Saint John's Remains Undefeated

Saint John's Pat Connaughton Is A Force

The Mass & NH High School Basetball Report visited Danvers tonight to catch a Catholic Conference matchup between Boston College High and Saint John's Prep. To be honest it was a dull game that saw #7 ranked Saint John's win 69 - 58 after leading 24 - 21 in a boring first half. Needless to say, Pat Connaughton (pictured left) scored most his 25 points in the second half to secure the win for the Prep as the Eagles moved to 12 - 0 on the season. Mackenzie Burt was also impressive for Saint John's tonight as he scored 13 points while making his presence known on the boards. The story tonight though was BC High's three freshmen. First, there was 6'2" guard Jameilen Jones. Jones started for BC and showed signs of brilliance as he used a great crossover on Connaugton to get to the rim on one occasion. Jones finished with 7 points and a handful of rebounds. He has good size, great quickness, and can finish around the basket. He's a talent and we expect to hear lots more about him. Jones convinced us that he is one of the best freshman in Mass. Freshman Malique Pierre-McLauren is only 5'4" but played much bigger tonight as he knocked down three treys and added a free throw for 10 points. 6'1" guard Ryan Tufts only had 2 points tonight but it was obvious in watching this young man that he has talent. The future looks good for BC High. Here is what we saw in our rated players tonight.

Class of 2011
#2 rated Pat Connaughton is a force at the high school level as he dominates games. Tonight was no different as he was a man amongst boys. It wasn't his best game tonight but he scored 25 points and had 20 rebounds. He had a sweet looking pullup off the glass and some nice finishes around the basket. He also had a steal for a thunderous dunk to start the third quarter. There is no doubt that Connaughton is a scholarship basketball player and right now is likely to earn a low major division 1 scholarship. He just needs to become more secure with the basketball and needs to extend his shooting range.

#15 rated 5'9" Bryan Hurley was clearly the best player on BC High tonight but he didn't have his best game. He spent much of the evening forcing shots that didn't go in. He also found himself caught in the air on a few occasions tonight and made several turnovers. Hurley did make a few nifty baskets today but most of the time we found him penetrating with his head down. At 5'9" tall, Hurley cannot afford these kind of mistakes if he plans to play at the college level.

#20 rated Connor Mahoney is 6'4" and has a nice touch away from the basket, especially from 15 feet in. He was able to convert a couple of those mid-range shots for BC High tonight and had a couple of put backs. Mahoney was a little passive and didn't seem to get after it enough. He needs to get more aggressive and needs to learn to put to the floor better if he wants to play away from the basket in college.

Class of 2012
#7 rated Stephen Haladyna has a knack for the basketball as he seems to be in the right place at the right time. Haladyna is a scorer and finds a way to put the ball in the basket. Although he did not have his best game tonight, he did show his scoring knack. Haladyna is 6'3" and also used his size to grab several rebounds. He needs to tighten up his dribble as we found him dribbling east to west tonight instead of north to south. Haladyna also needs to work on his jump shot which is released from the wrong spot.

Others who Impressed tonight
6'3" junior Mackenzie Burt was a force all night long getting to the rim and protecting the Saint John's basket. Burt scored 13 points including an old fashion three point play that put Saint John's up by 34 -25 in the third quarter.

6'4" BC freshman Jameilen Jones proved he's going to be the real deal. As stated above he showed some big time stuff when he went by Connaughton and finished. He also took on the challenge of covering Connaugton at times tonight. Jones is young and raw, but he's athletic, quick, and has a great crossover.

Mass & NH High School All-Star Showcase

Showcase Event Coming to the Area Soon

The MA & NH High School Basketball Report is pleased to announce that on Sunday, March 21 we are holding our first showcase event for area hoops prospects. The event will include 8 different all-star games, 4 boys games and 4 girls games. All 8 games will take place at the Rockingham Athletic Club in Plaistow, NH.

This is an invitation-only event. Attendees will be top high school boys and girls players in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire from the 2011, 2012 and 2013 classes. Players will play with and against the other top talent in their class. They will be evaluated by scouts, and a write up for each of the 8 games will go on this site after the event. Also, a new set of player rankings will be done following the event. And strong consideration when making those rankings will be given to the players' performance at the event.

In other words, players attending will face top notch competition, and will be given a ton of exposure. Best of all, this event is free for all of the participating players.

Invitations for the event will be sent out in the coming weeks. And keep checking back to the MA & NH High School Basketball Report for more details. Any questions feel free to e-mail me at: jeremy.leveille@gmail.com

-Jeremy Leveille

Talent Gathers in Springfield This Weekend

Hoophall Classic Features Top Mass. Players and Teams

Many of the nation's top high school players and teams traveled to the Hoophall Classic in Springfield over the last four days, with many of those teams and players being from MA. Springfield Central went 2-0 on the weekend, behind the electric play of senior Jordan Smith (pictured left). Smith led the team with 23 points on Saturday, as Central beat Columbia High School (AL) 74-63. Then on Monday, Central took on city rival Springfield High School of Commerce. Once again, Smith scored 23 points to go with 9 rebounds. Once again, Central came out with a win, 65-48. Leading the way for Commerce was Sharvin Sands who had 18 points in the loss.

The event's other big game involving top MA teams was played on Sunday between Groton-Dunstable and Sabis Charter School. These are two of the best teams in MA Division II, as both squads feature some legit prospects. In the end it was Groton who proved to be the better team, winning 52-48 in a very good basketball game. Groton senior Ryan Romich won the MVP award, with 16 points and 10 rebounds. The 6'6" Romich is the #3 ranked High School Player in Mass. Sabis meanwhile was led by their dynamic duo of senior Andre King and sophomore Kamali Bey. King scored his 1,000th career point on Friday night, and Bey is the #2 ranked high school player in Mass.

Brockton Represents The Big Three In Romp

Mario Monroe Of Brockton High School

Andover traveled down to Brockton last night to play the Boxers in a nonleague contest matchup of one of the Merrimack Valley's best versus the Big Three's best. Coming into the game, everybody expected a close and physical contest. Instead the 8-1 Boxers manhandled the Warriors all evening handing them an 82-44 loss. Brockton's athleticism overwhelmed Andover as the Boxers dominated the game a they shot out of the box and went up 18-5 at the end of the 1st quarter and 38 -12 by half time. Things didn't get any better for Andover as they trailed 63 - 26 at the end of three quarters.

Brockton's Shane Sims led all scorers with 20 points. The MA & NH High School Basketball Report's #6 rated senior Mario Monroe played his first game of the season for Brockton as the fifth year senior just got M.I.A.A. approval to play. The 6'8" Monroe came off the bench in the second quarter and finished with 6 points in 10 minutes of play. Monroe played for State final runner-up North Cambridge Catholic last year. Senior guard Leo Medina also chipped in for the Boxers with 10 points on the evening. For Andover, junior guard Joe Bramanti scored 12 points and senior forward Brian Miller added 11.

The story ends with a long ride back to the Merrimack Valley for Andover and many questions about who might be the next Eastern Mass champion. Andover has played Merrimack Valley rival Central Catholic rather close in two previous contests this season, but the Warriors were no match for the Boxers. Maybe it was just a real bad night for Andover, but just maybe it has something to do with the physical play of the Merrimack Valley League which is having real trouble as of late matching up against the more athletic teams out of conference. Needless to say, we remember last years division 1 North Sectional Finals when the favored Central Catholic team could not handle the athletic Lynn English team as the Bulldogs went on to a 71 - 60 victory over the Raiders.

In girls basketball, Fontbonne's senior Alexis Peter scored her 1,000 point last evening as Fontbonne defeated Marshfield 59 - 50.