Marlborough holds off Wachusett, will face St. John's
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Marlborough - The rematch should be quite a match.

The Marlborough High boys basketball team will meet perennial Central Mass. power St. John's for the second time this season at 7:30 p.m. Friday March 7 at WPI's Harrington Auditorium.

This time, however, there will be much more than just local bragging rights on the line - the team that wins will be just one step from playing for the Division 1 state championship and two steps from being crowned Best in State.

"It'll be fun to play them again," Marlborough senior guard Connor Flynn said. "It was a good game last time, but I know we think we're a better team than we showed back then. We'll get a chance to prove that this time and win the title at the same time."

St. John's won a Jan. 6 match-up between the teams, 81-65, but the Panthers' Keith Brown left that game early with an ankle injury.

"January is the beginning of the season. It's the same two teams, but we're both completely different than the first time we faced each other," Marlborough coach Ilya Nicholas said. "We've worked very hard to get better each game and I really think we're just beginning to hit our stride. It should be a great game."

Marlborough (19-3), the No. 2 seed, advanced to the final with a 69-65 win over third-seeded Wachusett March 2 at WPI.

Senior George Jordan paced the Panthers' attack, pouring in a game-high 25 points. Flynn added 13, Brown 11 and Andre Beauchamp 10.

Behind the play of Jordan, who scored 10 points in the second quarter, Marlborough extended its lead to as many as 14 points, to 48-34 midway through the third quarter, only to see Wachusett storm back to within two points, 64-62, with two minutes to play.

The Panthers hung onto the lead and sealed the victory from the free-throw line, converting on five-ofseven free throws in the game's final 40 seconds.

Marlborough's ability to hang on to the lead against Wachusett was a stark contrast to last season in its Division 1 semifinal loss to Holy Name, when the Panthers let a second-half lead slip away late in the game.

"I think the biggest reason we won this year is because we lost last year," Nicholas said. "We knew that Wachusett was trying to do to us what Holy Name did to us last year, and we knew what not to do to allow that to happen. I think we collectively decided to play to win the game, rather than playing not to lose it."

St. John's (19-6), the No. 5 seed, advanced to the final and a rematch with the Panthers by upsetting top-seeded Fitchburg, 61-59, in the other Division 1 semifinal played March 2 at WPI.

With the game tied, 59-59, sophomore David White scored on a driving layup with four seconds to play to lift the Pioneers over the Red Raiders and into their second straight Division 1 final.

"That was exactly the play coach [Bob] Foley drew up in the timeout," White said. "I couldn't have asked for a better look at the basket than that."

John Perron led the Pioneers with 16 points, while White and Matt LaBove added 11 each.