RallyNorth.net

LAWRENCE — The score cut-in to the left is no misprint. And believe it or not, Lawrence High actually led Central Catholic, 15-11, after eight minutes last night.

The next three quarters might have been the most lopsided stretch these two rivals have had in over a decade.

Central dazzled. Lawrence was frazzled. The 87-54 final locked up sole possession of the Raiders' fifth straight Merrimack Valley Conference championship. Now 11-0 in the league, the Raiders pushed their conference win streak to 45 in a row, dating back Jan. 16, 2008.

And yes, this was supposed to be a rebuilding year.

"That's what some newspaper people said," said Central coach Rick Nault, whose club needs wins at Haverhill Tuesday and Andover on Feb. 17 to run the MVC table for the third straight season. "But I thought we'd be good. Noone thought we would stink, but I don't think anyone believed we'd be this good. I told our guys that we're proving people wrong."

Senior Jimmy Zenevitch played like a captain, looking to leave his mark on the most storied boys hoop program in area history. The 6-foot-7 southpaw tossed in a game-high 24 points, 16 in the first half when the Raiders assumed command.

"It seems like everyone has had their own team here. Billy (Marsden) had his. Carson (Desrosiers) had his. I guess people are saying this year is mine," said Zenevitch. "I'm proud to say my team won the fifth straight MVC title. But Luis (Puello) is probably the biggest reason we won this game. He did absolutely everything for us, and the intensity just moved from one player to another."

Puello, who when Andover is across the way is asked to muscle up with the Brama Bull, Joe Bramanti, showed his versatility and value again on the defensive end last night, matching stride for stride with Lancer greyhound Jaylen Alicea.

"Luis dominated the game," said Nault. "Jaylen's a high skill player, one of the best guards in the area. Luis gave him a run for his money today. Look at Jaycob (Morales), look at Evan (Sheehan), look at Luis, those three the staples of our defense. They absolutely showed it tonight."

Puello finished with a triple-double — scoring 15 points with 11 boards and 11 assists. It might as well have been called a quad as his tenacity had to force at least a dozen Lawrence turnovers.

Joel Berroa (12) and Mike Barry (10) made it four Raiders in double figures on the night as Central moved to 15-1 overall, the lone blemish a Christmas Tourney semifinal defeat to Andover.

The Lancers, who got 11 from Alicea and little from anyone else, were simply left to shake their heads and wonder where it all went wrong.

This was a Lawrence team playing for a shot at a league title against its arch-rival, and the tank was empty after eight minutes.

"If we played at our pace and pushed the ball, and did what we did in the first quarter, it could have been a different game," said Lancer coach Paul Neal. "Central is good, but they're not 30 points better than us, they're just not. It was a total breakdown. Lose by 5 or 6, lose by 30, it's still a loss. At the end of the day, it's one loss, and we've just got to get better."