MIAA Boys Basketball State Championships: It's No. 1 for Franklin, Norwell; Somerset Berkley, Georgetown, Pioneer Valley End Long Waits

The 2025 MIAA Boys Basketball State Championships were played March 14-16 at Tsongas Center in Lowell. Among the five state champions crowned over the three days of games: Two were first time winners, one school returned to the top for the first time since the turn of the century, and two more brought championships to their towns for the first time since the 1950s.

Here is a recap of the action:

Division 1

Senior Caden Sullivan scored 31 points and No. 1 seed Franklin High School broke through for the first championship in program history, holding off No. 3 seed Newton North High School, 55-52.

Sullivan’s two free throws gave the Panthers (26-1) the three-point margin with 6 seconds to go, and a last-second 3-point attempt by the Tigers to tie the game hit the rim and bounced away. Sullivan became the 40th boys player all time, and the second from the 2025 Championship weekend, to score at least 30 points in a state final.

After a 17-17 first quarter, Franklin held narrow leads of 28-25 at the half and 42-37 after three quarters. From there, the Panthers were able to close out the first state title after falling short in 2024 against North High School (59-53), as well as back-to-back appearances in 2017 and 2018.

Senior Jake Olmstead added 11 points in the win for the Panthers.

A pair of senior captains, Teagan Swint (24 points) and Nicholas Spinelli (12 points), sparked the Tigers, who were going for their first title since back-to-back victories in 2005-06. Newton North also reached the state final in 2022, falling to Boston College High School.

_{FRANKLIN 55, NEWTON NORTH 52}

_{FRANKLIN (26-1) — Caden Sullivan 11-8-31; Joe Conlan 2-0-4; Wyatt Herndon 1-0-3; Justice Samuels 2-2-6; Jake Olmstead 3-5-11. Totals: 19-15-55.
NEWTON NORTH (24-2) — Jake Lyons 2-0-5; Julian Zakak 0-2-2; Nicholas Spinelli 4-2-12; Teagan Swint 8-6-24; Mathaios Stamm 3-0-7; Bryson Mercedes 1-0-2. Totals: 18-10-52.
3-pointers: Franklin – Sullivan, Herndon; Newton North – Spinelli 2, Swint 2, Lyons, Stamm.}

Division 2

Junior Dom Taylor led four players in double figures with 17 points, and No. 6 seed Somerset Berkley Regional won the program’s first state championship in more than 70 years with a decisive 65-44 victory over No. 1 seed Malden Catholic High School.

The championship was the first in the MIAA era for the Raiders, whose previous two titles came in 1948 and 1954 when the school was known as Somerset.

Junior Colten Pacheco added 14 points for Somerset Berkley, senior captain Brendan McDonald chipped in 12 points and senior captain Finn Bjork had 11. Somerset Berkley jumped out to a 14-6 lead after the first quarter and never looked back, pushing the advantage to 32-18 at halftime and 54-31 after three quarters.

Malden Catholic was denied becoming just the second boys basketball program to win four consecutive state championships (Charlestown 2000-03). Junior Aboubakar Nimaka was the top scorer for the Lancers with 14 points.

_{SOMERSET BERKLEY 65, MALDEN CATHOLIC 44}

_{MALDEN CATHOLIC (22-2) — Matt Gaffney 2-3-7; Colin Mannke 2-0-5; Ben Howard 1-2-4; Abraham Camara 3-0-6; Aboubakar Nimaka 7-0-14; Mamadou Camara 3-0-6; Jeremiah Figaro 1-0-2. Totals: 19-5-44.
SOMERSET BERKLEY (24-1) — Max Finlaw 3-1-9; Colten Pacheco 6-0-14; Dom Taylor 7-0-17; Brendan McDonald 5-1-12; Finn Bjork 5-1-11; Kaven dos Santos 1-0-2. Totals 27-3-65.
3-pointers: Malden Catholic – Mannke; Somerset Berkley – Taylor 3, Finlaw 2, Pacheco 2, McDonald.}
 

Division 3

Senior Ronan Coffey hit the game-tying 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds left in regulation, then scored 8 of his game-high 30 points in overtime as No. 2 seed Norwell High School completed a perfect season by stunning No. 20 Old Rochester Regional, 64-61.

In winning their first state championship in program history, the Clippers (25-0) set up the winning play out of a timeout. Sophomore Charlie Williams grabbed the rebound of a missed 3-pointer and quickly found Coffey, who nailed the 3-pointer from the top left of the key to tie the game at 54.

Coffey then hit 6 free throws in the extra four minutes, and Norwell survived a late 3-point attempt by the Bulldogs.

Norwell held a narrow lead much of the way before Old Rochester grabbed a late lead behind the play of senior Gavin Martin, who scored 10 of his team-high 27 points in the fourth quarter.

Senior Nick Adams had 14 points and sophomore Jack Luccarelli 10 points for Norwell, which was making its first state final appearance.
Sophomore Grady Oliveira added 14 points and sophomore Hunter Horsey 10 for Old Rochester (15-10), which also fell short against Charlestown in the 2024 championship game.

_{NORWELL 64, OLD ROCHESTER 61}

_{NORWELL (25-0) – Oliver Rice 1-0-2; Ronan Coffey 8-8-30; Nick Adams 6-2-14; Will Bostrom 1-0-2; Nick Fein 2-0-6; Jack Luccarelli 4-2-10. Totals 22-12-64.
OLD ROCHESTER (15-10) – Noah Thorell 1-2-4; Grady Oliveira 5-2-14; Brody Hiles 1-0-2; Henry Berry 2-0-4; Gavin Martin 10-5-27; Hunter Horsey 4-1-10. Totals: 23-10-61
3-pointers: Norwell – Coffey 6, Fein 2; Old Rochester – Oliveira 2; Martin 2; Horsey.}

Division 4

Junior Irvin Zapata scored 22 points and junior Brendan Loewen added 19 as No. 6 seed Georgetown High School pulled away late to beat No. 5 seed Monument Mountain Regional, 61-54.

The championship was the first in history for Georgetown High School. The town had previously played in the 1955 state final when it was Perley Free School.

After a 20-20 first quarter, the Royals (19-6) jumped out to a 39-26 halftime lead behind Zapata, who hit four of his six first-half 3-pointers in the second quarter.

The Spartans (22-3) used a big third quarter close the gap to 49-47, and even briefly took the lead in the fourth quarter. But they were denied in the school’s first trip to a state final as Loewen scored nine of his points in the final eight minutes.

Senior Manny Brown (18 points) led three Monument Mountain players in double figures. Junior Dom Caulutti added 11 points and senior Griffin McElroy 10.

_{GEORGETOWN 61, MONUMENT MOUNTAIN 54}

_{MONUMENT MOUNTAIN (22-3) – Manny Brown 8-1-18; Isaiah Keefner 3-3-9; Finn Wheeler 2-1-6; Don Caulutti 5-1-11; Griffin McElroy 1-8-10. Totals: 19-14-54.}

_{GEORGETOWN (19-6) – Brendan Loewen 6-7-19; Jomar Terrero 2-0-4; Irwin Zapata 7-1-22; Marcos Yones 4-2-12; Tony Tavarez 1-2-4. Totals: 20-12-61.}

_{3-pointers: Monument Mountain – Brown, Wheeler; Georgetown – Zapata 7, Yones 2.}

Division 5

Senior Brayden Thayer hit 6 of Pioneer Valley Regional School’s 10 3-pointers, and the No. 1 seed Panthers completed their perfect season with a 49-28 victory over No. 2 seed Hopedale High School.

Thayer did all of his damage in the first three quarters as the Panthers (25-0) erased an 11-10 deficit after one, outscoring the Blue Raiders 15-2 in the second quarter. Pioneer Valley led 42-20 after three quarters and cruised from there, holding its fifth consecutive tournament opponent to fewer than 30 points.

Senior Alex McClelland added 13 points, including three 3-pointers, for Pioneer Valley. It was the third state championship in four tries for the school, which was in a state final for the first time since three consecutive trips from 1996-98.

Senior Patrick Madden had 13 points to lead Hopedale (22-3), which last played in a state championship game in 2000. The Blue Raiders were a co-state champion (with Abington) in 2020 when the state finals were canceled because of COVID.

_{PIONEER VALLEY 49, HOPEDALE 28}

_{PIONEER VALLEY (25-0) – Kurt Redeker 2-1-5; Brayden Thayer 10-0-26; Judah Glenn 1-0-2; Alex McClelland 5-0-13; Will Glazier 1-0-3. Totals 19-1-49.
HOPEDALE (22-3) – JJ Douglas 2-0-6; Patrick Madden 4-4-13; Keigan Murphy 1-0-3; Nate Rutkowski 0-1-1; Robbie Manning 2-0-5. Totals 9-5-28.
3-pointers: Pioneer Valley – Thayer 6, McClelland 3, Glazier; Hopedale – Douglas 2, Madden, Murphy, Manning.}