RallyNorth.net

Tue, Mar 04, 2008 07:00 PM @ Neutral Location

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Playoff Game Division 4 North - Semi-Finals
Ipswich	7	4	12	13	36
North Cambridge Catholic	14	11	18	16	59

North Cambridge Catholic jumps all over Ipswich

Tuesday, March, 04 By Bill Kipouras
Staff writer

HAVERHILL | Andrew Gianakakis closed out his high school basketball career in memorable fashion last night when the Ipswich High senior had 14 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and buried a 3-pointer.

Still, the 6-foot-1 center looked glum afterwards. And why not?

Gianakakis took no pleasure in performing so well. Not after his Tigers were overwhelmed by North Cambridge Catholic, 59-36, and a Division 3 North semifinal that really wasn't as close as the score might indicate.

"Better if I scored four points, had some boards and we won by three. Then I'd feel good because we would have won," the 18-year-old Gianakakis said. "I did play well, but we didn't show up in the first half so it's hard to feel good about anything."

North Cambridge Catholic (14-9) was too quick, too big and too athletic, using full court pressure to discombobulate Ipswich's offense.

Nobody was more impressed by NCC than Ipswich coach Doug Woodworth.

"I'll be surprised if they don't win it all. I've seen Winthrop a couple of times and they'll have a hard time handling North Cambridge," Woodworth said, looking ahead to the Division 4 North final at Salem State Friday night. (Winthrop beat Lynnfield, 51-38, last night behind 12 points each from Dino Mallios and Michael Visco).

"What can you say?" Aaron Jessen, another Tiger who had a fine game (9 points, 6 rebounds), asked. "I'm not mad about the game; I'm just mad the season's over.

"Nobody picked us to make the tournament. We were 3-7, the crowds were small and most everyone in the Cape Ann League wrote us off. But I really enjoyed playing with these seniors. It didn't turn out to a rebuilding season, did it?"

The team that nobody gave much chance became the school's 34th postseason qualifier and the Tigers' fifth successive playoff team to win two games before falling.

"I'm going to be honest. I didn't expect us to be here (in the North semis)," Woodworth confessed.

This, though, was too big a stage with North Cambridge dictating the tempo, playing extraordinary defense, getting second and third shots at random, and jumping out to a 14-4 first period lead. They held a commanding a 25-11 advantage at the break as Ipswich was held to four points, all by Gianakakis, in the second quarter.

For the game, Ipswich shot 4-for-20 (1 for 7 in treys) in the first half and 12-for-45 (4-for-16 in treys) overall. NCC's pressure defense forced 21 Ipswich turnovers and took Alex Lampropoulos out of the game. The CAL all-star went scoreless, managing only five floor shots since he was the option to bring the ball up to break the press. Woodworth could not recall another time when one of his Ipswich teams scored only four points in a quarter.

"That No. 44 (6-foot-7 Mario Monroe) was huge. They also had 6-5 (Paul Krol) and a 6-3 (Paul Kielb)," Gianakakis pointed out. "That No. 44 would put his arms up and he looked 6-foot-10."

You've seen NASCAR on TV; that was North Cambridge Catholic in transition.

"We knew Ipswich was a good halfcourt set team, and we used our speed pressure to attack their strength," NCC coach Dan Salazar said.

The fact the referees allowed a physical game was not in Ipswich's favor.

"I tried to state my case early," Woodworth said, "but (the officials) were going to let it go. I said to myself, 'We're in trouble.'"

There was no quit in the Tigers, and The Tiger Den student cheering section was as loud as ever. But Ipswich was overmatched, period.

"Even the ball bothered us. We played with a Spaulding all year, and this ball was an MIAA ball; very different. Nobody could handle it," Lampropoulos shrugged. "It was like an outdoor ball."

Woodworth may have done one of his best coaching jobs ever with a team that didn't have anyone taller than 6-1 and was short of experience.

Only NCC player was from Cambridge. "We come from all over, Somerville, Boston, Malden," Salazar said.

Last night, his team was all over Ipswich.

"We held them under 60. That should have been good enough to compete with team," Gianakakis, who will attend Radford College in Virginia, said. "But you can't score 36 and compete with anybody | never mind this team."