RallyNorth.net

Central Catholic Raiders Boys Basketball '16-'17

Sat, Mar 04, 2017 04:00 PM @ Central Catholic
Team 1 2 3 4 Final
Andover 7 11 18 11 47
Central Catholic 10 19 12 17 58

Central ousts Andover

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LAWRENCE — The start wasn’t pretty. Turnovers and missed shots galore, and for long stretches the jam-packed Memorial Gym felt more like a library than the site of a decisive tournament showdown between bitter MVC rivals.
Central Catholic, at one point, had a 15-point lead in the third quarter, and eventually Andover coach Dave Fazio turned around after calling a timeout and challenged his contingent of fans to get loud. 
When “The Jungle” did, the team responded, and so did Central’s Red Sea. Just like that, it was Andover vs. Central basketball once again.
The Golden Warriors mounted a comeback, chipping away at the lead in front of an increasingly delirious crowd, and with just over two minutes to play, Andover was within one possession. All the momentum was on their side. 
But then Sam Lara stepped in and put a stop to it all.
Lara had two monster blocks down the stretch and knocked down four consecutive free throws in the final minute to extinguish Andover’s chances, helping Central clinch the 58-47 win in Saturday’s Division 1 North quarterfinal showdown. 
The St. John’s University-bound baseball pitcher finished with a game-high 25 points and 14 rebounds, providing an emphatic exclamation point to the final home game of his career.
“They had all the momentum,” said Central coach Rick Nault before describing Lara’s the game-changing sequence. “You could just see the gym start to turn, our guys started to get that life again and we had lost a lot of that energy and confidence. Those plays changed things for us.”
Andover’s comeback began with 2:33 left in the third, at which point Central had just knocked down a shot to make it 39-28. Coming out of the break, the Golden Warriors immediately answered with an 8-2 run, going into the fourth quarter down by a much more manageable 41-36.
The Warriors kept pushing from there, drawing a fourth foul from Central star Colin Bradanese to open the fourth and then getting a couple of steals and baskets in transition from senior Tim Kalantzakos. 
By the time the Warriors pulled within three, it felt like things could start to avalanche, but then the Raiders got a couple of key breaks and were able to capitalize.
The first was a tough fifth foul call on Kalantzakos, who was having a terrific game and had played a big part in the comeback. Then Lara cleanly blocked a lay-up attempt that would have cut the lead to two, and on the ensuing trip down the court, junior sharpshooter Dom Keegan knocked down a 3-pointer which stretched the Central lead to 52-45 and sent the home crowd into a frenzy.
Andover responded with another basket to get back within two possessions, but then with under a minute to play, Lara knocked down all four free throws he attempted and stuffed another lay-up attempt in between trips to the line. When all was said and done, Central had a 56-47 lead and that was pretty much the end of that.
“Coach told us to play hard for 32 minutes and that’s what I did,” Lara said while walking to the locker room after the game. “No easy shots, nothing. I had fouls to give so I was going to go for it.”
The win marked Central’s fourth over archrival Andover this season, as the Raiders also won both regular season games and beat the Warriors in the Commonwealth Motors Christmas Tournament championship game. Despite that, Nault said afterwards he knew Andover was going to be a tough out, and they expected a tough, hard fought classic that would likely come down to the wire.
“This is why you put on a Central Catholic uniform,” Nault said. “To play in that type of game, and for the seniors to go out like that in front of that crowd against your archrival with a chance to go to the North semifinals, you couldn’t ask for a better scenario.”
Central Catholic (19-5) will now face No. 2 seeded Everett (19-2) in the Division 1 North semifinals, which will be played at North Andover High School at a date and time to be determined. Andover finishes its season 13-9 including 0-4 against the Raiders.

Game Statistics:

Division 1 North Quarterfinals

Andover (47): Brandon Witten 1 6-7 8, Devon Beasley 5 3-3 14, Tim Kalantzakos 4 1-1 9, Cedric Gillette 1 0-0 2, Max Beati 3 1-2 7, Emmett Kim 2 2-2 6, Ryan Puglisi 0 1-2 1, Kyle Rocker 0 0-0 0, Thomas Comparato 0 0-0 0, Travis Traub 0 0-0 0, Evan Christopulos 0 0-0 0, Kevin LaBrie 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 14-17 47

Central Catholic (58): Bret Edwards 1 2-2 5, Victor Mwaurah 3 0-0 6, Dom Keegan 4 0-0 11, Sam Lara 8 9-12 25, Colin Bradanese 2 4-6 8, George Smith 0 0-0 0, Kevin Constant 0 0-0 0, Manny Sanchez 1 1-2 3. Totals: 19 16-22 58

3-pointers: A — Beasley; CC — Keegan 3, Edwards

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