VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: St. John's Prep defeats Catholic Memorial for D1 State Title

Videos by Matt Siegel (@SportVideoMA)

Foxboro, Mass. - Our final MIAA state football championship game at Gillette Stadium for 2018 was a great one, as Catholic Conference rivals St. John's Prep and Catholic Memorial fought it our for the Division 1 state title.

In the end, it was St. John's Prep coming out on top, 40-22, pulling away late thanks to a flurry of forced turnovers and big offensive plays. Our Matt Siegel was there to grab highlights, which you can watch below.

MIAA Baseball Top 25 Poll: Week 9

By Matt Feld (@Mattyfeld612)

The MIAA baseball regular season has officially reached its final week and with it a number of teams find themselves locked in high profile games.

This week sees Mansfield creep into the top five, Franklin climb back into the top 10, and St. Peter-Marian charge into the top 20. With a number of teams vying for Super Eight consideration as well as positioning in their respective sectionals the final week of the season is sure to be exciting.

For now, courtesy of SuiteSports’ panel of correspondents, writers, and editors here is our updated MIAA Baseball Top 25 Poll. Check back in next Tuesday when we unveil our final top 25 poll of the regular season.

1. Wachusett (18-1; Last Week: 1) Wachusett continues to pile up the runs as they put up eight against Algonquin and 15 more on Grafton. They have all but locked up a top three spot in this year’s Super Eight tournament but games this week versus St. Peter-Marian and St. John’s Shrewsbury will give them a chance to secure the top seed. 

MIAA Baseball: Super Eight Projection 1.0

St. John's Shrewsbury's Staff, highlighted by Sean Burke and Nick McDonald (Pictured) has the Pioneers atop our initial projection.

By Matt Feld (@Mattyfeld612)

The MIAA Division 1A "Super Eight" selection is exactly three weeks away and with it, SuiteSports' is excited to announce its initial projection for this year's field.

Four of last year's eight teams make our first projection while the other half of the field is filled with newcomers. The selection committee is known to incorporate pitching depth, strength of schedule (both in-league and non-league), and play down the stretch into its consideration and as a result we do our best to implement that into our projections as well.

With plenty of baseball left to be played, these projections are sure to change over the coming weeks, but for now here is our first attempt to predict this year's Division 1A Super Eight.

Pope Francis Lives to Fight Another Day, Eliminates St. John's Prep from Super 8

By John McGuirk (@Patsfan1313)

Lowell, Mass. - The premise to withstand the pressure-cooker environment of the Super 8 tournament is that you want to be playing your best hockey during the postseason.

Certainly, Pope Francis is doing that.

As they continue to scratch and claw their way from avoiding elimination, the seventh-seeded Cardinals will live to fight another day following their 5-1 dismantling of No. 3 St. John’s Prep Monday night at Tsongas Center.

The Eagles end their season at 15-5-4.

PHOTO GALLERY: Hingham vs Central Catholic and BC High vs St. John's Prep in the Super 8

Photos by Eamon Convey (@ConveyWEEI)

It was a night of upsets in Lowell Monday, as a pair of Super 8 underdogs came away with big wins. First, Hingham stunned Central Catholic 1-0, then in the night cap, BC High nipped rival St. John's Prep, also by a 1-0 score.

Both the Harbormen and the Eagles advances to the semifinals of the two-loss elimination tournament, while CC and SJP now head to the loser's bracket, where the margin for error is zero.

Now, continue below for photos of both of last night's games, courtesy of our Eamon Convey. Note that you can click any image to enlarge and launch a slideshow.

BC High Nips St. John's Prep in Super 8

Photo by Eamon Convey

By Michael Abelson (@ABELS0N)

Lowell, Mass. - Come state tournament time, pretty doesn’t matter.

BC High took another step closer to getting to the Garden with a grinding, ugly, 1-0 win over St. John’s Prep at Tsongas Center in the second round of the Super 8 tournament.

BC High senior Joe Dragon scored the lone goal of the game 2:45 into the first, and from there it was all about missed opportunities by both sides, and some timely defense late by the victors.

Three-Goal Run Leads St. John's Prep past Burlington in Super 8

By Mike Abelson (@ABELS0N)

Lowell, Mass. - Despite trailing twice, and giving up a major penalty, St. John’s Prep did what it had to do down the stretch to defeat Burlington, 5-3, in the opening round of the Super 8 tournament at Tsongas Center.

The Eagles scored the final three goals of the game, and were anchored by sophomore forward Brian Carrabes. The tying goal came off Carrabes’ stick late in the second period, and he added an empty netter with 21 seconds left to put a bow on the victory.

PHOTO GALLERY: BC High Hockey tops St. John's Prep

Photos by Eamon Convey (@ConveyWEEI)

Boston College High School's boys' varsity hockey team grabbed the top spot in the Catholic Conference with a resounding 4-1 victory over rival St. John's Prep.

Our Eamon Convey was there to grab the sights of the game. Continue below for those images, and note that you can click any picture to enlarge it and launch a slideshow.

O'Neil's Day Down Low Lifts St. John's Prep to Win over O'Bryant

By: Matt Feld (@Mattyfeld612) 

Tommy O’Neil knew before he took the floor that it would be his day.

O’Neil scored 22 points and hauled in 15 rebounds as St. John’s Prep defeated O’Bryant, 73-58, on Monday morning in the BABC Slides Bar and Grill Holliday Classic at Cathedral High School.

While the Eagles (6-2) struggled from the perimeter, they more than made up for it with their size and athleticism.

MIAA Basketball Top 25: Week 4

So, Cambridge is still pretty good, huh?

Our rankings of the best teams in the state, as selected by our panel of staff writers and correspondents. (Updated 1/9)

1. Needham (6-0; Last Week - 1) A 24-point performance versus Milton has Rockets’ star Thomas Shaughnessy on the verge of 1,000 for his career.

2. St. John's Prep (5-1; Last Week - 2) The Eagles get wins over a tough Winchester team and Division 2 contender Arlington to grab the label of Catholic Conference favorite.

3. Lowell (7-0; Last Week - 3) Alex Rivera simply cannot be stopped.

MIAA Basketball Top 25: Week 3

Our rankings of the best teams in the state, as selected by our panel of staff writers and correspondents. (Updated 1/1)

1. Needham (5-0; Last Week - 1) The Rockets handled Xaverian, 65-41, on Dec. 30 to remain undefeated heading into the New Year.

2. St. John's Prep (4-1; Last Week - 2) Huge wins for Prep over Lawrence (97-92 in OT) and Central Catholic (80-68) to take the Commonwealth Motors Classic at Methuen High over the weekend.

St. John's Prep Rallies to Top Lawrence in OT

By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612)

Methuen, Mass. - As quickly as St. John’s Prep appeared to have lost the game, the Eagles stole it right back.

The Prep trailed Lawrence by as many as nine points in the fourth quarter, and was down eight with three minutes to play, but a 17-9 SJP spurt forced overtime and, in the extra period, Tommy O’Neil scored four of his 26 points as St. John’s Prep defeated Lawrence, 97-92, on Friday night in the Commonwealth Classic Semi-final at Methuen High School.

Shaughnessy Leads Needham Past St. John's Prep for Early Season Statement

By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612)

Danvers, Mass. - Thomas Shaughnessy is never one to shy away from the big moment, so it was to no one's surprise that the fourth quarter brought out his best.

Led by Shaughnessy’s 18 points, six assists, and four rebounds, Needham came away with a statement 72-62 win over No. 1 St. John’s Prep on Connaughton Court at St. John’s Prep.

Eagles’ senior forward Tommy O’Neil finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds to pace SJP.

The defending Division 1 South Sectional champs asserted themselves from the opening tip, leaning on their star in Shaughnessy, and receiving big production from Brandon Monheimer (13 points) and sophomore Will Dorian (11 points) to control the pace of play.

Needham (1-0) won three of the four quarters, including the first and the fourth by a combined 43-28 margin.

A Brief 2017-18 MIAA Hoops Primer

Franklin returns a ton of talent and, now, experience, making the Panthers a favorite to get back to the state championship game.

By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612)

Ed. Note- Our statewide Top 25 is currently posted, as the first full week of MIAA hoops is now in the books. With that in mind, our Matt Feld figured he would give a brief overview of how he sees things shaking out across all divisions of MIAA basketball.

Ed. Note Part 2- A previous version of this story listed Tech Boston as D4 instead of D2. We regret the error and have corrected it.

Needham surprised many last season with their run to the Division 1 South Sectional championship.

This season, the Rockets will not fly under anyone’s radar.

MIAA Basketball Top 25: Preseason Poll

Newton North's Ethan Wright (left) and Needham's Thomas Shaughnessy will again look to lead their teams deep into MassMadness.

 Our (sorta) preseason rankings of the best teams in the state, as selected by our panel of staff writers and correspondents. (Updated 12/11)

1. St. John's Prep (Last Season: 16-6) With a 6-foot-8 center in Tommy O’Neil and an elite wing in 6-foot-3 Nate Hobbs, the Eagles have the weaponry necessary to make a run at a Catholic Conference title and potentially a state championship.  

2. Newton North (Record Last Season: 17-7) Prized prospect Ethan Wright decided to stay at Newton North and he’ll have a lot more help this year, with young talents Noah Neville and Aaron Cooley ready to step up in supporting roles.   

3. Needham (Last Season: 20-5) Thomas Shaughnessy returns after putting on a show in the state tournament last winter, leading the Rockets to their first sectional title and competing valiantly against eventual champion Cambridge in the state semifinals.

BC High Rallies Late to Edge Rival St. John's Prep

By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612)

BOSTON -The first five weeks may have been an introductory welcome for BC High quarterback Will Bowen, but Friday night was his coming out party.

With host BC High and rival St. John’s Prep tied at 13 with under 4 minutes to play, Bowen engineered an 11-play, 74-yard drive, capped off by a game-winning touchdown run from Danny Abraham as No. 2 BC High pulled out a 20-13 victory over the Prep in a crucial Catholic Conference clash.

New-Look St. John's Prep Offense Cruises Against Catholic Memorial

By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612)

After the first three weeks of the season, Brian St. Pierre noticed his team needed a jolt - a way to make its lagging offense more explosive. 

The crucial maneuver is paying off.

In his second contest under center since being named the St. John’s Prep starting quarterback, sophomore Matt Crowley threw for 292 yards and three touchdowns as the Eagles defeated Catholic Memorial, 35-17, on Friday night at Catholic Memorial High School.

Central Catholic Clamps Down on St. John's Prep

By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612)

LAWRENCE - In a contest between two of the best that Division 1 has to offer, Central Catholic’s defense stole the spotlight.

Behind a stalwart defensive effort, and a diversified offensive attack, the No. 3 Raiders shut out No. 4 St. John’s Prep, 21-0, on a foggy Saturday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

The game was a makeup of Friday night’s contest, which was postponed due to flooding.

All evening long, St. John’s Prep struggled to get into any sort of rhythm against the Raiders defensive unit. The Eagles totaled just 106 yards through the first three and a half quarters, and crossed midfield only once the entire game.

The Raiders front seven, highlighted by linebackers Ryan Burns and Ty Donatio, contained the Eagles' normally potent running game, and applied consistent pressure to star quarterback Mike Yarin.

Mathias Villafane (INT) and Joseph Howshan proved to be ball hawks in the secondary.

St. John's (Shrewsbury) Completes Journey with Super 8 Title

By Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports)

BROCKTON - Ian Seymour had no problem recording a five-out save.

Starting pitcher Matt Stansky cruised through his first six innings of work for the St. John’s (Shrewsbury) baseball team, but he was pulled in the seventh inning. In the eighth, the Pioneers lead began shrinking.

They surrendered a leadoff single, followed by an RBI triple and a sacrifice hit which cut the team’s lead to 5-4 over St. John’s Prep with one out in the inning.

Seymour then came in so he could protect the one-run lead in a high leverage moment. Because of that, the Pioneers came away with the Super 8 title on Wednesday night at Campanelli Stadium.

Your MIAA Baseball Super 8 Final Preview

St. John's Prep rolls into its third consecutive Super 8 final, but the Eagles will have to defeat top-seeded St. John's (Shrewsbury) to win the title.

By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612)

The Division 1A "Super Eight" tournament began back on May 31st, with each of the eight teams starting a journey that they hoped would end in a dog pile at Campanelli Stadium.

That eight-team field has winnowed to two, as St. John’s (Shrewsbury) and St. John’s Prep will face off in the Super Eight final on Wednesday night.

St. John’s (Shrewsbury), the season-long favorite to win the title, has won their first three games in the tournament. In the first round the Pioneers squeaked past eighth seeded Belmont, 3-1, before defeating BC High and St. John’s Prep to reach the final.

It will be the Pioneers' first state final appearance since facing BC High in the 2009 Division 1 State Final.

St. John’s Prep, meanwhile, won their first two games over Newton North and Central Catholic, before faltering in the Super Eight semifinals. The Eagles quickly recovered though, coming back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat BC High, 9-7, in an elimination game to reach the finals.

The appearance in the finals is the third consecutive such trip for the Prep. The Eagles certainly hope this one goes far better than the last two where in each case they won the first game of the series in dominating fashion only to fall in game two.

Standing as the lone undefeated team, St. John’s (Shrewsbury) holds a significant advantage. St. John’s Prep will not only have to beat the Pioneers on Wednesday night, but beat them a second time in a potential game two that would be played on Thursday night in order to claim the title for themselves.

Here is how we expect Wednesday’s Super Eight Final to unfold.