Prep rides dominant rebounding into North Final

BEVERLY – St. John’s Prep overcame a major obstacle, defeating Everett, 67-57, Tuesday night at Beverly High to advance to the Division 1 North finals.The Prep (18-4) faltered at this point the past two seasons, unable to find the right recipe for success in the postseason. Led by a dynamic senior class, the Eagles used grit to grind their way past Everett.
“Rebounding wins games in this tournament,” said Prep coach John Dullea. “We felt if we could control the boards, we’d win this game.”
The Eagles dominated the boards thanks to senior captain Jake Burt, who finished the night with 17 rebounds.
“We needed to keep possessions alive on offense, and limit Everett to one shot,” said Burt. “Everett is very talented and athletic, so we knew we’d need to rebound. It paid off for us.”
Since teams limited their turnovers, the game was decided on the glass.
“The Prep didn’t surprise us,” said Everett coach John DiBiaso. “The difference was the rebounds. We didn’t board.”
The 6-foot-4-inch Burt, 6-foot-5-inch Harry O’Neil (14 rebounds), and 6-foot-6-inch Brett McNiff (six rebounds) controlled the glass on both ends of the floor, and frustrated Everett (16-7) with tip-offs and deflections.
The Prep jumped out to 14-11 lead after the first quarter, and extended that advantage to eight (38-30) at the half. A key to success was keeping the explosive Crimson Tide out of the paint.
“Our number one philosophy is to pressure teams and keep them out the paint,” said Dullea. “That’s where Everett thrives, and we were fortunate to stop them through a total team effort.”
The Prep outrebounded Everett, 10-5, in the third quarter, and finished the quarter with seven offensive rebounds to extend the lead to 53-43 after three. The combination of Kareem Davis and Ben Judson was too much for the Crimson Tide to handle.”We came up short last year, so winning this game and moving on is big,” said Davis (20 points, seven assists, and three steals). “We showed we’ll do whatever is possible to get the win.”
Judson (14 points) worked his way out of early foul trouble to drill four backbreaking three-pointers.
“Everett’s plan was to take me out of my game right away,” said Judson. “I got mad at the beginning, and it was frustrating, but when I’m not scoring, our other players can make plays. We showed that tonight.”
Another key to the Prep’s victory was its depth. Dullea called upon his bench to deliver, and McNiff, 6-foot-6-inch sophomore Justin Connolly, senior guard Tyson Johnson, and Central Catholic transfer Alec Buresh all answered the call.
“We go nine deep,” said Dullea, who started the fourth quarter with four starters on his bench. “I’m not afraid to go to the bench, and I’m not changing that now. They earned their minutes and they deserve to play.”
Everett cut the deficit to five, 54-49, with six minutes to play in the game, but the Prep refused to crack.
“One difference between our team from this year to last season is our composure at the end of the game,” said Dullea. “Everett cut it to five, but we kept our composure.”The Prep put Everett away with an 11-0 run to build a 64-49 lead. After the disappointment of the past two seasons, the Eagles were not going to relinquish this lead.
“The heartbreak from the past two years was definitely in the back of my mind,” said Burt, whose Eagles will square off against either Cambridge or Andover this Saturday at Lowell’s Tsongas Center. “We know not to take these games for granted, and we came out and executed for 32 minutes.”Justin Barrasso can be reached [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.