RallyNorth.net

St. John's trounces Fenwick for title

Tuesday, February, 19 By Mike Grenier
Staff writer

Too many big guys. Too much firepower. Too much defensive muscle. Too much of everything.

The St. John's Prep Eagles had so many advantages in the North Shore Invitational final last night that Bishop Fenwick needed to play a near perfect game to win. The Crusaders didn't come close to playing their best, however, and St. John's Prep was largely responsible for that development in a 69-38 win that gave the Eagles their eighth invitational championship in 11 years.

"Bishop Fenwick came in playing really well, but we're a hot team ourselves," said St. John's Prep coach Danny Letarte, whose team boosted its record to 13-6. "We've won eight of our last nine. This is the way we want to be playing going into the Central Catholic game (tomorrow night in Lawrence) and into the state tourney."

St. John's Prep clearly established its superiority in the first quarter and never let up. Senior guard Ryan O'Connell finished with 20 points and eight assists and became the first boy in the tournament's history to win the MVP award twice. Sam Baker added 15 points and 10 rebounds and also made the all-tourney team. Andrew Knight chipped in five steals and did such a sterling job on defense against Bishop Fenwick junior center Mike Clifford that he, too, made the all-tourney team.

On a night when the Crusaders kept misfiring from outside, the 6-foot-7 Clifford might as well have been wearing a Most Wanted sign on his jersey. The Eagles were able to surround and pound Clifford, fronting him with Knight and sending everyone else to help in the paint.

Still, Clifford finished with 21 points (8 for 15 from the floor) and 14 rebounds. His biggest moment came with just 1:06 left when he hit a free throw to put him at 1,000 points for his career. Naturally, it was a bittersweet time for Clifford because his team was never really in the game. "I wanted to do it in this gym," said Clifford, who played his freshman year at Danvers High before transferring to Bishop Fenwick. "That meant something. It would've been a lot better if we'd won, but (St. John's Prep) was a lot better than us tonight. We have to move on from this one because we've got Ipswich (Thursday night)."

St. John's Prep, which was much taller at every position (including center when 6-11 Mike Hall occasionally guarded Clifford), controlled every aspect of the game. The Eagles didn't need spectacular outside shooting because they cleaned up on the glass with second and third shots. Bishop Fenwick, meanwhile, was usually one and done because Knight and his teammates kept riding Clifford away from the boards (and the refs let them play, as they say).

"We wanted to take Clifford out of the game," said Baker, a 6-5 junior from Salem. "Knight was in front of him and we usually had two helpers. We just wanted to keep him away from the basket."

After a relatively close first quarter (16-11 Eagles), St. John's steadily pulled away. It was 40-15 at halftime and 55-29 at the end of three quarters. Freshman Pat Connaughton came off the bench to score nine points and point guard Brendon Felder had seven.

"St. John's has a ton of talent and they just took it to us," said Bishop Fenwick coach Scott Connolly. "When they put it together like this, I think they can beat any team in the state. They were able to take Clifford out and we shot poorly (including 6 for 22 from the foul line), but that's to St. John's credit."

The Eagles were so athletic and intimidating that they were able to flash outside and harrass the Bishop Fenwick guards and still handle Clifford inside.

"They were just way too big for us," said Bishop Fenwick guard Nolan DiPanfilo, who was limited to six points. "That's the best team we've seen all year."