A dribble-by-dribble tour through BC High basketball's run of perfection

All throughout its pursuit of perfection, BC High stood by itself atop the mountain of elite high school basketball teams in Massachusetts.

After the Eagles clinched the Division 1 state title Sunday night with a 71-59 win over No. 2 Newton North and became the state's first boys basketball team since Cambridge Rindge & Latin in 2017 to finish undefeated, senior guard Mike Loughnane was honest.

Even he didn't anticipate this level of success coming.

“I didn't expect to go undefeated. It rarely happens, it’s tough to do. When you get around 8-9 wins, people start thinking about it and you know you’re going to get every team’s best shot," Loughnane, who lives in Quincy, said. "And it’s not something we were worried about, we didn’t really care. We were just worried about winning the last game, and we were able to do that and we happened to win the other ones.”

BC High last went undefeated in 2007; 15 years later, the Eagles did it again in 2022. Each game of the 25-0 run was filled with statement moments (and flashy highlights, of course) that benchmarked each stride of the historic season.

Here are the top five highlights:

1. A '1-through-14 team' effort in state title game

The coach/star player duo of Bill and Mike Loughnane grab a lot of the headlines, and deservedly so.

But what shined in key spots during Sunday's title win over Newton North at Tsongas Center in Lowell was the surrounding cast. Seniors Greg Cooper, Will Doyle and Mahari Guerrier could each soak up more of the spotlight on other teams. However, united on Bill Loughnane's front line, they form an All-Star lineup to support Loughnane's scoring efforts in more ways than one.

Cooper, a shifty swingman who was often found above the rim on the receiving end of a Loughnane alley-oop pass, scored 14 points in the title win. Doyle jammed a pair of dunks home to make up his 4 points, while adding an imposing defensive presence. Guerrier, who combines Cooper's aggression in the open floor with Doyle's stout defensive play, makes for a strong two-way player. He netted 12 on Sunday.

“Greg and Mahari were unbelievable offensively this year. They both shot efficiently and hit big shots throughout the whole season," Mike Loughnane said. "Defensively, I think the four guys I started with were as good defenders as you’ll find anywhere. I may have led the team in scoring, but this was a 1-through-14 team. This was such a talented team all the way through.”

BC High also felt the presence of sixth man Connor Strickland, who came off the bench and made an immediate impact on Sunday with 7 first-half points as the Eagles took a 35-17 lead into intermission.

Ryan Dear scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter, including a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key on a pass from Strickland to give BC High a commanding 15-point lead with five minutes to play.

“When you go home tonight, you’re lying in bed, you’re looking up and you’re going to smile," Bill Loughnane said of winning the crown. "And when you wake up in the morning, again, you’re going to have another smile."

2. Comeback vs. Springfield Central

BC High wasn't on the ropes much in this year's tournament (let alone throughout the season) but a double-digit deficit against No. 4 Springfield Central at Worcester State University in the Final Four was quite the tall test.

The Eagles trailed 25-13 at the end of the first quarter and suffered offensive woes throughout the first half. Fast-forward to trailing 55-48 with approximately two minutes to play, the Loughnane-Cooper-Guerrier trio stepped in and took command.

Cooper knocked down a corner 3-pointer right in front of the Eagles' student section to nearly saw the deficit in half (55-51) and avenge one of two momentum-swinging threes from Springfield Central on prior possessions. A Loughnane layup trimmed the hole to just two with 1:48 remaining, and a pivotal steal from Guerrier led to a high-arcing 3-pointer from Loughnane that handed BC High a 56-55 lead with 1:30 left.

“I thought Mahari and Greg started to play like we know they can play and they stepped up big," Bill Loughnane said after the win. "We needed some more options and they did a great job stepping up in that last period.”

“We knew they would push us," Mike Loughnane said of Springfield Central. "They’re winners, they’re high-level athletes. We knew they wouldn’t come in and fold. I think they won three straight football championships, so there was no doubt coming in that they’d be able to hang with us. We just had to stay true to us. We came in believing they’re a great team, but we think we’re a little bit better.”

3. Bill Loughnane's 500th career win

With a 71-57 victory over Central Catholic on Feb. 17, Bill Loughnane became one of 24 coaches in the state to pile 500 career victories, according to the Massachusetts Basketball Coaches Association.

He won 237 games during his 19-year tenure leading South Boston High, where he claimed three of his five state championships. Loughnane, who is undefeated in his five state title games, admits the recipe to his teams' success isn't hard to spot.

“There is (a recipe)," he said after clinching No. 500. "Talent – it’s all about talent. My job is to not screw them up, to be honest. Let them play, let them do the best they can and let them show some stuff, and these guys do a nice job of that.”

Mike Loughnane, Bill's youngest son, put his signature on the win with 28 points, and Cooper (16 points), Guerrier (14 points) and Strickland (8 points) each made their mark as well.

“I’ve been able to see a lot of them and to see one of the most important ones, it’s pretty cool," Mike Loughnane said of his father's wins. "I’m proud of him. It’s awesome.”

4. Mike Loughnane's 1,000th point

Early in a 72-53 road victory over Xaverian on Jan.11, a game in which Mike Loughnane finished with 23 points, the senior guard added his name to BC High's list of 1,000-point scorers.

He reached the milestone on a floater in the first quarter, and like the prolific scorer he is, Loughnane didn't fall victim any potential pre-game nerves.

“Once it started, I wasn’t really thinking about it, so I settled down, but before the game, I thought about it a lot," Mike Loughnane said at practice the next day. "I knew it would come early, which I was happy about.”

He became the fourth player in school history to reach 1,000, joining his brother Jack, and a pair of high-volume scorers on the current Rice University men's team – Carl Pierre and Travis Evee. Bill Loughnane coached them all.

“As a father, I’m very happy for their accomplishments. As a coach, all these guys who got their 1,000 points helped us win a lot of games, which was nice,” Bill Loughnane said in January.

“It’s definitely cool. I got to see Jack do it, and Carl and Travis. I got to see them do it from when they were freshmen all the way to seniors," Mike Loughnane added. "It was cool to see their journeys doing it and then try to replicate it. When I was watching them, I always thought about, ‘Huh, I wonder if I could be like them?’”

5. Guerrier's season-opening buzzer-beater

A team can't finish undefeated if it starts the season 0-1.

In the first game of the year, the Eagles traveled to Brockton High for a battle between two Division 1 heavyweights. The game did not disappoint.

Guerrier was planted under the net, in perfect position to rebound a missed shot from Loughnane, and flipped up the game-winning basket as time expired for BC High to escape with a 73-71 overtime victory.

“I’m too old for this,” BC High coach Bill Loughnane joked after the game.

Guerrier finished with 14 in the win.

BC High had led by double-digits for most of the night before the Boxers rallied to force OT. In the end, Loughnane (33 points), Cooper (23 points) and Doyle (16 rebounds, 8 blocks) proved to be too much for Brockton, which ended up being the No. 26 seed in the tournament and survived two close games (one was an upset over No. 7 Lexington) before being ousted in the Sweet 16 by No. 10 Needham.

That was the win that got the season to remember rolling.

“It’s unbelievable. It almost feels too good to be true to go undefeated and win it," said Mike Loughnane after winning the state title. "My last year (playing for) my dad and this special team, it’s hard to believe it really happened.”