BRAINTREE – The BABC Holiday Showcase is always a spectacle. It draws the top basketball talent in the country to the Boston area, and has done so for 29 years.
This winter, Archbishop Williams High School hosted the event for a third straight season, and the Bishops were looking to defend their home court.
They succeeded and put themselves on the map in doing so. Jadon Beatty and Jack Olinto dropped 18 points apiece in Saturday’s opener, while Bobby Louis added 16 points himself as Archbishop Williams cruised to an 93-70 drubbing of Latin Academy.
“I think we’ve got eight guys who have played their role completely well to start the season,” said Archbishop Williams coach Brian Holden. “I don’t think we’ve had any kid that’s not playing well. We do have three guys, I mean Bobby Louis came out and played really good on offense today – one of our leading scorers last year. Jack is obviously one of our leading returning scorers. Then, Jadon brings another dimension to our scoring … I think with those three guys on offense together, it makes it really hard to guard us.”
Both teams struggled to find their footing offensively in the game’s early minutes. Then, Beatty caught fire. The rising sophomore guard racked up 10 points in the opening frame, helping the Bishops (3-0) construct a 25-15 lead through one quarter.
Once the second began, Archbishop Williams embarked on a 15-2 scoring run to push the lead to 23 at 40-17.
“It was a good win today,” Beatty said. “But it’s over with. Now, we’ve got to worry about the next game tomorrow.”
RJ Jimenez paced Latin Academy with 24 points. Will Olinto added an 18-point performance, as he and his brother traded buckets throughout the game. This time, Jack and his teammates at Archbishop Williams had the upper hand.
“There was a little bit of a rivalry there,” said Olinto with a chuckle. “But at the end of the day, he’s my brother and I love him. There was a little bit of trash-talk, but I’m glad it’s over with. Now, we can focus on the next one.”
Later, Brookline entered looking to make a statement of its own, facing off with one of the top teams in the New England region. Thanks to Caleb Haynes, the Warriors did just that. The junior registered a double-double, erupting for 38 points while dishing out 10 assists. He added seven steals, as Brookline pulled away for a decisive 87-56 romp of Portsmouth (N.H).
“(The key) was to just stay focused and stay physical on defense,” said Haynes. “Then, to just always push in transition. I think that helped us succeed in the game today.”
In the initial stages of the contest, the Warriors (3-2) struggled to try and contain top collegiate recruits such as Portsmouth sophomore Derek Swartz. The score remain tied at 17-all through one frame. Then Brookline started to heat up, as they built a 34-29 advantage at intermission. By that stage, Haynes was already enjoying a monster game with 19 points.
The Warriors found a new gear in the second half, taking things over in impressive fashion. Suddenly, every single shot was falling. Following a Brookline steal, Haynes sprinted up the court and finished a layup in transition as the final seconds bled off the clock in the third quarter. Then, he swiped away the ball during the ensuing inbound, and sank another shot to beat the buzzer as the Warriors built a commanding 71-40 edge. When the dust settled, Brookline ended up out-scoring Portsmouth, 53-27, in the latter two quarters.
Throughout his tenure at Tech Boston, longtime coach Johnny Williams attempted to establish a high-tempo offense that could run teams out of the gym. Now in his fourth year with Brookline, he is seeing his culture beginning to set in.
“This says we can play with anyone when we’re locked in,” said Williams. “Sometimes our biggest Achilles heel is when we’re not focused. They don’t believe what I see. I think today was the first time that they said: ‘Wow, Coach is right.’ If we play hard, we defend and we play our sets, (we’re dangerous).”
The BABC is in its 49th year as an organization. Since 1996, it has hosted the Holiday Classic at an array of venues. The event was first held at Chelsea High School, and has made its way to where so much high school basketball history has taken place – Archbishop Williams.
This year, four out-of-state schools joined the showcase. In addition to Portsmouth, two New York-based programs signed up with St. Dominic and Monsignor Scanlan joining, as well as Archbishop Rummel from Louisiana.
Throughout it all, BABC Coach and CEO Leo Papile has seen some of the nation’s best athletes participate.
“High school basketball, for me personally, has historical and sentimental value,” said Papile. “That’s probably one of the reasons we still do this.”
