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Foul-shackled Lancers bow out

Monday, February, 23 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

LAWRENCE - Its only two inside weapons neutralized and then eliminated by foul trouble, Lawrence High was left with nothing but long-range bombs in its arsenal.

When those stopped falling in the fourth quarter, Somerville capitalized and ended the Lancer season in the Division 1 North preliminary round, 62-59.

Lawrence, burdened by 25 fouls, fought till the end, but Somerville, which didn't score a field goal over the final 4:15 - Cassius Belfon's 12-footer that made it 57-54 - survived when Justin Nieves' desperate 35-footer at the final buzzer back-rimmed out.

"We got into foul trouble and it just changed the game," said Lancer coach Paul Neal, whose club finishes at 12-9. "Jesse (Hiraldo) was in foul trouble all night. It made a difference in the game."

The sophomore Hiraldo and senior Anthony DeJesus decimated the undersized Highlanders when they were on the floor. The problem was staying on the floor.

The pair got hit for five fouls (of Lawrence's seven) in the third quarter alone, a quarter that saw the visitors not commit an infraction.

"They were in the one-and-one in the third quarter and we never got there," added Neal, whose club got hit for 15 fouls in the second half to Somerville's seven.

Things looked to be running smoothly for Lawrence with Hiraldo and DeJesus teaming up for four buckets in a 15-3 Lancer run out of intermission. The lead was 45-31 when the barrage of whistles ensued. By the time each big guy had grabbed his fourth, Somerville (19 of 32 from the foul line) had sliced the lead to 50-48, heading to the last quarter.

When DeJesus fouled out on a non-shooting bump foul in traffic with 5:51 to play, things started to go bad.
Hiraldo held the Lancers together, on the glass (11 boards) and with three giant blocks but another soft nudge sent him to the bench with 2:44 left and the situation moved to worse.

Lawrence scrambled to find offense and came up empty.

"It was just the wrong time to go cold," said Neal.

Playing his last game at the high school, the senior captain Nieves led with 20 points.

The Lancers didn't help themselves either, hitting only 11 of 24 from the stripe.

"We couldn't get (to the foul line) and when we did, we didn't make the shots," said Neal. "I hope we can learn from it and get better. I let the kids know, next year starts today."

Replacing the two-time All-Conference Nieves won't be easy but the emergence of the sophomores this winter, most notably the 6-foot-6 Hiraldo (7.0 ppg.) and slick backcourt man Jaylen Alicea (10.2 ppg.) should help ease the Lawrence transition.