St. Bernard's ends sterling season at semi-finals

St. Bernard's boys battle in state semifinals

Finish with a sterling 19-5 record after loss to South Hadley High School

The magical season for the St. Bernard’s Central Catholic High School boys’ basketball team came to an end Tuesday night following a 63-48 loss to South Hadley High School during the boys Division II state semifinal at the DCU Center in Worcester.
St. Bernard’s has reason to take pride in the season, though, as they won back-to-back Central Massachusetts Division II district titles following last Saturday’s win over Gardner High School. The Bernardians finished the season with a sterling 19-5 record.
The 15-point loss was clearly deceiving. Trailing seven points at halftime, 31-24, the Bernardians came roaring back in the third quarter on the strength of strong shooting from senior guards John Crawley (game-high 25 points) and Austin Wood (12 points), as well as a resilient defense.
With just under three minutes remaining in the third quarter, co-captain Crawley – the team’s leading scorer on the season – hit a jump shot to give the Bernardians their first lead of the game, 37-36. After three quarters, the score was tied at 40-40.
The see-saw battle continued into the fourth quarter as South Hadley took a three-point lead, 45-42, with 5:14 remaining in the game. Both teams played tight defense in the opening minutes of the quarter as they battled for loose balls and second-chance points.
St. Bernard’s senior center and co-captain Andrew Baron (10 rebounds, 3 blocks) hit a baseline floater with 2:54 remaining in the game and the Bernardians trailed by just four points, 50-46.
But a stinging three-pointer by South Hadley widened their lead to seven points and St. Bernard’s was soon forced to foul to stop the game clock. South Hadley then closed out the game on a 13-2 run to capture the semifinal game.
South Hadley was led by junior guards Avon White and Thomas Fitzell, both of whom scored 20 points each. They will now play Brighton High School in the Division II state final this Saturday at 4 p.m. at the DCU Center.
The Bernardians received excellent efforts from the entire roster. Senior guard Paul Comaskey had 4 points, Baron added 3 points, junior guard Michael McGuirl had 2 and freshman center Garrett Stephenson netted 2 points. St. Bernard’s also received strong defensive contributions throughout the game from senior center Brandon Weyant, senior guard Bryan Franciosi and junior guard John Conry.
Also seeing playing time in the memorable game were senior Jack Maki, juniors Christian LaRoche, Sean Maki, and Nathan Driscoll, and sophomore Alec Cornish.