Mike Carbone Was Sensational Last NightThe Mass & NH High School Basketball report visited the TD Garden last evening to watch St. John's Prep get crowned the Division 1 North Sectional Champions as they defeated Lawrence 87-73.
In a game with little defense, Prep junior Mike Carbone (31 points)and Lawrence's senior guard Jaylen Alicea (30 points) traded baskets for much of the night. Carbone was magnificent as he seemed to come up with a big three every time St. John's needed it. Carbone was 7-8 from behind the arc and through daggers into Lawrence's upset plan all night.
As far as Alicea, wow is he good. He scored 30 points while being tightly guarded and without forcing a shot the entire evening. Alicea gets up the court with the basketball as fast as any high level division 1 college guard. His speed is incredible. He can knock down the three and is a great distributor of the basketball. At one point during the game, the 5'11" Alicea had a one-on-one with 6'4' Notre Dame bound Pat Connaughton who was waiting patiently in the paint. Alicea gave an in-out move that left Connaughton frozen, and before Connaughton could move, Alicea had laid the ball in. There were just so many plays by Alicea that were off the charts: long range threes, pull-ups, up and unders, coast to coast layups. If we learned anything over the last two weeks about Lawrence High School it is the fact that Alicea is a division 1 caliber college basketball player.
As for Connaughton, he did what he had to do. He rebounded 19 times and brought the ball up the court much of the night to prevent any Lawrence pressure. Really as a side note, he scored 30 points, many of them late in the evening as Connaughton spent much of the last few minutes on the foul line. The bottom line with Connaughton is that he does everything for the Prep and is indisputably the Most Valuable Player in Massachusetts High School basketball this year.
Our top seeded Eagles struggled early with a Lawrence team that was showed blazing speed from their guards and great work around the basket from Lawrence senior Jesse Hiraldo (11 points). Hiraldo's early second quarter dunk off a put-back gave Lawrence a 25-19 lead. Lawrence and St. John's would trade baskets much of the second quarter with St. John's using a late 2nd quarter rally to go into the half with a 47-46 lead.
The game changed in the third quarter when a double-foul was called on Carbone and Hiraldo on a play away from the ball. Hiraldo who had been magnificent, picked up his 4th foul, and for all practical purposes, the game was over for Lawrence as the big fellow made his way to the bench. The Prep quickly opened up a double-digit lead and Lawrence would never recover. We wish the referree would have called the two young men over and asked them to knock it off. It was such a great basketball game up until that point.
Junior guard Steve Haladyna had another strong performance for the Prep as he scored 15 points and again was active around the glass. The Prep will play Mansfield for the Eastern Mass Championship on Tuesday night back at the TD Garden.
