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Central holds off Lexington's upset bid

Tuesday, March, 01 By Jeff Hamrick

LAWRENCE — One of the adages concerning champions is it’s tougher defending than winning that first one. If the first round of the Division 1 North Sectional was an indication, Central Catholic won’t be on cruise control trying to find its way back to the TD Garden for a second straight title.

Squaring off against unheralded and 12th-seeded Lexington, which finished third in the Middlesex Conference, the Raiders had all it could handle last night before dominating the final 2 minutes for a 67-52 victory. Fifth-seeded Central (20-2) will play the winner of Thursday’s game between No. 4 Charleston and No. 13 Methuen in the quarterfinals.

After trailing most of the first half, Central entered the fourth quarter tied at 42, and held a 54-50 advantage with 2:45 left. The Raiders secured matters by scoring 13 of the game’s final 13 points and 22 of the final 29.

“I thought we made a huge adjustment at halftime in terms of just stepping up our defensive intensity,” Central coach Rick Nault said. “We held them to (six) baskets in the second half ... and you’re going to win a lot of games doing that. What it was was our defensive effort in the second half won out.”

The Minutemen, which led by as many as 10 late in the second quarter, took advantage of foul trouble by Central’s Jimmy Zenevitch and Joel Berroa to maintain their advantage through most of the third. But Luis Puello kept the Raiders close by scoring seven of his 13 over the final 2:14 of the period to help Central force the tie entering the final quarter.

The Raiders, however, were unable to put away the Minutemen until a huge 3-pointer early in the shot clock from 5 feet behind the line by Jaycob Morales provided a 59-51 advantage with 2:15 left. Morales quickly added a pair of free throws and a Zenevitch steal led to a fastbreak layup by Evan Sheehan for a 63-51 lead 22 seconds later.

“I thought Luis in the third quarter attacked the basket,” Nault said. “And I thought Jaycob in the fourth quarter made some huge plays. Hitting that 3 was sort of the dagger, I think ... He’s very comfortable shooting the basketball."

Lexington (12-9) started four players at 6-foot-5 or taller and had seven on their roster, compared to only one — 6-7 Zenevitch for the Raiders.

“They’re size did create a lot of problems when they were playing that 2-3 zone,” Nault said. “It cut down a lot of passing lanes and really collapsed in on Jimmy and made it tough for him to get touches. “We struggled in the first half offensively.”

But Central’s experience and maturity provided the difference when it mattered. Zenevitch paced the Raiders with 21 points while Puello and Sheehan both scored 13.

“A lot of our key guys ... have been in big, big games before,” Nault said. “For the seniors this was their last home game, and they’ve never lost on this floor. They talked about that a little before the game and I think that drove them. These guys aren’t ready to end their season right now.”