St. John’s tops Andover in IAABO tournament

DANVERS – St. John?s Prep?s basketball team has been in a pattern that coach John Dullea could do without.For the second night in a row, the Eagles let a double-digit lead slip away, allowed the opposing team to tie it, and then scooted ahead to win comfortably.?It seems to be what we do best,” said Dullea after The Prep?s 60-52 win over Andover in the final of the IAABO boys basketball tournament.The win completes the Eagles? season at 16-4. Andover, 15-4, will play Central Catholic Wednesday with the Merrimack Valley Conference/Large title in the balance.For The Prep, Max Butterbrodt had the hot hand for most of the night. The tournament MVP finished with a game-high 16 points, 10 of them in the first half as the Eagles built a 36-22 lead.However, similar to Sunday night?s win over Lynn English, The Prep let it get away and by the four-minute mark of the fourth quarter, the game was tied at 46.However, also like Sunday, the Eagles seized control as soon as the Golden Warriors pulled even.The score was actually tied twice, at 46 and again at 48. After that, however, Andover scored only four more points while St. John?s finished on a 14-4 run.Foul shots did much of the damage, with Ben Judson (14 points) hitting four of them down the stretch. He also chipped in with a key three-pointer in which he stepped back and let one go just over the top of the key to seemingly break Andover?s back with 1:58 to go.But David Giribaldi, Andover?s big gun (who was held to 14 fairly quiet points by excellent team defense by The Prep), launched a three while he was falling down, and with The Prep?s Max Burt draped all over him, that hit nothing but net with 1:40 left to make it 54-51.Undaunted, Burt came back on the other end to hit two free throws. Giribaldi came back down to hit one of two, and then Butterbrodt (hoop) and Kareem Davis (two free throws) sealed the deal.NOTES: Andover knocked St. John?s out of the Division 1 North tournament last year on a controversial basket that appeared to have been scored after time ran out. However, the referees awarded the Golden Warriors the basket and they went on to win in overtime.