MIAA Season Wrap-Up

New England Recruiting Report | Friday, March 20th, 2015

The MIAA season came to an end last week with four new state champions being crowned. The highest prize in the state went to Catholic Memorial, who knocked off the two-time defending state champions Putnam 80-70 in the division I finals.

Their dynamic duo in the backcourt, Guilien Smith and Kellen Grady, came up as big in the final game as they had all season long. Smith, who is headed to Dartmouth next season, scored 26 points while Grady had 27. Matt Hanna added 12 points and 5 rebounds in the win while Brandon Twitty added even more perimeter firepower.

Tyonne Malone had 29 points and 7 rebounds in a losing effort for Putnam while Ty Nichols added 15 and 5 and Jon Garcia 12 and 11.

Catholic Memorial and Putnam finished as the top two ranked teams in the final ESPN Boston Top 25 poll while Smith, Grady and Malone are all finalists for ESPN Boston’s “Mr. Basketball” award which is scheduled to be announced on Monday.

Smith was also named the Gatorade Player of the Year in Massachusetts on Friday.

In division II, Danvers completed their perfect season by holding off a valiant Marlboro comeback in the second half of last weekend’s final to escape with a 52-49 decision.

Devan Harris led a balanced Danvers attack with 12 points and 5 rebounds while Devonn Allen and Peter Merry added 9 and 7 respectively.

Freshman sensation Chris Doherty led Marlboro with 16 points, 22 rebounds and 3 blocks while Brian Short added 15 including four three-pointers.

Danvers finished the season with a 27-0 record, good enough for 4th on the final ESPN Boston poll while Marlboro finished 21-4 and ranked 8th overall in the state.

Old Rochester defeated Hoosac Valley 61-48 in the division III final. Another freshman sensation, Noah Fernandes, was the star for Old Rochester with 20 points and 8 rebounds while Ryan Beatty and Jordan Menard finished in double figures as well. Matthew Koperniak led Hoosac Valley with 14 points and 7 rebounds.

In division IV, Hamilton-Wenham knocked for Sutton in the championship game by a score of 59-50. The state championship capped a perfect 25-0 season for the Generals.

Four different players scored in double figures, including Max Zegarowski who scored 11 of his team high 18 in the second half. Marcus Zegarowski chipped in with 10 while Jimmy Campbell and Noah Wilson added 13 and 10 respectively.