RallyNorth.net

Sat, Dec 21, 2013 02:00 PM @ Methuen

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Whittier	8	12	18	8	46
Methuen	11	16	12	16	55

Methuen holds off upset-minded Whittier

Sunday, December, 22 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

NORTH ANDOVER — What was supposed to be a blowout turned out to be a dogfight.

The highly favored Methuen boys held on to defeat Whittier, 55-46, yesterday afternoon in the Hixon Division opener of the Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic basketball tourney at Merrimack College, but it wasn’t easy.

In the long run, however, it may have proved beneficial to the Rangers.

“This is a good learning experience, not to take anyone for granted,” said Methuen junior Tim Galloway-Burke. “They’re better than you think, but we started a little lackadaisical.”

In fact, the underdog Wildcats led much of the first quarter before a three-point play by Jamal Rene gave the Rangers — who shot just 4 of 13 in the opening frame — a tenuous 11-8 lead entering the second quarter.

Methuen increased its lead to 27-20 at halftime despite hitting just 5 of 15 shots in the second quarter, burdened by seven turnovers, and saw Whittier take a brief 38-37 lead in the third quarter.

With 3:31 left to play, what was supposed to be a one-sided contest was deadlocked at 44-44. It wasn’t until Rene hit a jumper followed by a reverse layup and Galloway-Burke scored on a fast break that the Rangers were able to pull away.

“Our offensive execution was poor and we didn’t play fundamentally sound,” said Methuen coach Anthony Faradie.

“The atmosphere was dead to start the game, with no energy, and maybe that affected our shooting.”

Galloway-Burke led the Rangers with 18 points, hitting 6 of 8 in the second half while pulling down nine rebounds and Mark Sicard had a solid second half, finishing with 12 points.

Whittier, which played a superb 18-point third quarter, was led by Andres Hernandez, who scored nine of his 11 points in that frame. Richard Vazquez and Jeremy Downer both added 10 points.

“The kids played hard and they played pretty well,” said Whittier coach Joe Boland.

“We just didn’t take good shots down the stretch. That’s something we have to learn from.

“Methuen’s a good team and we knew we were the underdog, but we’re going to be the underdog all year. I’m happy we made a game of it. We’re thrilled to be invited to this tournament and we wanted to be respectable.”

For one game, at least, the Wildcats were more than respectable.

The Rangers will play in the Hixon championship game Saturday at 3:30 p.m. while Whittier will play the Hixon consolation game Friday at 3:45 p.m.