The Scarlet Hawks of Milford changed leagues and didn't play any of the 10 other teams that qualified...and it worked.
Milford snapped St. John's five-year winning streak and became the first public school to win the Central since 2005 with a 56-54 win over St. John's Shrewsbury.
From ESPNBoston High School's Chris Bradley:
It took 15 years, but Steve Manguso has brought another Central Mass. championship home to Milford, in what may be the veteran head-man’s best coaching job yet.
The Hawks (20-5), who saw a balanced scoring effort from David Mercier (15 points), Scott Vanbuskirk (11 points), and Mike Tracy (12 points, 10 rebounds), ended the St. John’s (16-7) dynasty that has won five consecutive district title -— winning 56-54 before a packed house at Worcester Polytechnic Institute's Harrington Auditorium on Sunday afternoon.
From the perspective of opposing Central Mass. teams, little was known about Milford going into the tournament. The Hawks made the transition this year from Mid Wach A into the Hockomock League, giving them few games in the Worcester area and few opportunities to be seen. The mystery and mystique played to their advantage.
It wasn't exactly a smooth finish for Milford, who were up 51-45 in the fourth quarter and saw their six point lead turn to just one but David Mercier scored the games next four points.
From HockomockSports.com's Ryan Lanigan:
St. John’s answered with a quick layup to get within three, and after Mercier missed the front end of a one-and-one, St. John’s Davon Jones’ quick layup brought St. John’s within one at 55-54. Titlebaum was fouled with just over eight seconds left. He made the first free throw but missed the second. Jones ended up with the ball and darted up the court. As he cut to the basket, he tossed up a shot as he fell, and as the rebound came down, the buzzer sounded, giving Milford a 56-54 win.
“It means so much,” Mercier said. “We knew they were coming in with all the pressure. We were a little public school that came in and beat St. John’s.”
Mike Titlebaum, who is one of eight seniors on Milford, agreed with his teammate Mercier.
“It’s unbelievable, it’s a surreal feeling,” Titlebaum said. “We worked forever to get to this point. We got here and we’ve accomplished our goal, it’s the best feeling in the world.”
Before the Scarlet Hawks even reached the finals, they had to muscle up one of the best comebacks from the entire basketball season. Milford was down 18 points in the third quarter, but an incredible effort from point guard Joe Atkinson helped guide the Scarlet Hawks back into it and into the D1 Central Finals.
From ESPNBoston High School's Brendan Hall:
Joe Atkinson greeted reporters with a look that was one part ecstatic, one part exhausted.
"I'm dead," the Milford senior laughed. "I hurt my ankle [in the third quarter], but I can't even feel it right now. All adrenaline."
When you're down 18 with the season on the line, before a sweeling crowd in a cauldron like the Harrington Auditorium on the campus of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, you tend to go beyond the threshold. Atkinson understood as much, and was just about drained as he went up to contest a three-point attempt by Wachusett's Zack Berman with 44 seconds to go.
Atkinson (11 points) got all ball, and then put in the breakaway layup, for a 45-41 lead. The Scarlet Hawks held on 46-44 to move on to next Sunday's Division 1 Central Final, against St. John's of Shrewsbury, but boy was the outcome hanging by a thread.
"I went crazy. I just knew they were going to shoot it because they had two big men out, so I just went for it," Atkinson said of the block. "After that block, I just got a rush. I felt amazing, it was awesome."
Said Milford head coach Steve Manguso, "Atkinson was unbelievable. That block he made on Berman, making steal after steal, it was an incredible performance."
Milford went on to play Putnam in the D1 State Semifinals, but the Scarlet Hawks fell to the eventual state champions, 52-39.
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