The year 2012 saw many high points ? and several poignant moments.Perhaps the most uplifting moment came this fall, when four local high school football teams (St. Mary’s, St. John’s Prep, Beverly and Lynnfield) reached the Super Bowl, with the Panthers and Eagles winning titles.Beverly defeated Natick, 28-21, in the Division 2A Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium on Dec. 1, with Brendan Flaherty running for 175 yards and two scores. The Panthers finished 13-0 and won their first Super Bowl.Meanwhile, The Prep won the Division 1 championship game over Brockton, 48-28, at Bentley.The Spartans and head coach Matt Durgin lost in their Division 4 Super Bowl debut, a 14-8 decision to Abington at Curry. The Pioneers fell 21-7 to Bishop Feehan in the Division 3A Super Bowl for the Eastern Mass. title at Gillette Stadium.Rocha on trackPeabody’s Catarina Rocha breezed through the regular cross country season and saved her best for last ? winning the state championship and then the Northeast Foot Locker regionals.In San Diego, Rocha, who has committed to Providence College next year, finished second in the national Foot Locker race.Super SpartansIt was a super year for St. Mary’s in multiple sports, including boys basketball, where the Spartans won their first state title in a decade (they repeated in 2001 and 2002). St. Mary’s captured the Division 4 state championship with a 70-64 triumph over Cathedral at TD Garden. Devin Thompson closed out his career on Tremont Street with 25 points.The boys hockey team nearly made the Super 8 semifinals, with a loss to St. John’s Prep knocking out the Spartans. Coach Mark Lee’s squad finished its second consecutive undefeated season in the Catholic Central League and spent most of the season ranked No. 2 in Massachusetts.The Spartans lost just one regular-season game all year, an overtime decision to eventual champion MC; this went as a tie under MIAA regulations.The girls team made it to the Division 1 title game, losing 3-1 to Arlington Catholic at TD Garden.The Spartan softball team, however, saw its run of four straight trips to the state semis end when it lost to Matignon, 3-1, at Martin Field in Lowell in the Division 3 North final.Sports world loses Serino, PeskyChristie Serino Jr., a Winthrop native who was raised in Saugus, died of cancer at age 63 on Oct. 15. Serino was a member of the Saugus High and AIC Halls of Fame (his No. 5 hockey jersey is retired at Kasabuski Arena). He was the hockey coach at Saugus High from 1980-87.He later served as athletic director and hockey coach at Malden Catholic, where he guided the Lancers to a Super 8 championship in 2010-11.Johnny Pesky, a west coaster who made his home in Swampscott, was a fixture at Fenway Park, first as a player (the “Pesky Pole” became a park landmark) and later as a manager, coach and broadcaster.He is remembered as one of the “Teammates” of the 1940s Boston Red Sox editions alongside Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr and Dom DiMaggio. He played in the 1946 World Series, which the Red Sox lost in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals.Pesky provided a warm presence for the Sox in a 70-year career and lived to see the team end its Series drought with championships in 2004 and 2007. He died at age 93 on Aug. 13 ? the same year Fenway marked its 100th anniversary.Saugus boys hoop goes NorthThe Saugus boys basketball team reached the Division 3 North final, where it faced fell, 53-40, to Danvers at Tsongas Center, despite a 19-point, four-rebound performance from Curtis Casella.Danvers ended up winning the Division 3 state title, 59-47, over St. Joseph’s.English girls hoop perfect in NECThe English girls basketball squad dominated on the court, finishing 16-0 in its conference slate and winning the Boverini Tournament.Carey golden on the diamondLynn native Frank Carey won a state high school baseball championship (his fifth) as coach of North Reading. The Hornets defeated Mt. Everett High of Sheffield, 8-4, in the state final at Fitton Field in