What to know about local trio of high school teams playing for MIAA titles
State finals weekend is upon us, ending a four-month seasonal odyssey as well as a four-year journey for some involved. After working their way through their respective bracket, three teams from the area have made it this far.
We will start with the Hopkinton boys hockey team facing Canton in the Division 2 state final at TD Garden at 11 a.m. Just an hour later at noon, about 30 miles north at Lowell’s Tsongas Center, the Millis girls basketball team will be tipping off with Springfield International Charter School for the Division 5 state championship. Long after that action has wrapped up, the Shrewsbury girls hockey co-op, which includes several Westborough High contributors, has a scheduled 7:30 p.m. puck drop at TD Garden against St. Mary’s (Lynn) for the Division 1 state title.
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Tickets to Sunday’s hockey games are $14.50 each (plus a $1.45 processing fee) and will be available for purchase through the TD Garden box office via TicketMaster. One ticket is valid for all six games, but re-entry into TD Garden is not permitted without an additional ticket.
For Sunday’s basketball games, tickets are $16 apiece and are valid for all games that day at Tsongas Center. Similar to the Garden, if you leave and return you will need a new ticket.
All six state hockey championship games also will be streamed live on the NFHS Network.
Here is what else you need to know entering Sunday’s festivities:
Division 2 boys hockey final
No. 8 Hopkinton (20-4) vs. No. 3 Canton (21-4), TD Garden, 11 a.m.
How they got here: Hopkinton: defeated No. 25 North Attleborough, 9-0; No. 9 Westwood, 6-3; No. 17 Norwood, 5-3; No. 4 Walpole, 5-1.
Canton: defeated No. 30 Medford, 3-0; No. 19 Wilmington, 4-0; No. 6 Newburyport, 2-0; No. 2 Duxbury, 3-1
The lowdown: The Hillers are making their first trip to the Garden in four years, when they went as a Division 3 outfit. That St. Patrick’s Day, with a similar 11 a.m. start, then-coach Chris MacPherson’s Hopkinton squad dropped a tough 3-2 decision vs. Wachusett. A fifth-grader at the time, MacPherson’s son, Cam, is a freshman on these Hillers. He is the team’s second-leading scorer with 12 goals and 25 assists (37 points).
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The leading scorer is someone whose name has been hard to escape this winter, Pavit Mehra. After choosing to forego junior hockey this winter to play for his hometown team, Mehra has been arguably the most consistent force in Massachusetts high school hockey, with 39 goals (including 7 in the postseason). To reach the Garden for second-year coach Scott Hayes’ team, Mehra potted four goals in less than 11 minutes as Hopkinton rolled in a 5-1 semifinal thrashing of No. 4 Walpole at Framingham’s Loring Arena.
“It’s incredible for the program,” Hayes told the Daily News after the game. “It shows consistency, and it shows that the boys can compete with anybody in the state. That’s our goal every year and it’s amazing to be here right now knowing that we have a chance to go play at the Garden.”
For Canton, meanwhile, trips to Causeway Street are becoming old hat. It is the fourth straight time the Bulldogs have earned an invitation to the Garden. In 2019, the Bulldogs beat Tewksbury, 6-2, to claim the title and complete a 25-0-1 campaign. They shared the 2020 title with Lincoln-Sudbury when COVID-19 forced all state finals to be canceled. And after no 2021 tournament, Canton returned in 2022, falling in the title game to Tewksbury, 3-1.
Canton's girls team is also vying for a championship, facing Duxbury at 9 a.m.
For Canton's boys, goalie Colin Davis has been dynamite, as evidenced by one goal allowed in the entire postseason. Also, forward AJ Thomas scored two third-period goals to lift the Bulldogs to a 3-1 win over Duxbury in the Div. 2 state semifinals.
Division 5 girls basketball final
No. 1 Millis (16-8) vs. No. 2 Springfield International Charter (20-4)
How they got here: Millis: defeated No. 32 Pioneer Valley, 79-40; No. 17 Franklin County Tech, 67-38; No. 8 Palmer, 50-41; No. 4 Hoosac Valley, 57-47
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Springfield International: defeated No. 31 Whitinsville Christian, 53-36; No. 18 Hopedale, 70-38; No. 7 West Boylston, 59-41; No. 3 Sutton, 48-39
The lowdown: The top two seeds in a deep bracket have lived up to their billing, winning their eight tournament games by a combined 163 points (an average margin of 20.4 points a game). The arena by the UMass Lowell campus will play host to two teams eager to bring home the hardware. Springfield International reached the state semifinals a year ago, only to lose a 58-56 thriller to Bri Frongillo-led eventual champion Hopedale. Leading the Western Mass. powerhouse is junior center Alicia Mitchell, who already has scored 1,327 career points and has averaged 21 points in SIC’s postseason wins.
For Millis, it was sophomore Lindsay Grattan who stole the show most recently, scoring 20 points that included 10 straight fourth-quarter free throws in the state semifinal win over Hoosac Valley in Springfield. Grattan was in third grade the last time Millis reached the state final, in 2016.
Senior Mia Molinari, meanwhile, is the straw that stirs the drink. The senior scored 13 points in the semifinal win and will be headed to play at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York. Junior Hailey Bassett scored 12 points in the win over Hoosac Valley.
In 2009, Millis won its first state championship under coach Dave Fallon before taking back-to-back state titles in 2014 and 2015. A year later, the Mohawks lost a state final to Cathedral.
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A chance at hanging a banner in the school gym means something to Molinari and the team.
“Before every practice we look up there, our eyes are constantly up there,” Molinari said after Wednesday’s win. “I mean, we have the Final Four banner coming in and we’re not done yet.”
Division 1 girls hockey final
No. 3 Shrewsbury (20-2-2) vs. No. 1 St. Mary's (Lynn) (25-1), TD Garden, 7:30 p.m.
How they got here: Shrewsbury: defeated No. 30 Old Rochester, 9-0; No. 14 Pope Francis, 2-0; No. 6 Hingham, 3-2 (2 OT); No. 2 Notre Dame (Hingham), 4-3
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St. Mary’s: defeated No. 32 Medford, 6-0; No. 17 Bishop Fenwick, 3-1; No. 8 Peabody, 2-0; No. 13 Billerica, 6-3
The lowdown: St. Mary’s has just one loss this year, and it was a 3-2 overtime decision vs. Archbishop Williams at Canton SportsPlex on Jan. 28. It is the Spartans’ first trip to the Garden since 2013.
A co-op, Shrewsbury has six Westborough High students on the roster – Kealy Fay, Blaire Fay, Sadie Cusson, Sam Kelley, Brianna Sawicki and Emma Mania. To reach the semifinals, Shrewsbury senior Maddie Mrva tied the game late in regulation on the power play and won the game with goal on a great individual effort in the second overtime to propel the third-seeded Colonials to a 3-2 victory over Hingham.
After trailing Notre Dame (Hingham) 2-0 in the state semifinal at Loring Arena, the Colonials got goals from Mia Ryder, Cusson, Rachel Bunsick and Lauren Albertson to clinch the win and advance to the Garden.
“The way they came back and the grit they showed to go down 2-0 against a strong team,” Shrewsbury coach Frank Panarelli told the Patriot Ledger after the game. “We knew our first period wasn’t our best period, but we weathered the storm when they scored two goals against us.”
Tim Whelan Jr. is the sports coordinator for the MetroWest and Milford Daily News and Wicked Local. Tommy Cassell and Tim Dumas of the Daily News sports department contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Trio of local high school teams play for MIAA championships Sunday
