Xavier McKenzie was superb again and Jermaine Wiggins Jr. had the (basketball) game of his career as Central Catholic defeated Lowell, 76-67, to punch its ticket to the MVC Division 1 Cup final.
The Raiders will play Andover Friday at 7 p.m. at Tewksbury.
McKenzie had 26 while Wiggins set a career high with 13 to go with 11 boards. The Raiders also got big contributions from Nate Godin (12 points), Marcus Rivera (11 points) and Jeff Goguen (9 points). Jaceb McKenzie had 29 and 10 rebounds in the loss.
Coach Mark Dunham said, "Xavier was awesome. He controlled the game. He was special."
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Boys Basketball, 02/16/21 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Nate Godin was fouled taking a 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left and made 2 of 3 to give Central Catholic the 52-51 win over Lowell. CCHS outscored Lowell 26-16 in the fourth to pull it out. Xavier McKenzie 19 points and Godin 12 in the win.
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Boys Basketball, 02/12/21 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
LAWRENCE – When a late scheduling change brought them
home for the first time this season, the Central Catholic Raiders apparently needed
time to adjust to the friendly confines.
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Boys Basketball, 02/05/21 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Central was down 7 with about 2 minutes left but beat Haverhill, 48-46, on a Marcus Rivera 3-pointer at the buzzer.
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Boys Basketball, 02/04/21 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Central led by just 3 at the half but it was too much Xavier McKenzie (22 points) and freshman Joey Hart (20 points) in a 68-57 win over North Andover. Jake Wolinski (20, 6 3's) and frosh Zach Wolinski combined for 35 points and nine trifectas for the Knights.
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Boys Basketball, 01/20/21 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Central Catholic's boys won their first game of the season, 67-47 over North Andover. Xavier McKenzie led the way with 19 points while Nate Godin added 15 and freshman Joey Hart chipped in with 14.
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Boys Basketball, 01/18/21 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Andover beat Central for the second time this week, 61-54. Aidan Cammann led with 19 and Logan Satlow had 12. Central's Xavier McKenzie lit it up for 28 points.
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Boys Basketball, 01/15/21 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
ANDOVER — The Central Catholic boys basketball team opened its COVID-19-shortened season Tuesday knowing it would be facing one of the best junior big men in the state in 6-foot-9 Aidan Cammann.
By the middle of the fourth quarter, it was another, much less heralded Andover junior giant in 6-foot-6 Logan Satlow, who stole the show here at Dunn Gymnasium on opening night in the Merrimack Valley Conference.
Satlow led all scorers with 18 points, nine in the fourth quarter, to open this season a month later than normal with a 60-57 win.
Central took its first lead since early in the first quarter, at the third quarter buzzer, 41-40, on a 3-pointer by captain Nate Godin.
Andover’s sophomore guard Ryan McLellan scored on a quick jumper 10 seconds into the fourth quarter before Satlow scored six straight points, leading to a 50-44 lead which Central couldn’t crack.
Satlow also had 12 rebounds.
“I love playing Central. Love it,” said Satlow. “I was on the bench last year. I didn’t play much. I wasn’t very good. I was really looking forward to this year and to open with Central was the best news. The rivalry is great. I couldn’t sleep last night.”
While the deficit never was in double figures, Central would get close, but not close enough according to new coach Mark Dunham.
“It seemed we were chasing them the entire game,” said Dunham. “But then we get that lead at the end of the third quarter and they get it right back ... and we’re chasing again. The tough part is we had a lot of open shots that we missed. We had our chances.”
Andover’s Cammann (14 points, 7 rebounds) did do some damage, scoring seven of his team’s first 14 points. He left the game early due to foul trouble. It hounded him the entire game, never getting in a rhythm.
“Let me make this clear: Aidan is the best player in the state,” said Satlow. “I face him every day in practice and he destroys me. I can’t stop him.”
But opening night was Satlow’s day.
“He’s a worker and didn’t surprise me at all,” said Andover coach David Fazio. “It wasn’t our best game. I think we have to get tougher. But Central is scary, like they always are. We played well when we had to.”
Central was led by Xavier McKenzie (14 points) and Isaac Bonilla (16), both promising juniors.
The teams will meet again on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. at Andover High as all of Central’s games will be played on the road due to COVID-19 issues in Lawrence. That game will also be live-streamed on Youtube.
Andover 60, Central Catholic 57
At Dunn Gymnasium, Andover
CENTRAL CATHOLIC (57):
McKenzie 6-2-16, Hart 3-0-6, Rivera 3-0-6, Godin 3-0-8, Wiggins 3-1-7, Bonilla 5-0-15, Totals 23-3-57
ANDOVER (60):
MacLellan 4-1-9, Poirier 3-1-8, Aruri 4-0-9, Moses 1-0-2, Satlow 7-3-18, Cammann 5-4-14, Cloutier 0, Briggs 0, Shatanian 0, Totals 24-9-60
Andover (1-0): 17-15-8-20—70
Central (0-1): 13-14-14-16—57
3 pointers: AND — Poirier, Aruri, Satlow; CCHS — McKenzie 2, Godin 2, Bonilla 4
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Boys Basketball, 01/12/21 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
