It’ll be Prep-Beverly boys and Fenwick-Danvers girls in North Shore title round

DANVERS – St. John’s Prep’s boys basketball team is heading for a clash of the North Shore titans Wednesday when it travels to Lawrence to play Central Catholic. But in the meantime, there’s the business of the Corporate Design North Shore Invitational.The Eagles have owned this tournament since its inception in 1998 almost as much as the BU hockey team owns the Beanpot – winning eight of the 12 previous championships.But last year, Bishop Fenwick got one back, defeating The Prep in the final. Saturday, at Danvers High, the Eagles made sure that wouldn’t happen again with a resounding 97-49 victory.St. John’s will face Beverly in Monday night’s final (8). The Panthers defeated Danvers, 78-61.In the girls preliminaries, Fenwick topped Masconomet, 64-60; and Danvers defeated Beverly, 47-44.The championship game will be played at 6 p.m. MondaySt. John’s, along with English and Central, are the top three teams in Division 1 North as the regular season winds down. Coach Sean Connolly made sure his Eagles would not make the mistake of looking ahead to Wednesday’s game.”We can’t be doing that,” he said. “Beverly’s a good team. They’ve played a lot of teams tough this season. It won’t be an easy game.”Connolly emptied the bench in this one, even going as far as keeping junior sensation Pat Connaugton (20 points) on the bench for most of the second half despite the fact he’s on the verge of scoring his 1,000th point. The Eagles sprinted to a 26-11 lead after a quarter and never looked back.”They are one of the best teams in the state,” said Fenwick coach Mike Kane, who played with Connolly at Fenwick and coached with him before he left to take over the St. John’s job. “They do everything well ? shoot, rebound ? they’re tough to keep off the boards ? they play the game hard. I give them a lot of credit. They are an excellent team.”Aside from Connaughton, St. John’s had double-figure contributions from Stephen Haladyna (11), James Doherty (10, as he’s rounding back into shape after an injury), and McKenzie Burt (10).Trevor Grace (15) led the way for the Crusaders.Beverly 78, Danvers 61Curtis Manuel led the Panthers with 19 points and Felix Zamot had 16 points and 14 rebounds.Mike Clayton scored nine points and handed out eight assists.Danvers plays Fenwick in the consolation game Monday (4).GIRLSFenwick 64, Masconomet 60Lizzie Trainor led all scorers with 17 points, and hit two key free throws down the stretch as the Lady Crusaders staved off a late Masco run.Sydney Southern scored 14 points, and hit two big three-pointers in the second half to help keep the Chieftains at bay.The win was especially gratifying to coach Tim Harrington after his team was beaten, 73-47, by St. Mary’s Friday night.”The girls bounced back,” he said, “but we were still fortunate to win.”Danvers 47, Beverly 44Despite the win, Danvers coach Pat Veilleux wasn’t happy.”This the time of the year when teams are trying to get it together,” he said, “and right now, we don’t have it together.”Kelly McDonald led the way with 14 points and 16 rebounds (“a typical game for her,” Veilleux said). Sarah Palazola added 10. However, Veilleux said that guard Diana Zecha’s 10 third-quarter points (she had 12 overall) helped Danvers right itself after a tough start.”We found our offense through her,” he said.Beverly will face Masco in the consolation game at 2 p.m.