February 23, 2025

Three-peat for Pope Francis boys basketball in WMass Class A   

REGIONAL
By Stephen Kiltonic

The Pope Francis Cardinals celebrate after winning their third consecutive WMass Class A Championship, Saturday, Feb. 22 (IObserve photo/courtesy of Wendy Harrington)

WESTFIELD – For the third consecutive year, the Pope Francis boys basketball team stands alone atop the Western Mass Class A standings after a thrilling 55-48 win over No. 2 Springfield Central High School in a game held at Westfield High School Saturday night, Feb. 22.

Led by junior Sam Bringham’s 22 points, the top-seeded Cardinals started slow as the No. 2 Golden Eagles sprinted to an early 13-12 first quarter lead before Pope Francis rallied for a 25-24 halftime advantage and its first lead of the game with a buzzer-beater by junior Sam Meyfield.  

The Cardinals extended their lead to seven at the end of the third quarter before holding off a fourth quarter charge by Central. Senior Ryan Vedovelli, who earlier this year reached the 1000-point career scoring mark, scored 13 points; Meyfield tallied 8 points and led the team in rebounds; while sophomore Jaxson Edwards chipped in with 7 and junior Jackson Mauer added 5 points.

To reach the championship game, the Cardinals beat Minnechaug, 75-41, in the quarter finals then Putnam, 68-51, in the semifinals.

In last year’s title game, Pope Francis topped Central, 61-59 and two years ago claimed their first WMass Class A crown against West Springfield. This is the third title for Cardinal coach Justin Dalessio.

Pope Francis won’t have much time to celebrate as it starts to prepare for the MIAA Division 2 state tournament which begins this week. The 19-2 Cardinals are ranked No. 3 overall in the division and will play the winner of the Shepherd Hill Regional/Westborough matchup on Friday, February 28, at home in Springfield in the Round of 32.

Pope Francis hopes to improve on last year’s loss to Bedford in the Round of 16.    

A video version of this story will be featured on an upcoming edition of “Real to Reel,” which airs Saturday evenings at 7 p.m. on WWLP-22NEWS.