RallyNorth.net

Puello, Central leap over Lawrence

Friday, January, 14 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

LAWRENCE — Pressure you into submission.

Ravage you on the offensive glass.

Force-feed a heaping helping of All-Scholastic Jimmy Zenevitch on the block.

Now add the Luis Puello offensive eruption to Central Catholic's methods of destruction.

Lethal Luis pogoed his way to a career-high 23 points, powering the Raiders past Lawrence, 76-62, before about 500 fans at Lawrence High last night.

"He's a very confident kid. Talk to him, he wants the ball, he wants to take shots," said Central coach Rick Nault. "We want to get him in some open space. He's an athletic kid. Look at the state tournament he had last year, he scored some points in state tournament games.
"He shoots the ball pretty well, gets to the rim very well, gets offensive putbacks. He adds so much offensively. People think he's just an athlete, he's raw ... but he's got some pretty good skills."

The bad news for would-be challengers in the Merrimack Valley, Division 1 North or perhaps even statewide?
They can expect more of the same.

"Jaycob (Morales), Joel (Berroa), Jimmy (Zenevitch), I'm just getting confidence running the offense through them," said Puello, now free of the tape job and brace he wore through the early season for a right wrist injury. "I've been getting good shots in practice and making them. You can expect this from me. I'm capable of doing this every night. It's just a matter of doing it."

Puello's full-court work on the defensive end, shadowing Lancer Jaylen Alicea from baseline to baseline, merited major kudos, too.

But when the junior can unload like this on the offensive end, things are almost unfair.

Puello pelted Lawrence with nine points in an 18-7 burst from the opening tip.

The tone for the night was set as the Lancers played catch-up the rest of the way.

Central's lead shrunk to a pair at the half and three on four different occasions in the second half.

The Raiders were both lucky, saved by the halftime buzzer with Lawrence closing on a 15-4 run, and good, with Zenevitch (20 points, 12 boards), Mike Barry, Puello and Matt McDermott starring.

McDermott's baseline triple was the dagger, making it 60-54.

The Raiders moved to 9-1 on the year, 6-0 in the MVC large with a two-game cushion over both Andover and Lawrence at the unofficial halfway mark.

"We have a lot to work on, especially our pressure," said Puello. "We have to get better."
For Lawrence, the defeat was its third in the last four games.

Center Jesse Hiraldo did not start the first or the third quarters on a team disciplinary matter, and it hurt as without the 6-6 senior Central dominated those minutes (plus 18).

Alicea, who was held to a season-low 11 points in the previous meeting with Central, again had to work for everything thanks to Puello's pestering. He led Lawrence with 14 points.

Yadoris Arias chipped in 13 points, and both Francis Spraus and Alison Cueto had 10 points for Lawrence, which didn't help its own cause by going 9 for 19 from the foul line.