Prep Blows Out Billerica in First Round

The Memorial Gymnasium at was filled to capacity as the Eagles’ basketball team sent Billerica’s boys and fans home shaking their heads in defeat Friday night. The Prep marched into the quarterfinals of with a sound beating to the Indians, 80-59.

Early on, the game was tight – Billerica was holding its own in the first, but the Prep would slowly start to pull away in the second quarter, as Pat Connaughton heated up the passing game, dishing off to junior forward Stephen Haladyna countless times. Haladyna and Connaughton led the game in scoring with 22 points each. Even though Connaughton was ice cold from the three-point arc he managed to score inside the paint and at the foul line.

At the half, the Eagles were up 39-22. Michael Carbone would add 16 points of his own and rounded out the top three high-scorers of the night for the Eagles.

The Billerica Indians’ offense was led by senior forward Connor Elmore with 19 points. Senior guards Dalton James and Ryan Donahoe contributed 13 and 12 points, respectively.   

St. John’s head coach Sean Connolly added praise for his entire team after the game.

“We know what we can expect from him (Connaughton); he was a little off (his game) tonight, but the rest of the team battled. We’ve been off now for eight or nine days but we won most of the battles and made good decisions tonight,” Connolly said, acknowledging their opponents’ efforts as well. “Billerica is a great team, well coached,” he said.

Connolly also stressed to his team to not get ahead of themselves. “Take one game at a time,” he said. Speaking of their next opponent, Lincoln-Sudbury, he said: “We have our work cut out for us!”

St. John’s will maintain the home court advantage, hosting Lincoln-Sudbury on Sunday at 5 p.m.