RallyNorth.net

Mon, Dec 29, 2008 06:00 PM @ Central Catholic

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Lawrence	7	7	18	15	47
Central Catholic	21	19	19	15	74

Central simply a basketball beast

Monday, December, 29 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

 

LAWRENCE – With four wins in four games by a total an average of 29 points apiece, the Central Catholic hoop team has the look of a young Ivan Drago in Rocky IV.

Now, all that’s left to see is if the Rock, aka Andover High, has a Stallone-epic effort in it Friday night to even challenge this basketball beast.

Judging by last night’s Greater Lawrence Christmas Tournament 74-47 annihilation of Lawrence by the towering Raiders, Andover’s championship task looks almost insurmountable.

With an overflow crowd of 2,200 cramming the new LHS fieldhouse, Central bolted to a 21-7 margin after one and never allowed the home team a life, leaping into position for back-to-back Christmas .

Raider senior Billy Marsden, the 2008 Eagle-Tribune Player of the Year, knocked in 10 of 16 shots from the field on his way to a tourney-high 28 points to anchor the Raiders on one end.

“It’s just been a lot of fun, even in practice,” said Marsden, who had 26 through three quarters and barely touched the floor in the fourth. “Lawrence always is a big rival, and we were ready this time around.”

Meanwhile, Carson Desrosiers (11 points, 9 rebounds) simply denied nearly every drive the Lancers attempted, swatting away 13 shots on a night when Lawrence had just 18 field goals total.

“I can’t explain it,” admitted Raider coach Rick Nault of his team’s explosive start to the young season. “Defensively, I didn’t expect to be playing this well so quickly. The big guy just makes such a difference. I’ve never seen anyone dominate a game defensively like he does at the high school level.”

The reigning state Division 1 champ, Central came at Lawrence in waves, with Nault reaching deep into his bench early and often.

Sophomore Jim Zenevitch (8 points, 7 boards) nailed a 15-foot jumper to make it 19-3 and then went to the bench. His replacement, 6-foot-5, Jose Pena then made his presence known, busting to the hoop on a power move of his own for a 21-3 advantage.

It was that kind of night for the Raiders, who put 11 different men in the score book.

On the other hand, Lawrence, now 3-1, simply never located any semblance of smooth offense, with Desrosiers owning the paint.

“He really makes it easy for us to play defense,” said Marsden, who had 21 in the opening round win over Pinkerton. “You know, even though your man gets by you, he’s just not going to score. Trust me, it’s really nice to have.”

Lawrence, which trailed 40-14 at the half, got 11 from Justin Nieves, nine from Jorge Escoto and eight out of Jason Pimentel.

The Raiders were an ugly 3 of 11 from the foul line, but it hardly mattered.

Marsden warned that even with all the big victories on their resume the Raiders aren’t expecting a letdown Friday night in the title game with Andover.

“We have the chance to win this thing in back to back years,” he said. “To us, that’s pretty special. I’m expecting another intense one Friday night.”