Appearance in Div. 1 Final shows Panthers' progress
By Ken Powers Community Reporter
Marlborough - There's an old axiom that says the Devil you know is better than the Devil you don't know. But sometimes it's not.

The Marlborough High basketball team found that out March 7 at WPI's Harrington Auditorium, when it played St. John's for the second time this season, this time with the Central Mass. Division 1 Championship hanging in the balance.

The second result was much like the first, as the Pioneers jumped out to an early lead and then held off the Panthers, this time by a 62-56 score, to claim the crown.

As painful as the loss was for Marlborough, and there were tears in the eyes of many of the players, it came in a game two steps away from a chance to play for the state title: not bad for a team that won just four games four seasons ago.

"When I came to Marlborough four years ago," Panthers' coach Ilya Nicholas said, "I wanted to build the program to the point where we could be in the mix every year for the championship.

It appears the Marlborough boys basketball program may be at that point. The team is 56-30 since Nicholas took hold of the reins and 52-14 in the last three seasons. This year's appearance in the Central Mass. Division 1 final was the Panthers' first ever.

The game was a contrast in styles. St. John's chose to slow the pace of the game, pound the ball inside, and drive to the basket and draw fouls, while the Panthers used their athleticism to play an up-tempo game that featured 20 field goal attempts from beyond the three-point arc, of which they hit five.

"Outside isn't going to win, inside is," Nicholas said. "I thought we got away from our game plan a little in the beginning of the game. We didn't stay within what we wanted to do in terms of being disciplined."

Marlborough entered the Central Mass. final against St. John's having won eight straight. Seeded second in the 12-team tournament, the Panthers finished their year with a 19-4 mark. They were 19-2 against teams not named St. John's.

George Jordan, Marlborough's talented 6-foot-5 senior center, led the team with a game-high 18 points. Junior Keith Brown added 17, nine coming in the fourth quarter, when the Panthers mounted a furious comeback that saw them cut an 11-point St. John's lead to just two, with 68 seconds to play.

"You have a chance to win until the final buzzer sounds," Nicholas said. "Our kids never forgot that. They kept fighting. I feel like we didn't lose the game, we just ran out of time. If that game goes on for a couple more minutes, I truly believe we would have won it."

Nicholas knows he will miss Jordan, who has been starting since he was a freshman; a coach can't help but miss a player who averaged 22 points, 14 rebounds and seven blocks a game this year.

The coach knows Jordan helped carry his team to the final, and played valiantly in the game, and he knows his team might not even have advanced that far is it weren't for Jordan's effort in Marlborough's Central Mass. Semifinal against Wachusett, when he scored 25 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked five shots.

"We will miss George a lot," Nicholas said, "not only for his efforts on the court, but his personality off it as well. He's been a joy to have around."