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| Carl Pierre was named MVP of the Comcast/Board 27 Classic and Travis Evee made the all-tournament team for BC High |
MALDEN, Mass. - The Brighton Bengals might officially be a Division 2 program, but they played as well as any D1 team could hope against a true state title contender in BC High on Monday night.
The Bengals (15-5) gave the Eagles (18-2) everything they could handle during the Division 1 boys’ final of the Comcast/Board 27 Classic at Malden Catholic High, yet in the end, BC High’s dynamic duo of Travis Evee and Carl Pierre proved to be too much in a 77-73 victory for No. 2 BC High.
Evee led his team to the final with a game-winning 3 to seal a 63-62 victory over No. 11 Newton North on Sunday Evening, while Brighton edged Needham, 55-49, in the other semifinal game.
In this contest, Evee took it to another level with a game-high 28 points while shooting 4 of 5 from three-point range and pouring in 14 points during a high-scoring third quarter.
Brighton was able to come back from a 10-point halftime deficit to make it a 50-49 game midway through the third, as Mykel Derring (17 points) hit four consecutive threes and Tyrone Perry (13 points) chipped in with five points during a 28-point third quarter.
Yet every time the Bengals hit a big shot, Evee came back the other way with a clutch bucket, or he teamed up with Eagles captain Carl Pierre (22 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists) as they combined for 31 points in the second half to pace the Eagles to a win.
“We needed it,” BC High coach Bill Loughnane said about Pierre and Evee’s takeover down the stretch. “We expected [Brighton] to make a run and they gave us a barrage during that third and fourth quarter. I’m just glad that our guys responded.”
For Evee and Pierre, there’s no hiding from the spotlight. These two all-state considerations have been at the center of BC High’s success all season after spending the entire summer working on their game, so they were ready to embrace the moment in such a tight game.
“We knew [Brighton] was going to make a run, so we were prepared for that the whole game,” Evee said. “When they made that run, me and Carl [Pierre] knew we had to take over and keep us ahead.”
However, BC High allowed a 71-59 lead to disappear in the face of relentless hustle from Brighton and only led by four when the Bengals fired several three-point attempts in the final seconds.
Loughnane hopes that his team will learn from their lack of late-game execution.
“Games like that prepare you for the [state] tournament. There was a lot of pride at stake and a championship at stake. I thought we got a little rattled down the stretch and that will help us down the line hopefully.”
But with a confident tandem leading them on both ends of the floor, the Eagles should have little reason to worry.
“We played the toughest schedule and we’ve probably seen every type of team in the state,” said Pierre. “Teams that slow it down, teams that run, so when it comes to the [state] tournament, we’ll be ready for anything.”
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