Eagles on their game

BC High takes out Prep

In the big moment, BC High showed up. Playing at home against Catholic Conference foe St. John’s Prep last night, the Eagles came to play in an 83-69 victory.

BC High forced five early turnovers to race out to a 15-3 lead, held a 36-29 halftime edge and then ballooned the advantage to 17 points with a dominating third quarter.

Senior guard Travis Evee finished with a game-high 28 points for the Eagles (7-2, 2-1), while their starting senior frontcourt of Spencer Riley, Troy Salmans and Mike Vasil combined for 35 points, 17 rebounds and six blocks.

“I just thought that we were ready to play,” said BC High coach Bill Loughnane. “This was a big league game against a really good team, but we were mentally ready to go at it tonight.”

Behind some hot shooting early from Evee and Vasil (10 points), and tenacious team defense — BC High forced 38 turnovers in the game — the Eagles grabbed a 22-12 lead after eight minutes. St. John’s Prep cut into the deficit before intermission as senior Matt Relihan went off for 12 second-quarter points.

But after halftime, Salmans and classmate Matt Thompson (14 points) took over. A Thompson 3-pointer made it 41-31, and his second trey of the quarter, followed by two free throws minutes later, made it a 54-40 game. Salmans closed out the quarter with 10 points.

“We made an effort to get something going inside because we shoot a lot of 3’s,” Loughnane said about the effort of his forwards. “These guys all stepped up tonight as they have the last few games.”

Prep (6-3, 0-2) went on a 13-2 run to start the fourth as sophomore Jamel Snow-Guzman (15 points) buried two 3-pointers, but a bucket from Thompson and a three-point play by Evee made it 72-59.

“(St. John’s Prep) doesn’t quit and we knew that a run was coming, but the guys did a good job holding them off,” said Loughnane.

In nonleague action, junior Isaiah Morency collected 13 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks as Durfee (5-5) defeated West Roxbury, 56-50. . . . Sophomore Deshaun Chase had 16 points and six assists as Stoneham (2-8) edged Manchester Essex, 56-50 . . . . Junior Isiah Luma led all scorers with 13 points and Blue Hills (6-0) climbed past South Shore Christian Academy, 55-34.

In the South Shore League, Rockland (8-2) rode to a 63-42 victory over Norwell as Zach Sharland, Sam Gran and Jude Bain all finished in double-digits.

Jenn Butka drained three treys en route to 17 points to lead North Quincy (5-5) to a 50-44 win over Patriot League rival Pembroke.

Newton North (7-3) secured a 7345 win against Wellesley as sophomore Aaron Cooley collected 18 points and 12 rebounds.

In the Northeastern Conference, Derek Marino chipped in 20 points, propeling Marblehead (5-4) to a 68-47 drubbing of Danvers.

Girls basketball

Asha Molin and Nia Mendes combined for 24 points as Southeastern (3-6) knocked off Cape Cod

Tech, 51-25 in a nonleague game . . . . Mackenzie Furlong and Tiffany Tortora each dropped 14 points as Malden (5-4) coasted by Snowden, 67-21.

In the Independent School League, Maddie Mullen paced Beaver Country Day (6-4) with 27 points in a 67-39 win over Portsmouth Abbey.

In a Catholic Conference matchup, Victoria Williams recorded 15 points and 14 rebounds as Cardinal Spellman (5-5) topped Pope John, 59-23.

Hockey

Jack O’ Day made 23 saves as St. Joseph’s Prep (7-2-1) put away St. Bernard’s, 3-1 in a nonleague win.

In girls hockey action, Ali Delmonte made 24 saves as Archbishop Williams (8-2) blanked nonleague opponent Stoneham, 3-0.

In the Bay State Conference, Molly Burnes and Jackie Poulack each scored twice as Natick (6-2-1) shut out Braintree, 4-0.