RallyNorth.net

Central Catholic Raiders Boys Basketball '17-'18

Tue, Jan 16, 2018 07:00 PM @ Central Catholic
Team 1 2 3 4 Final
North Andover 8 11 16 17 52
Central Catholic 14 17 16 17 64

Central preps for Lawrence with win over Knights

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Tuesday, January, 16 By Jeff Hamrick
Correspondent

CENTRAL PREPS FOR LAWRENCE WITH EASY WIN

BY JEFF HAMRICK

sports@eagletribune.com

LAWRENCE — With a crosstown showdown looming on Thursday, Central Catholic looked more than ready in Tuesday's tuneup against North Andover.

Colin Bradanese scored 17 of the Raiders' 33 second-half points as Central downed the visiting Scarlet Knights 64-52.

"I thought we played really, really well defensively," Central Catholic coach John Walsh said. "There are obviously some things we need to fix like our help-side defense. But other than that, I thought the effort was there.

"Now, on Thursday, we have a huge one against Lawrence, who many people believe is the most talented team in the state. That's going to be an unbelievable test. Hopefully, we'll be ready to go. I think we will be."

Central (5-1 MVC, 7-3 overall) hassled North Andover defensively, limiting the Scarlet Knights to eight points in the opening quarter and 20 in the half. A 12-2 run capped by a Bradanese layup, provided a 16-point lead with 2:24 left in the second.

"Colin played incredible," Walsh said. "In and around the rim, he's really good."

Dom Keegan and Manny Sanchez helped Bradanese on the offensive end, scoring a combined 16 points as the Raiders grabbed a 31-19 halftime lead.

Bradanese ignited Central in the third. A three from the baseline and a driving layup opened up the Raiders' biggest lead of the night 38-19 early in the period.

"I was just thinking if I got the ball that I was going to be able to make shots, and I think my teammates were thinking the same thing," said Bradanese, who entered the game with a team-leading 19.2 point-scoring average.

North Andover (5-1, 6-3) had trouble finding the bucket, shooting 34.6% from the floor (18 of 52). The Knights had scored at least 65 each of its previous three games and 71 or more in two of them. Jake McElroy scored all 14 of his points after intermission and Chim Ogwuru added 13 for North Andover.

"They did a great job pressuring us," said coach Paul Tanglis, whose squad could not get closer than nine at any point in the final three periods. "They took us out of a lot of things we were trying to run. I thought tonight, we just didn't take good shots, and that's a credit to the way (the Raiders) played defensively. And obviously, we didn't get enough stops defensively to get out on transition."

Keegan and Sanchez each finished with 10 for the Raiders, who will enter Thursday's game with confidence.

"We have to contain Luis (Reynoso) and Juan Felix (Rodriguez)," Bradanese said of the Lancer combo that is aveaging a combined 43.4 points a game. "They are probably two of the best players in the state, so we have to contain them. But I'm looking forward to it. It's a rivalry game, inner city. It should be packed with Lawrence fans and Central fans."

North Andover (5-1, 6-3)   8   11   16   17  —  52
Central Catholic (5-1, 6-3)  14   17   16   17  —  64

North Andover (52): Darren Watson 1 1-3 3, Gabe DeSouze 2 2-2 8, Jake McElroy 3 6-7 14, Ryan Slattery 1 0-0 2, Garrett Murphy 2 0-0 4, Chim Ogwuru 5 3-3 13, Colin Lee 4 0-0 8, Kyle Moore 0 0-0 0, Mike Gorgoni 0 0-0 0, Kellan Murphy 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 12-15 52

Central Catholic (64): Kevin Constant 3 0-0 6, Bret Edwards 1 3-4 5, Dom Keegan 4 0-0 10, Colin Bradanese 9 7-10 26, George Smith 3 0-1 7, Cam Homsey 0 0-0 0, Manny Sanchez 3 2-2 10, Matt Downer 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 12-17 64

3-pointers: NA — DeSouza 2, McElroy 2; CC — Keegan 2, Sanchez 2, Bradanese, Smith

Game Statistics:

North Andover (52): Darren Watson 1 1-3 3, Gabe DeSouza 2 2-2 8, Jake McElroy 3 6-7 14, Ryan Slattery 1 0-0 2, Garrett Murphy 2 0-0 4, Chim Ogwuru 5 3-3 13, Colin Lee 4 0-0 8, Kyle Moore 0 0-0 0, Mike Gorgoni 0 0-0 0, Kellan Murphy 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 12-15 52

Central Catholic (64):  Kevin Constant 3 0-0 6, Bret Edwards 1 3-4 5, Dom Keegan 4 0-0 10, Colin Bradanese 9 7-10 26, George Smith 3 0-1 7, Cam Homsey 0 0-0 0, Manny Sanchez 3 2-2 10, Matt Downer 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 12-17 64

3-pointers: NA — DeSouza 2, McElroy 2; CC — Keegan 2, Sanchez 2, Bradanese, Smith

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