NORTH ANDOVER — Eleven days away from meaningful basketball troubled Beverly High boys coach Matt Karakoudas before Saturday’s Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic opener against St. John’s Prep.
But senior captain Jacob Klass and the boys had his back.
Klass scored 25 points and the top-seeded Panthers dispatched the eighth seeded Eagles, 77-40, at Merrimack College’s Hammel Court.
Sunday evening at 6 p.m., Beverly will now tangle with Andover (which defeated North Andover in its CMCC opener Saturday, 80-65) for the right to play in the Panthers’ first CMCC final since 2022.
“I was happy the way we started. You never know with high school kids. We had a long break. We’ve only had two games, and had 11 days coming into this one,” said Karakoudas, whose 3-0 club had last beaten Marblehead on Dec. 16. “The kids came out, responded right away, and then at halftime they made another big run and kind of solidified and put it away.”
Depth was huge for the Orange-and-Black, not just in wearing down the Prep but in getting the Panthers ready.
Beverly is deep enough to really get after it in practice, and that helped keep the Panthers sharp.
“I love this team. It’s a really good group of guys. We play like 10 guys, and I think everybody 1-through-10 can give us something,” said Karakoudas. “We played the bench a lot more in the second half and we were increasing the lead, and they were still with their starters.”
Eli Landman and Domenic Panniello added 13 points apiece for Beverly, which led 37-24 at the break and 58-31 after three quarters.
Sophomore Marcus Magloire had 16 points to lead the Prep, which heads to Sunday’s consolation round against North Andover with a 1-3 mark.