SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Ryan Moesch corralled a defensive rebound, crossed over a defender and breezed into the frontcourt. Cushing’s championship victory was in the bag with the score out of reach, but there was still time for one last show in the final seconds.
Moesch raced toward the basket and threw the ball off the backboard to star Theo Edema, who finished a monster alley-oop. The exclamation mark set the celebration off.
“I heard Theo saying ‘upstairs,’ so I threw it,” Moesch said. “I mean, you can’t not throw it to Theo. It was great.”
The mission was complete. At least in recent history, Cushing became the first team to go undefeated through the Class AA boys schedule. The top-seeded Penguins outlasted No. 3 Cheshire, 64-55, on Sunday at Western New England University to capture the Class AA title and finish a perfect 17-0 against AA opponents this season. It’s Cushing’s first NEPSAC championship since 2017.
MORE BOYS CHAMPIONS: Class AAA — Newman beats Hoosac | Class AA — Cushing beats Cheshire | Class A — Hotshkiss beats Phillips Andover | Class B Large — St. Mark's beats Canterbury | Class B Small — Holderness beats Kingswood Oxford
The feat of going unbeaten in class play was not lost on coach James Cormier. Led by Moesch — who won MVP honors after scoring 21 points in the clincher — as well as fellow leaders Edemo and Brady O’Connell, it took a special, connected group to make history.
“We’re everyone’s Super Bowl,” Cormier said. “We play in the NEBL championship, we play in the Boston Garden, we play at IMG, we play in the Jordan Holiday Classic, and those are huge games for us. But a Wednesday night game at whatever is pretty much their biggest game of the year oftentimes, so we have to be ready for everyone’s best shot and scheme. I think that speaks to our resilience and how we’re able to pull this one out.
“It’s pretty impressive to have that consistency.”
Finishing the job against Cheshire was not easy, and Cushing knew that after winning by five over the Cats on the road last month. Cormier didn’t think his group played its best offensively; despite the Penguins’ clear size advantage with Edema, the Cats negated it with strong interior defense. And they never went away. Every time it looked like Cushing would pull away, Cheshire made a shot. The Cats kept lingering around.
Trinity commit John Spinoso hit some big 3s in the second half to keep Cheshire in it. Fellow Trinity commit Justin Brown hit a lefty baseline shot before Aidan Maguire’s ridiculous up and under finish against Edema pulled Cheshire to within four, 55-51, with about two minutes left. It was a credit to Cheshire coach Jim McCarthy, whose group plays smart, unselfish basketball. Cormier — whose team plays national giants like Blair Academy, Newman and Putnam Science on its schedule — said Cheshire is among the best teams they’ve faced in making basketball decisions.
“Cheshire’s brand of basketball is what we try to instill,” Cormier said. “It might be the best on the schedule we had.”
But the Penguins ultimately wore them down in the final stages with its depth and its biggest strength — its defense.
“I think they gave us a great shot and they made a ton of shots, so you know they’re never going to be out of a game,” Cormier said. “But defensively, we locked in and made the stops we needed to, contested at the rim and I think we made it tough, even the 3-point attempts they made.”
Cheshire was led by Maguire’s 16 points, Chase Leonardo’s 14 and Spinoso 12. The Cats finished 21-5 in a breakthrough season under McCarthy, who guided them to their first playoff appearance since 2020.
Moesch, as he typically is, was the difference. He took over in the second half with his signature tough takes to the hoop — including a classic three-point play as he crashed to the court — in addition to causing havoc on the defensive end. He went 6-for-7 from the free-throw line in the second half to help secure the win.
“If he’s not the best player I’ve ever coached, he’s the best performer I’ve ever coached,” Cormier said. “When the lights are the brightest, when the moments are the biggest, he just has a knack for making the right play, the big play.”
