Ever since John Walsh arrived to take charge of the Danvers High boys basketball program, Danvers has become the basketball capital of the North Shore and beyond. The Prep, first under Sean Connolly and now under John Dullea, has been a Division 1 power, while Danvers dominated Division 2 for two years and now is the team to beat in Division 2.
Now, with the Prep’s convincing 64-54 victory tonight over Everett in Beverly High’s Henry Cabot Lodge Fieldhouse, one Danvers team has reached the North Section finals, slated for Saturday in Tsongas Arena, Lowell
Danvers will try and follow suit Wednesday night, taking on Brighton in a Division 2 semifinal at Woburn High. Two Danvers teams at Lowell spends awfully nice.
The Prep, one year after losing the same game in a classic overtime loss to Central Catholic in “The Lodge,” made it right this time, outscoring Everett 30-12 (10-4) in three-pointers. Point guard Kareem Davis (*20) made three, all in the first half, while Ben Judson, who carried the Prep on his back last year against Central in the second half before running out of gas in the extra session, hit four threes and finished with 14 points.
Very similar to how Danvers has racked up a 23-0 record, the Prep relied on the three-point bomb to create much of its offense, leading to a 38-30 halftime advantage and a 53-43 cushion after three quarters.
Everett closed within 53-47 in the first minute of the final stanza but never got closer.
The Fabulous Falcons get their shot Wednesday night at Woburn, and they’ll have to play similar to the Prep: hitting their share of treys, contesting every Brighton shot, attacking the boards, and simply put, playing their best game of the year.