LOWELL — Malden Catholic has its three-peat.

Matt Gaffney scored a game-high 17 points and dished out four assists to lead No. 1 Malden Catholic to a dominant 65-42 win over No. 7 Sharon and its third consecutive Div. 2 boys basketball state title on Friday night at the Tsongas Center.

The win gives Malden Catholic head coach John Walsh his sixth state championship, with the first three coming at Danvers.

“Early in the year coach was saying this was not our most talented group because we had people before us who were scholarship basketball players, but this was a culture-setting win,” Gaffney said. “This is the MC culture that we love. It’s all the players and coaches who came before us that won this championship.”

Jackson Rava and Ryan Brown hit consecutive three-pointers for Sharon (17-8) to pull it within 11-8 midway through the first quarter but from that point forward the Lancers were relentless.

Malden Catholic (16-9) held the Eagles to just six field goals through the first three quarters, with half of those coming in the first five minutes of the game. For most of the night Sharon was starting its offense well beyond the three-point line, faced hard double teams, and was limited to just one shot attempt.

At the other end, meanwhile, the Lancers separated after taking a 13-8 advantage into the second quarter. Gaffney hit two pull-ups in the lane and splashed a triple around a Drexler Pierre trey to stretch Malden Catholic’s lead to 26-11. Moments later, with the clock winding down, Gaffney finished in traffic to give the Lancers a 37-12 lead at the half.

“We peaked because of Matt (Gaffney),” Walsh said. “He is our MVP and everything to us. He makes us go and he is unguardable at times. He makes everyone better.”

Sharon held Gaffney scoreless in the third quarter but Messiah Johnson scored six of his dozen points. The Lancers held star Eagles guard Jacob McLoughlin scoreless through the first three quarters and did not allow a three-pointer between the second and third quarters to help keep its lead at 29 going into the final stanza.

Sharon High’s Jaden Segal (33) drives into Malden Catholic’s Benjamin Howard during MC’s Div. 2 state title win Friday at the Tsongas Center. (Staff Photo/Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)