LOWELL, Mass. — The celebration started at midcourt, where Brody Bumila and his Bishop Feehan teammates unleashed into an impromptu mosh pit. After a few moments, Bumila pointed to the Feehan student section just off to the side of the court. The big man jumped over a media table and into a sea of green and white. His teammates followed in pursuit.
Chaos ensued as Bumila, all 6-foot-9 of him, stood on top of the wall typically used as a board for hockey games. He kept his balance, overlooking his classmates and fans. For about 10 seconds, he let the moment sink in. He pumped his left fist twice, letting out a few big roars before jumping down to safety.
The legendary, Cinderella run was complete. For the first time in school history, the Bishop Feehan boys basketball team is a Division 1 champion.
Bumila capped his epic state tournament with 36 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks and Jake Webster made key late free throws as the 14th-seeded Shamrocks knocked off top-seeded Central Catholic, 66-63, to win the Division 1 title at the Tsongas Center on Sunday night.
“Unbelievable,” Feehan coach Dean O’Connor said. “I’m in disbelief, honestly.”
Added Bumila: “It means everything. I feel so great. This is one of the best feelings ever.”
Bishop Feehan (18-7) became the lowest seed to win the boys state championship in any division since the adoption of the statewide format in 2022, surpassing Hoosac Valley, which won Division 5 as a No. 8 seed earlier on Sunday. The Shamrocks used a big third quarter to turn a halftime deficit into a lead, and they did enough down the stretch to hold off Central Catholic (22-3) and Javi Lopez’s 30 points.
Here are five takeaways from the MIAA season finale between Feehan and Central.
1. Every Feehan victory has to start with Bumila, who closed one of the most memorable individual runs in state tournament history. After picking up two fouls in the first quarter, Bumila stayed out of foul trouble the rest of the way and imposed his will.
The Shamrocks trailed by four at halftime before Bumila dominated to start the third, scoring five points and recording a block in the first 90 seconds of the period. He later scored a putback before hitting a rare 3-pointer, blowing a kiss to the crowd as Feehan took a seven-point lead. Central Catholic sophomore Elkin Pena did an admirable job against Bumila, but there was only so much he could do. The 6-foot-9 forward’s physicality, athleticism and relentless motor was too much to handle. He can jump higher than anyone, he knows how to get into positioning for rebounds and for entries from his teammates. He’s a cheat code in MIAA basketball.
Bumila finished his five-game tournament run with averages of 40.8 points and 19.8 rebounds per game, including his signature 51-point, 22-rebound effort in the semifinals vs. Andover.
“His will to win is amazing,” O’Connor said. “He wouldn’t let us lose. And it elevated everyone else. Because everyone else started playing with confidence too, (saying) hey we got Brody, we got a shot.”
2. As offensively potent as Bumila, Feehan’s championship was won on defense. O’Connor said that Feehan had started the season thinking they were a zone defense team, but after a 1-2 start, they changed to man to man. They went back to zone for the state final. It worked.
While Central made several 3-pointers early, and Lopez kept the Raiders in it late with three triples in the fourth, they couldn’t make enough shots.
“They’re not a great 3-point shooting team as a group,” O’Connor said. “Obviously Lopez is a great 3-point shooter, but the other guys, we wanted to see if they’d make some shots, and they did early, but as the game gets tightened up in a big arena, it’s tough to make those shots.”
O’Connor credited players like Egan Gill, Phelan Duffy and Kaden Baltazar for embracing their roles. A combination of defense and ball security helped the Shamrocks close this game out. On one key play with under two minutes left, Webster and Lucas McNally combined to deflect and secure a steal.
“Our defense was really the difference,” O’Connor said. “This team really bought into their roles and did a great job with it.
3. For three weeks, the Shamrocks were lion-slayers in one of the most unlikely runs in recent state tournament history. The Shamrocks beat the top three seeds in the Division 1 bracket – including No. 3 Needham in a four overtime epic – and took down another title threat in No. 6 Bridgewater-Raynham in a two-overtime thriller. All of their wins came away from home except their first-round game vs. No. 19 Acton-Boxborough.
Was there a moment during the tournament when Feehan really believed it could go on a Cinderella run?
“You get some momentum, obviously,” O’Connor said. “But you beat the 6-seed, the 3-seed, the 2-seed and the 1-seed. I don’t think anyone had a tougher run than that. … The momentum definitely built as we started to win. We knew that we could do it. We got hot at the right time, but I said all year, our best is pretty damn good. We found a way to play our best in this tournament.”
Bumila said the belief was always there despite entering the tournament as a 14-seed.
“That was the mindset from the first game of the season,” Bumila said. “We always thought we were going to win it.”
4. The question is natural after the run Feehan just went on. How exactly did this team lose seven games this season?
The Shamrocks’ seven defeats came to Division 2 champion St. Mary’s, Division 4 champion Wareham, Archbishop Williams, Mansfield, Xaverian and Attleboro twice, including the season finale. Each of those teams made their respective state tournaments. But Feehan also never got into a full rhythm with players in and out of the lineup, and it took time for them to figure out how to play effectively and consistently with Bumila. They were undoubtedly tested for the tournament.
“We didn’t play this way the whole year,” O’Connor said. “We had a couple guys out. McNally was out for a while, Duffy was out with illnesses. We struggled a little bit because we’re not super deep.”
5. It was a bitter ending for Central – the preseason favorite – and especially for Lopez, who brought his best for the state championship. His 30-point performance, including six 3-pointers and some incredible shotmaking, was title game worthy. But I thought the Central star got a tough whistle throughout the night. He made a few tough takes to the rim that weren’t rewarded despite some contact, and there was a key play in the third quarter when he was called for an offensive foul on a would-be three-point play that swung the momentum.
