Prep holds on for win over B.C. High

DANVERS ? It got a little scary at the end, but the St. John’s Prep basketball team held on for a 67-58 win over Boston College High, Friday night, at Memorial Gym.St. John’s (8-0) led by 16 points early in the fourth quarter, but B.C. High (4-2) had a chance to make it a two-possession game in the final minute.St. John’s took control of the game with an 18-1 run over the final six minutes of the second quarter. Ben Judson led the Prep with 20 points, including 15 in the first half. Drex Costello added 15, while Josh Syska had nine.”It certainly doesn’t put us in charge of the conference, but it puts us on the map,” said St. John’s Prep coach Sean Connolly. “I thought the difference in the second quarter was our defense.”Charles Collins led B.C. High with 16 points, while Jameilen Jones had 14 and Steve Young added 13. Center Phil Leotsakos picked up three fouls in the first quarter, sat out the second, and never really got into the flow of the game in the second half. He finished with two points.”They (St. John’s) played pretty well tonight,” said B.C. High coach Bill Loughnane. “They shot the ball really well. We missed a layup or two and they made us pay at the other end.”St. John’s survived six turnovers ? some of them ghastly ? in the first quarter, which after six lead changes ended in a 16-16 tie. A jumper from the left elbow by Steve McAuley allowed B.C. High to match its biggest lead at 21-18, but the visitors scored just one point for the rest of the half, while St. John’s Prep took command behind Judson, a sophomore who is likely to become the Next Big Thing at the Prep.Judson’s 3-pointer from the left elbow put St. John’s ahead for good with 4:23 left in the first half, and his three from the right of the top of the key closed the run with the Prep leading, 36-22, at halftime.”Ben is a good shooter, and once he gets going, he’s tough to stop,” said Connolly.B.C. High got as close as 10 (41-31) with 4:29 left in the third quarter, but St. John’s answered with a 9-1 run that included a spectacular running layup by Tyler Dooley (only six points, but several gorgeous assists and a steady hand at the point most of the night) and another three from the right wing by Judson.The lead peaked at 53-34 after St. John’s blocked four straight B.C. High shots and Max Burt drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing with 1:28 left in the third quarter.B.C. High switched defenses from what had been a porous zone to man-to-man with full-court pressure in the fourth quarter, and Collins scored seven straight points over a 31-second span to help cut the Prep’s lead back to 10 (60-50) with 4:44 to go. Dooley canned a couple of free throws and fed Syska for a layup to boost the lead back to 14, and Loughnane pulled his starters with 1:50 remaining.B.C. High’s reserves made a run and could have cut the lead to six, but Joe Moussalli missed a couple of free throws with 50 seconds left, while Judson made two foul shots at the other end to boost the lead back to double digits.”Those kids (reserves) work hard in practice, and when we put them in the last game, they almost made it back all the way,” said Loughnane.