WEST ROXBURY — In want of senior management, Catholic Memorial acquired it from Ryan Higgins.
Higgins scored 27 factors, together with sinking six three-pointers, to guide the No. 2 Catholic Memorial boys basketball group previous No. 15 Needham, 81-64, on Tuesday evening in entrance of a bought out crowd at Ronald Perry Gymnasium.
The Knights (18-4) will play No. 10 Lawrence within the Division 1 state quarterfinals this weekend.
“Senior leadership from Ryan Higgins,” Catholic Memorial coach Denis Tobin stated. “He is one of the best shooters in the state. The shots he made were not easy. He was guarded heavily but to his credit he made them.”
Knights freshman guard Aiden Pires added 18 factors for the Knights. Needham senior Brian Cloonan led the Rockets with 20 factors.
With freshman star Josiah Adamson mired in foul bother all through a lot of the primary half, his co-Catholic Conference MVP stepped up. Higgins drained three triples whereas Pires added 9 factors to assist in giving the Knights a 36-30 lead on the half.
Catholic Memorial’s lead exploded to 17 factors early within the third quarter with Higgins, Pires and Adamson all hitting three-pointers. Devin Dellamarggio scored 5 factors to maintain the Rockets inside placing distance however Higgins tipped house a second likelihood on the buzzer to present the Knights a 58-43 lead going into the ultimate quarter.
“When we’re playing our best, especially offensively, we’re really hard to stop,” Higgins stated. “Scoring or not scoring it doesn’t matter, it’s a blast to be out there.”
The Rockets turned to their full courtroom stress within the remaining stanza and it paid dividends as Campbell Keyes and Jackson Shaw every got here by means of with steals and scores to chop the deficit to eight with 4:30 left. Adamson, nonetheless, buried a three-pointer and Higgins accomplished a four-point play for a second straight recreation to place CM up 15 and quell hopes of a Needham comeback.
“Lawrence will be one heck of a game,” Tobin stated. “I have watched them a couple times. They want to play faster than we do, which is saying something, so that will be interesting.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com