State title eludes seniors.

• Position: SPORTS

Byline: Craig Holt

WORCESTER - Though the seniors on the Holy Name boys' basketball team may not have gone out with a bang in yesterday's state Division 1 final against undefeated B.C. High, they made plenty of noise going down.

The experience-laden Naps, beaten in the state final a year ago, started an all-senior lineup headlined by 1,000-point scorers Michael Baldarelli, Dominique Price and Ryan Brown. Forward Nick Haag and center Emil Igwenagu rounded out the starting five.

Haag was playing in place of injured point guard Dan Onorato, also a senior. The first player off the bench yesterday was senior guard Drew Rolfe, who has plenty of playing experience, seeing serious court time last season when Onorato went down with an injury.

The other seniors on the Naps' roster are center Craig Bellemare and guard T. J. Henrickson.

"My senior year would have been perfect if we had won, but we came up a little bit short," Baldarelli said. "You just have to congratulate B.C. High for a great effort in this game. It was a battle - they just came out on top."

Baldarelli and the other Holy Name seniors, particularly the ones who were in the game, were physically drained afterward. Baldarelli and Price each hit the floor, writhing in emotional agony, made worse by the fact that the Naps once held a 10-point lead. Baldarelli and his teammates also realized that a special four-year run was over.

"It's tough as we've been playing together for a long time and we're all great friends. This is the best team I've ever played on," Baldarelli said. "All these kids are like brothers to me. We all just come together out there. We made up for a lack of size this year (as opposed to last year) with a lot of heart."

The 6-foot-4 Baldarelli will be attending Assumption College next year, where he plans to play basketball and perhaps study business.

The 6-2 Haag, also the starting quarterback on Holy Name's Division 2 Super Bowl champion football team, played solidly from the start.

"My role in this game was to come out and give the team great energy, hit the boards, and play as hard as...