcolm Smith said. "We played soft. When we meet a team just as tough as us, we back down. We've struggled with Madison Park for the last couple months. They are the toughest team in the state and we absolutely backed down tonight."
Lowell Makes Amends in a Big Way
Unranked Lowell High complicated matters in the Merrimack Valley Conference's Large Division by knocking off fifth-ranked Central Catholic, 57-47.
Earlier in the season, Lowell (12-5, 8-2) had blown the chance to make a major statement against Central Catholic, losing the lead late in the game and falling by 50-44.
"We lost by six down there (at Central Catholic)," said Lowell coach Scott Boyle. "It was a great game and we were up late in the game, but they kind of beat us up and finished the game off.
"I think that's been our mindset since then," he added. "Games like this, you have to finish off. You have to keep playing and I think that's where we've matured as a team. Finishing games and playing the whole game."
Central Catholic dropped to 11-4, 8-2 with the loss, while Andover stands at 11-3, 7-2 in the MVC.
Junior Matt Welch scored a game-high 22 points for Lowell.
"(Welch) stepped up tonight and did an excellent job," said Boyle. "He hit some tough, clutch shots and we did a good job of finding him. When he was open, he knocked them down."
Central of Springfield Bounces Back
A week after dropping games and losing momentum in losses to Longmeadow and Commerce, Central High responded by first beating Springfield Cathedral, then pulling into a first-place tie in the Valley League by upsetting pace-setter Holyoke, 71-64.
In the process, Central (10-5, 4-1) clinched a berth in the Western Massachusetts Division I tournament.
Thomas Belton followed up a 24-point night against Cathedral with a 22-point effort for Central against Holyoke. Victor Del Rosario added 15, Jarel Njiiri had 14, and Preye Preboye scored 12 for the Golden Eagles.
"It was a barnburner, anybody's game," Holyoke coach Bill Rigali told the Springfield Republican. "(Central) just played a little better down the stretch."
The loss by Holyoke (12-2, 4-1) was its first in league play and dropped the Purple Knights into a first place tie with Central.
"Central hung tough and got some big baskets from Belton down the stretch," Rigali said.
Holyoke was led by Tim Dunn, who notched 16 points, 12 rebounds and six blocked shots. Nate Pollard scored 15 points, and Francisco Valentin had 15 points and nine rebounds for Holyoke.
Taunton Goes Toe-to-Toe with BC High
Taunton led heralded and second-ranked Boston College High by seven points in the first half, but could not fully contend with the Eagles' size and speed in the second half and wound up dropping a spirited 73-62 decision at the Taunton Field House.
"That (fast pace) is what we're capable of playing at," Taunton coach Charlie Dacey told the Taunton Gazette, referring to his team's first-half play.
"In the second half, we got worn down a little bit and we had match-up problems that there were just no way we could remedy.
"They (BC) started bringing an extra big guy off the bench; we have no response for that big man," Dacey added.
The 19 first-half points by Taunton point guard B.A. Perry allowed the Tigers (11-4) to believe in the upset possibilities of undefeated BC (13-0). The teams were tied, 35-35, at intermission, thanks to a last-second basket by Perry.
But against Taunton's three-guard lineup, BC enjoyed a sizeable height advantage, and wound up with a 27-17 rebounding edge The Eagles produced an 8-2 run in the early minutes of the second half, then constructed a 13-point lead with nine minutes remaining.
"I told our team that I didn't think there was anything we were doing wrong, that Taunton had played a terrific first half," BC Bill Loughnane said. "(Taunton) came out strong, aggressive and they were making their shots. Good basketball teams will do that and that's exactly what happened in the first half."
Fitchburg Stuns St. John's, Remains in Contention
Fitchburg kept its slim post-season hopes alive in Central Mass by shocking No. 4 St. John's of Shrewsbury, 56-53.
"I think the boys, without having to tell them, think their backs are up against the wall, and they came out and played as solid a game as we've played all year in a really tough place to play against a very good team," Fitchburg coach Paul DiGeronimo told the Worcester Telegram.
"They did what we asked them to do tonight."
Fitchburg improved to 6-10 and now must win its four remaining games to make the postseason.
"One game at a time. We don't talk about the districts. We don't talk about it because we are not in a position to," DiGeronimo said. "We haven't established ourselves really as a consistent program. We came up short last year. It's been one game at a time."
St. John's, which has already qualified for postseason play, lost for the second-straight game, falling to 11-6. The Pioneers have a week off to work on their short-range shooting before entertaining rival St. Peter-Marian on Friday night.
"Up one, we had it right under the basket, went up, and that would have put us up three and changed the game; instead it went the other way," St. John's coach Bob Foley said.
"We got the shots that we wanted to get, and most of them were right under the basket, and for some reason we just panicked and didn't put them in. So it wasn't that we weren't doing what we wanted to do, we were right there. It was just a question of finishing your shots. I guess these kids have to get a little more confidence in doing that."
EAC Crown Goes to Bishop Connolly
Bishop Connolly clinched its first Eastern Athletic Conference championship as Shane Viveiros hit a shot-clock buzzer-beater with 21 seconds remaining in the game, lifting his team to a 55-52 win at Bishop Feehan of Attleboro.
Connolly (9-5, 6-1) had clinched no worse than a tie for the conference crown a week earlier. A loss to Bishop Stang had put the celebration on hold.
But Viveiros scored 20 points and Max Kravitz had 13 and David Wright 11 for Connolly in the win at Feehan. Connolly rallied from an eight-point deficit with 11 minutes to play, made five of six free throws in the last two minutes and forced Feehan (10-6, 2-4) to settle for a challenging final shot, Kevin Joyce's 25-footer from the top of the key as time expired.
"I'm happy for the kids. I'm happy for the school," Connolly coach Bill Shea told the Fall River Herald. "It's our first EAC banner outright. The last one, we shared with Dartmouth and Attleboro.
"It's kind of a weight off our shoulders because we didn't want it to come down to the last game against Somerset," he added.
"We wanted it outright, no doubt about it. We didn't feel like we (had) won it. We felt like teams were losing and we were benefiting. Tonight we went out and won a game we need to win, and it feels good."
Motta Scores 46 For Fairhaven
Fairhaven senior Nick Motta continued his mastery of Bourne, scoring a career-high 46 points and grabbing 16 rebounds as the Blue Devils rallied from an 11-point deficit in the second half for a 75-66 win.
After Bourne had opened the second half with a 10-0 run, Fairhaven responded with a 16-2 surge behind the play of Motta, who scored 14 in a row during that stretch, putting his team ahead by four in a matter of minutes.
"I was getting to the basket a lot and getting shots inside by going to the basket," Motta told the New Bedford Standard-Times.
"It was a complete team victory. We were down by (11) and we came back by playing hard defense, creating shots for our offense."
Motta's previous career high was 37 points against New Bedford Voc-Tech, just a point shy of his 36 at Bourne earlier this season. He's averaging 24 points per game overall for the season.
Taconic Continues Winning Ways
Tanconic of Pittsfield won its sixth game in a row, edging Hoosac Valley, 52-50, thus taking over the top spot in the Berkshire County League's Northern Division and clinching a Western Mass Division 2 playoff berth.
"We became a team out there tonight," Taconic forward Travelle Spratling told the Berkshire Eagle.
"I've seen guys, when we're down, put their heads down. But people kept picking each other up tonight."
Spratling, who scored a game-high 16 points and added nine rebounds, made the game's two biggest plays - getting fouled with 1:07 left and making a pair of foul shots, then stealing the ball from Jeremy Lefebvre, which led to a game-clinching driving lay-up by Kirt Goines.
"We have been playing good 'D.' The county doesn't recognize that," said Spratling. "Everybody just thinks of us as a young team. But we're a defensive team."
Taconic improved 7-1 in the North, 10-4 overall.
Jim Stout is the MaxPreps 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.
