Central Catholic knocks off Newton North, takes Comcast Board 27 title

Central Catholic heads into the state tournament with wind in its sails.

Joey Hart led all scorers with 27 points as Central Catholic knocked off Newton North, 57-54, to win the Div. 1 IAABO Board 27 Comcast Tournament on Monday night at Woburn High School.

Hart was named tournament MVP efforts that saw him score 26 yesterday before his Monday night performance.

“This tournament is so well respected with great teams every year,” Central Catholic coach Mark Dunham said. “I am very proud of the fight by our guys. Two hard fought games between today and Beverly yesterday.”

The game featured a heavyweight matchup between two of the premier defensive teams in the Bay State.

Newton North held a slim 35-34 edge after three and the two sides traded blows in the fourth. A Jose Padilla triple put Newton

North up 43-41 but Hart canned a three pointer of his own moments later to give the Raiders a 46-45 edge with three minutes to play.

A Tyler Randall three coupled with a free throw gave the Tigers a 54-53 edge but Hart corralled an offensive rebound and put it home to give Central a one-point edge.

Newton North had two attempts at the end to tie or grab the lead but both shots rimmed out to give the Raiders the win.

Padilla led the Tigers, who held a 26-22 lead at halftime, with 21 points.

In the Div. 2 championship game, Natick smothered Norwood, 75-62, to claim the crown. Natick’s Jason O’Keefe earned the tournament’s most valuable play honors.

Natick squelched Norwood throughout most of the night attacking the Mustangs variety of zone looks from both inside and out.

O’Keefe and Pat Mulholland each canned three first half triples as part of a flurry that put Natick up 46-24 at the break.