Girls' Basketball: O'Bryant and New Mission Advance in State Tournaments

The O'Bryant Tigers beat Somerset Berkley 4-34 last night. O'Bryant advances to the Division 2 South quarterfinals to play Scituate. The game will be played Friday night at 7 at Madison Park.

New Mission blew out Minuteman 47-18. The Titans will play in the D4 North quarterfinals against Shawsheen Regional Technical School. The game will be Friday night at Shawsheen, which is in Billerica.

South Boston lost to Amesbury 60-42.

Boston Latin School fell to Lexington 41-27.

The City League has 4 teams still competing in the Girls' Basketball State Tournaments. Here are the upcoming games:

Friday:
7:00pm - Belmont at Latin Academy
7:00pm - Scituate at O'Bryant
7:00pm - New Mission at Shawsheen
7:00pm - Fenway at Pope John (note: this game was originally listed as a Sunday game)

Five City League Teams Advance in State Basketball Tournaments

Five City League teams have advanced in their State Tournaments so far. The boys' teams from Brighton, New Mission, Latin Academy and Snowden all won their tournament openers. Fenway's girls' team also won. Here's an update on all the City League teams in the tournaments:

Monday's games:
Boys':
Latin Academy beat Chelsea 68-43. The Dragons will play their next game Thursday night at 7 against North Andover, the #2 seed in the Division 2 North bracket. The game will be played at North Andover High School.

Dover-Sherborn beat O'Bryant 67-48 to eliminate them from the Division 3 South tournament. The Burke was also eliminated from that tournament, 61-53, by Ashland.

Girls':
West Roxbury took a tough loss to Quincy, 64-26

Tuesday's games:
Boys':
The Brighton Bengals advanced to the D2 North quarterfinals by edging Burlington 62-60. Brighton will face Salem Friday night at 7.

New Mission also advanced to the D2 North quarterfinals. The Titans beat Reading 60-57. They'll face the winner of the Melrose/Arlington game, Saturday night at 7.

Snowden beat Mystic Valley 42-38 and advanced to the D4 North quarterfinals. They'll play Matignon at Somerville High School, Friday night at 7.

English lost 74-43 to Milton.

East Boston fell to Everett 77-65.

South Boston lost to Minuteman 71-56.

Girls':
Fenway crushed Notre Dame-Lawrence 53-21. They'll continue their title defense against Pope John on Sunday.

Charlestown lost to Belmont 67-31. Belmont will play Latin Academy Friday night at 7.

English fell to Dedham 60-34

Here are the upcoming games...

Tonight:
Girls' Games:
7:00pm - Boston Latin @ Lexington
7:00pm - Somerset Berkley @ O'Bryant (game played at Madison Park)
7:00pm - Amesbury @ South Boston (location TBD)
7:00pm - Minuteman @ New Mission

Thursday:
Boys' Games:
7:00pm - Madison Park @ Newton North
7:00pm - Medfield @ Dorchester (game played at Latin Academy)
7:00pm - Latin Academy @ North Andover

Friday:
Boys' Games:
7:00pm - Brighton @ Salem (location TBD)
7:00pm - Snowden @ Matignon (game played at Somerville HS)

Girls' Games:
7:00pm - Belmont @ Latin Academy

Saturday:
Boys' Game:
7:00pm - New Mission vs. Arlington OR Melrose (location TBD)

Sunday:
Girls' Game:
Time TBD - Fenway @ Pope John (location TBD)

20 City League Teams Qualify for State Basketball Tournaments

The City League will send 20 basketball teams (12 boys' and 8 girls' teams) to state tournaments. Tournament games start Monday. Here are the City League teams that qualified, as well as which tournament bracket they'll compete in:

Boys' Teams:
East Boston - Division 1 North
Madison Park - Division 1 South
West Roxbury - Division 1 South
Brighton - Division 2 North
New Mission - Division 2 North
Latin Academy - Division 2 North
Dorchester - Division 2 South
English - Division 2 South
South Boston - Division 3 North
O'Bryant - Division 3 South
Burke - Division 3 South
Snowden - Division 4 North

City Champions Brighton are a 5 seed in the D2 North bracket. City runners up New Mission are an 8 seed. Dorchester is the #7 seed in Division 3 South.

Girls' Teams:
West Roxbury - Division 1 South
Latin Academy - Division 2 North
Charlestown - Division 2 North
O'Bryant - Division 2 South
South Boston - Division 3 North
English - Division 3 South
New Mission - Division 4 North
Fenway - Division 4 North

Boston Latin School, which doesn't compete in the City League but is a Boston Public School, qualified for the Division 1 North tournament. Latin Academy will be the #2 seed in Division 2 North. O'Bryant and South Boston are 3 seeds in their respective tournaments. New Mission is the #6 seed in D4 North.

Here is the schedule of games this week. Boston Urban Sports will update this schedule as these tournaments play out...

MONDAY 2/25:
Boys' Games:
7:00pm - Chelsea @ Latin Academy
7:00pm - Dover-Sherborn @ O'Bryant (game played at Madison Park)
7:00pm - Burke @ Ashland

Girls' Games:
7:00pm - Quincy @ West Roxbury

TUESDAY 2/26:
Boys' Games:
7:00pm - East Boston @ Everett
7:00pm - Newton South @ West Roxbury
7:00pm - Burlington @ Brighton (game played at Latin Academy)
7:00pm - Reading @ New Mission
7:00pm - English @ Milton
7:00pm - South Boston @ Minuteman
7:00pm - Snowden @ Mystic Valley

Girls' Games:
4:30pm - Dedham @ English
7:00pm - Charlestown @ Belmont
7:00pm - Fenway @ Notre Dame-Lawrence (game played at Greater Lawrence Technical School)

WEDNESDAY 2/27:
Boys' Games:
7:00pm - O'Bryant @ Bishop Feehan (if O'Bryant beats Dover-Sherborn on Monday)
7:00pm - Burke @ Cardinal Spellman (if Burke beats Ashland on Monday)

Girls' Games:
7:00pm - Boston Latin @ Lexington
7:00pm - Somerset Berkley @ O'Bryant (game played at Madison Park)
7:00pm - Amesbury @ South Boston (location TBD)
7:00pm - Minuteman @ New Mission
7:00pm - West Roxbury @ Braintree (if West Roxbury beats Quincy on Monday)

THURSDAY 2/28:
Boys' Games:
7:00pm - Madison Park @ Newton North
7:00pm - Medfield @ Dorchester (location TBD)
7:00pm - West Roxbury @ Mansfield (if West Roxbury beats Newton South on Tuesday)
7:00pm - Latin Academy @ North Andover (if BLA beats Chelsea on Monday)
7:00pm - English @ Dennis-Yarmouth (if English beats Milton on Tuesday)

Girls' Games:
7:00pm - English @ Abington (if English beats Dedham on Tuesday)

FRIDAY 3/1:
Boys' Games:
7:00pm - Snowden @ Matignon (if Snowden beats Mystic Valley on Tuesday)

Girls' Games:
7:00pm - Charlestown OR Belmont @ Latin Academy (BLA will host the winner of Tuesday's game between Charlestown and Belmont)

Boys' Basketball: Xaverian Brothers 70, West Roxbury 55

West Roxbury ventured out into the suburbs to play Xaverian Brothers in Westwood Saturday afternoon. And although the Xaverian Hawks were only 4-12 coming into this game, they play in a very tough league. The Catholic Conference is home to #3 St. John's Prep and #6 BC High. So this was a tough opponent for the Raiders of West Roxbury.

The opening quarter was a defensive struggle, ending tied at 8-8. Neither team's shots were falling. In the 2nd quarter, Xaverian started hitting their shots. The Raiders never got much of a rhythm going, disrupted by fouls (all of Deven Robinson's 6 points came from the free-throw line) and the occasional turnover. Westie was still keeping things close, until Xaverian went on a run just before halftime, capped by a Paul Regan 3-pointer that made the score 37-28 at the break. The Hawks pulled away even further in the 3rd quarter.

Westie played their best basketball in the 4th. The shots were finally dropping. A full-court press was forcing turnovers and hampering Xaverian's offense. Taquan Skeen scored 11 points in the 4th. He and Timoy Jarrett led West Roxbury with 13 points each.

It just wasn't enough to overcome a young, but deep team from a tough league.

#14 New Mission Holds Off East Boston 62-52

The New Mission Titans were coming off a loss to Brighton, the only team from Massachusetts that has beaten them this season. The East Boston Jets were coming off a 91 point performance against Providence's Hope High School. New Mission wanted to rebound from a loss, and East Boston wanted to keep their momentum going. Eastie made it tough, but New Mission eventually wore down the Jets and took one more step toward the City Championships.

New Mission forward Isshiah Coleman dominated on defense in the 1st quarter with 3 huge blocks, but he was forced to leave the game in the 2nd when he was injured trying to haul in a rebound.

Eastie was led by Will March and Dion Knight. March finished with 20 points, including 8 in the 3rd quarter. East Boston was at their best in the 3rd when they rallied to a slim lead. Dion Knight also had 8 points in the 3rd, and finished with 17.

New Mission spread their offense around. Four players finished with 10+ points. Junior guard Shaquan Murray led the Titans with 12, Juwan Gooding and 6' 6" center Chima Ebele each had 11. Sam Freeman had 10.

With the injury to Coleman, and East Boston's surge in the 3rd quarter, New Mission's depth was put to the test. The Titans passed that test, and look poised for a strong run in the City Championship and then States.