Stanton nets his 1,000th point

LAWRENCE – English senior forward Keandre Stanton became the newest member of the 1,000 point club on Monday in the Bulldogs 85-68 loss to Westford Academy in the consolation game of the IAABO Board 130 tournament at Central Catholic in Lawrence.Stanton finished the game with 19 points and has 1,017 points for his career heading into the state tournament.”For Keandre to be a 1,000-point scorer is a fantastic tribute to the effort he’s given,” English coach Mike Carr said. “Playing with kids who had gotten 1,000 points, its tough to share the ball and have everyone score. So for him to find a way to get there is a tribute to him.”The Bulldogs (12-8) ran out of gas against a Grey Ghost team that had lost a heartbreaker to St. John’s Prep on Sunday in the semifinals. English actually led by a point after one quarter (22-21) before the Grey Ghosts got things going, charging to a 52-37 lead at the half.”I think that (Monday) was the back end of us playing our tails off against Central,” Carr said. “We just ran out of gas a little bit and Westford shot the ball very well.”Stanton was joined in double figures by guard Freddie Hogan, who had 18, and all-tournament team selection Ben Bowden, who finished with 14 points and 31 in the two games in Lawrence.”Ben was fantastic again for us,” Carr said. “He played phenomenal.”Central Catholic 59, St. John’s Prep 58The championship game went right down to the wire as tourney host Central Catholic got a Nick Cambio lay-up with six seconds left and then held on as the Prep’s Steve Haladyna missed a short jumper at the buzzer of a 59-58 Raiders win.”I’m upset that we lost but, am proud of the effort and the way we competed,” St. John’s coach Sean Connolly said.The Eagles (13-7) survived an abysmal start as they trailed 13-6 after one and 30-19 at the half with Haladyna spending the bulk of the second quarter in foul trouble.The Prep clawed back to cut the lead to 42-34 after three before a wild and wooly fourth quarter began.The lead was still eight with 4:30 left when the Eagles began their comeback, cutting the lead to one before the Raiders hit a three.The lead was four with 1:30 left when Freddie Shove hit a three and answered a Raiders bomb with one of his own with 57 seconds left. Haladyna then gave the Prep the lead with 11.3 left on two free throws.The Eagles then tried to foul but Cambio got free and hit the winning basket. Haladyna finished with 25 points and Shove added 15 for the Prep.