RallyNorth.net

Fernandez turns it on, Central advances

Wednesday, February, 25 By David Willis
Staff writer

LAWRENCE — Trouble only seemed to be mounting for Central Catholic.

Leading by just two points late in the third quarter to hard-charging Charlestown, the Raiders saw their top scorer — freshman Tanahj Pettway — knocked to the floor by an elbow to the face. He had to be helped to the locker room, and his night was done.

But just as it seemed the Townies were set to strike, Kevin Fernandez took over.

“Coach told me I had to get the ball into my hands and make something happen,” said the Raiders sophomore. “Coach ran a couple plays for me, it got me open and I started hitting my shots. It felt good to get our crowd going.”

The guard with the flair for the dramatic turned in a 7-0 run on his own, turning the two-point game into a nine-point lead, and that was the last time No. 9 Charlestown would be within single digits as No. 8 Central took control for a 65-53 victory in the first round of the Division 1 North tournament on Wednesday night.

“This was a great victory,” said co-captain Brian Triglione. “It was a big team victory. We came out firing, they came back to take the lead, and in the fourth quarter we played with energy and took over the game.”

The Raiders now advance to face top-seeded Cambridge Rindge & Latin on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Cambridge.

“We know that Cambridge is going to be a huge challenge,” said Fernandez. “But we want to go in there and get the win, and we have all the confidence in this team.”

Had it not been for Fernandez, the Raiders’ season may have ended against Charlestown.

Led by 6-foot-1 guard Warfa Abdillah (15 points), the Townies used a press that gave Central fits for three quarters. Charlestown seemed to grab all of the momentum late in the third, when it took the lead on a monstrous two-handed dunk by 6-foot-2 Lionel James.

Central grabbed the lead right back, however then lost Pettway (14 points) for the game after being struck in the head. Speculation around the court was that he could have suffered a concussion.

In dire need of a spark, Fernandez answered the call.

First, Fernandez stuck a jumper from the elbow, then on the next possession he drove to the basket and tossed in a fancy up-and-under layup. After forcing a turnover,  Central’s No. 24 drained a three-pointer from the top of the key to make the score 59-50.

“That was tremendous,” said senior Alex Santos. “It was such a great job by Kevin when we needed it. It really got us going and motivated and we went from there.”

The sudden turn then caused Charlestown to lose its cool. One Townie was whistled for a technical foul after a hard foul, and an assistant coach was called for another technical after overturning a chair while arguing.

Guard A.J. Pettway then calmly sunk two technical free throws, and the lead never fell below 10 points after that.

“It was a very emotional game,” said Central coach Rick Nault. “There was a lot of intensity going around. They had a lot of athletes, but in the fourth quarter Kevin hit some huge shots and we picked it up on both sides of the ball.”

Fernandez led the Raiders with 15 points, while Tanahj Pettway scored 14 in just over a half of play and Santos chipped in with 14 of his own.

Now, Central will need an upset if they hope to meet the winner of Andover and Lawrence in the North semifinal.

“Hopefully we can carry this energy into Cambridge,” said Triglione. “We know they are loaded, but we believe we can do it.”