Brown wasn’t far behind, pouring in 46 points and nabbing 10 steals to lead the sixth-seeded Bulldogs past No. 7 Prospect Hill, 68-65. Brown now has 154 points through four playoff games, good for a 38.5 average.
Find all of Wednesday’s scores here, sign up for Varsity News emails here, and read all of Wednesday’s coverage:
Central Catholic boys’ basketball follows Javi Lopez’s lead into Division 1 championship
Another brilliant game from Brody Bumila has No. 14 Bishop Feehan boys’ basketball in first D1 final
With superhuman show, Allen Brown Jr. propels Holbrook boys’ basketball to first final in 61 years
Girls’ semifinal roundup: South Hadley tops Millis for third straight trip to Division 4 championship game
Varsity News: Welcome to championship weekend 👑
The record in a state final is 50 points, set by Manchester’s Rick Katherman in 1967. So it naturally begged the question, what is the state semifinal record?
That was hard to track down. The playoff record appears to be owned by Lynnfield’s Mike Kennedy, who had 58 points in a 91-83 overtime win over Trinity Catholic in 2008 in the Division 4 North quarterfinals.
During Xaverian’s 1985 tournament run, Dana Barros scored 57 against Needham in a Division 1 South quarterfinal after posting 55 against Don Bosco in the second round. He had 159 points in three playoff games before losing to eventual state champion Brockton in the D1 South final.
Bumila tied the Bishop Feehan playoff record, matching Casey Carney’s 51 points in a 99-89 overtime win over Rockland in the 1997 Division 3 South semifinals.
Division 2 girls
6:15 p.m. — No. 1 Medfield vs. No. 3 St. Mary’s
Division 2 boys
8 p.m. — No. 1 St. Mary’s vs. No. 3 Masconomet
Division 4 girls
Noon — No. 1 Frontier vs. No. 3 South Hadley
Division 4 boys
2 p.m. — No. 1 Wareham vs. No. 3 Georgetown
Division 1 girls
4 p.m. — No. 1 Springfield Central vs. No. 3 Wachusett
Division 3 boys
6 p.m. — No. 1 Hanover vs. No. 3 Salem
Division 5 girls
Noon — No. 1 Drury vs. No. 2 Hopedale
Division 5 boys
2 p.m. — No. 6 Holbrook vs. No. 8 Hoosac Valley
Division 3 girls
4 p.m. — No. 1 Bishop Fenwick vs. No. 2 Pittsfield
Division 1 boys
6 p.m. — No. 1 Central Catholic vs. No. 14 Bishop Feehan
Top-seeded Central Catholic and No. 12 Springfield Central battled to overtime for the right to face Bishop Feehan in the Division 1 final, with senior Javi Lopez scoring 9 of his game-high 30 points in the extra frame for a 74-64 victory. Sophomore Elkin Pena netted the first 5 points of the extra session to finish with 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks.
Brody Bumila, Bishop Feehan, 51
Allen Brown Jr., Holbrook, 46
Javi Lopez, Central Catholic, 30
Josh Roux, Andover, 26
Adan Wicks, Hoosac Valley, 26
Isaiah Richmond, Prospect Hill, 24
Caroline Connors, Millis, 22
Cara Dean, South Hadley, 19
Megan McGrath, Drury, 18
Kate Phillips, South Hadley, 18
Brody Bumila, Bishop Feehan, 22
Isaiah Richmond, Prospect Hill, 15
Odens Massillon, Holbrook, 12
Tahir Bet, Central Catholic, 11
Aden Cabrera, Central Catholic, 6
Allen Brown Jr., Holbrook, 10
Aden Cabrera, Central Catholic, 5
Brody Bumila, Bishop Feehan, 4
Elkin Pena, Central Catholic, 2
▪ Burlington boy’s basketball coach Phil Conners announced he will be stepping down after a decade at the helm.
“At this time, I have to devote more of my attention to responsibilities at home,” he wrote on social media. “BHS will always hold a special place in my heart.”
Burlington went 19-4 this season, reaching the Division 2 quarterfinals before falling to Masconomet. Conners led the Red Devils to six Middlesex League Freedom Division titles and reached the 2022 D2 semifinals. He was 142-67 over 10 seasons.
Previously, Conners went 65-47 at Tewksbury, winning three Merrimack Valley Conference Division 2 titles.
▪ North Attleborough graduate Amelia Murphy has been named the head men’s volleyball coach at Rhode Island College. After playing for Red Rocketeers (’18), Murphy was a second team All-Little East Conference selection at RIC, graduating in 2022. She has since coached at East Providence High and as an assistant with RIC’s women’s team.
More NEPSAC commitments rolled in today:
▪ Malden Catholic junior Jeremiah Figaro, a 6-foot, 4-inch, 205-pound edge rusher and wide receiver, announced he will transfer to Dexter Southfield and reclassify to the Class of 2028. He already has 20 Division 1 offers, including Nebraska, Rutgers, Texas Tech, Wisconsin, and USF.
▪ Wellesley senior Brandon Hollingsworth, a 6-foot, 215-pound linebacker, will enroll at the Hun School in New Jersey for a post-grad year.
▪ Norwood senior Sam Larkee, a 5-9, 170-pound wide receiver/defensive back, will do a post-graduate year at Phillips Exeter. He will also play baseball.
▪ Lynn English senior Shane Knowlton-Simard, a 6-2, 185-pound wide receiver/defensive back, will enroll at Choate Rosemary as a post-graduate. He was named Greater Boston League MVP after rushing for 1,927 yards and throwing for 804 yards as a dual-threat quarterback, totaling 38 touchdowns.
▪ Shepherd Hill sophomore Evan Cameron, a 6-5, 310-pound offensive lineman, announced he will transfer to Cheshire Academy and reclassify to 2029.
▪ East Longmeadow junior Kaipeng Wang, a 6-4, 300-pound offensive lineman, announced he will transfer to Williston Northampton and reclassify to 2028.
▪ Springfield Central senior Nathan Pok, a 6-0, 190-pound safety, will spend a post-grad year at Williston Northampton.
Catholic Memorial’s Kwesi King was named Assistant Track and Field Coach of the year by the Massachusetts Schools Track Coaches Association. King has coached track at CM for nearly a decade, with a focus on the sprinter and jumpers, producing multiple state champions, school records, and an All-American.
▪ Boards, of the hockey variety, were a point of discussion during a brief, virtual MIAA Board of Directors meeting Wednesday morning.
After praising the successful (thus far) pre-emptive campaign against court storming launched by the basketball committee, MIAA hockey liaison Phil Napolitano discussed issues that have arisen in hockey, including damaged glass at TD Garden last March, which has resulted in a rule banning fans from the first four rows Sunday.
“Teams score a goal, they sprint to the fan section, the fans come down and they’re jumping on the glass and hanging on the glass,” Napolitano said. “Some of our rinks are worried about their boards getting damaged . . . This isn’t to reduce the excitement. These games are exciting. We want them to celebrate. But it’s getting dangerous when 200 kids are coming down to the glass and they’re pinning administrators and other students against the glass. It’s a safety issue.”
▪ Board president and Cambridge athletic director Tom Arria briefly brought up the scheduling issue identified by the football committee that leaves exactly the minimum number of days in the football preseason calendar between the start of practice before the intial games Sept. 10.
“We are in a tight spot, in a tight window, where the minimum days need to be reached before you can play, but if we have any days we don’t practice because of heat or whatever weather issue we might have … that means teams won’t be able to play in that first game,
Massachusetts high school sports playoffs highlights for March 11
