RallyNorth.net

North Andover Scarlet Knights Boys Basketball '12-'13

Sat, Mar 09, 2013 TBA @ North Andover
Team 1 2 3 4 Final
Brighton 14 13 20 17 64
North Andover 16 16 13 14 59

McVeigh retires after sectional final loss to Brighton

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Saturday, March, 09 By Bill Burt
Sports editor

LOWELL — The North Andover High boys basketball team got a double whammy here at the Tsongas Center versus Brighton High in the Div. 2 North finals.

They not only lost, 64-59, the game. But they lost their respected head coach, Mike McVeigh.

Immediately after the game, McVeigh told his team that his 31-year career was ending at the Tsongas Center.

"I knew about two months ago," said McVeigh, who amassed a record of 497-176 over his career. "It's been a long ride. And I couldn't be prouder of this team and all of the other teams I've coached. Some years were tougher than others, but all of them have been rewarding."

McVeigh said one of the reasons he came back was the talk of North Andover moving to the Merrimack Valley Conference in September.

Yesterday, McVeigh's team, which finished as co-champs in the rugged Large Schools division with Central Catholic, couldn't overcome some hot second half shooting by Brighton and foul trouble from its MVP, Chris Bardwell.

Brighton, which attempted 30 three-pointers, made eight of them, with senior Davion Edwards (17 points) and junjior Nick Simpson (23), who has been offered a scholarship by UMass Lowell, combining for seven of them. Simpson

North Andover, which finishes 19-5, led the game for most of the first half, jumping to leads of 16-11 and 32-27 a few miniutes before the half. But Bardwell went out with three fouls and Brighton got the lead and, despte a few ties, never trailed again.

Seniors Derek Collins finished with 16 points, including 14 in the first half, while Isaiah Nelson added 14. Bardwell finished his incredible year with the Knights, after transferring from Central this summer, with 16 points before fouling out in the final minute.

"What a year we had," said Collins. "A lot of people didn't think we'd make it this far or didn't think we'd win the MVC. I have nothing but good things to say about this team and this year."

 

Game Statistics:

Brighton (64): Malik James 6-0-12, Mark Mojica 1-0-3, Daivon Edwards 5-3-17, Prince Unaegbu 2-0-4, Nick Simpson 7-6-23, Jason Jones 4-0-8, Totals 24-9-64 

North Andover (59): Kyle White 2-1-6, Casey Walsh 2-0-4, Aaron Straus 1-0-2, Derek Collins 6-1-16, Chris Bardwell 8-0-16, Isaiah Nelsen 5-3-14, John Enright 0-0-0, Alex Gorgoni 0-0-0, James Testa 0-0-0, Jeff Warden 0-0-0, Garrett Upson 0-0-0, Totals 24-5-59

3-pointers: B - Edwards 4, Simpson 3, Mojica; NA - Collins 3, Nelsen, White

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