Ask BC High coach Bill Loughnane how many career wins he has, and he will respond with the amount of state championships he has won.
Wednesday night, though, all that mattered was the number 200 as with BC High’s 53-41 victory over Marshfield in the first round of the Division 1 South tournament, Loughnane became the first coach in Massachusetts high school basketball history to win 200 games at two schools.
Loughnane won 237 games and three state championships while coaching at South Boston High School from 1985-2004.
Loughnane said he is simply lucky enough to have coach talented players.
“It is always about the players,” said Loughnane. “I thank them every week for showing up because they do not have to be here. You’re happy you have them and you’re happy they compete to the level that they do.”
Over his 13 years at BC High now possesses a record of 200-84 (.700) to go along with a state championship, two sectional titles, and six Catholic Conference championships.
“It is a privilege to coach here,” said Loughnane. “I thank the players every week for letting letting an old guy come and coach them. I love it, the players seem to love it and that is what counts.”
BC High and Marshfield were even at 11 after one quarter of play, but in the second quarter the Eagles got some breathing room.
Mike Vasil connected a three shots from beyond the arc, and Carl Pierre (22 points) hit a corner three as time expired to send BC High into the break with a 32-20 advantage.
The Eagles asserted themselves in the third quarter.
Pierre scored 12 points, and Troy Salmans added a pair of baskets of his own to push the Eagles lead up to 20 heading into the final stanza.
Marshfield remained composed and used a 2-2-1 full court press combined with a 3-2 zone in the front court to keep the Eagles offense at bay.
At the other end of the floor the Rams received production from Jude Bain and Pat Collins. Four straight points from Bain and four more from Collins (17 points) pulled Marshfield within nine, 50-41.
Pierre and the Eagles, however, were not to be denied as Pierre’s three pointer with under a minute to go put BC High back up 12 and all but sealed the win.
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