RallyNorth.net

Central Catholic Raiders Boys Basketball '10-'11

Sun, Mar 06, 2011 03:00 PM @ Central Catholic
Team 1 2 3 4 Final
Charlestown 22 17 14 18 71
Central Catholic 20 17 22 20 79

Central knocks off city champ Charlestown

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CHARLESTOWN – Charlestown fired haymakers for 30 straight minutes, landing bomb after bomb with Pacquaio-like precision and ruthlessness.

Central Catholic never once winced.

The fifth-seeded Raiders, battered and scarred, but with their legs firmly underneath them, just kept counter-punching, right to the thunderous, Jimmy Zenevitch, rim-rocking finish.

Stunning fourth-seeded Charlestown, 79-71, in the Division 1 North quarterfinals before a steam-pressed, packed-house of about 500, the Raiders set up a return bout with top-seeded St. John’s Prep, Tuesday night (5:45) in the sectional semis.

“With what they had, the talent they have, our kids battled all night,” said Raider coach Rick Nault, his club now 20-2 in the quest for back-to-back state titles. “We were the underdogs. We knew it would be a tough, tough game. Our kids knew what they had in front of them tonight.”

The Raiders lagged, pretty much from the opening tip, but never lost contact with the Townies.

Tyler Nelson’s triple before the first-quarter buzzer halted a 9-0 Charlestown blitz, making it 22-17 after one.

A wild 36-second flurry, with three Central steals and hoops off them made it 39-37 at intermission.

Nelson was heard from again, with even greater resonation, canning three straight threes to give Central its first lead since 14-13 early, just setting up the final stanza at 59-55 Raiders.

The final eight minutes added a new persona to this Raider bunch, which had come  to rely heavily on the Assumption-bound Zenevitch in big games lately.

“Today was probably the biggest team game we’ve had all year,” surmised Zenevitch, with a premise that is clearly backed up by Central’s 25 assists on 32 baskets. “Today was balanced, everyone played their part. We played as a team. That was the biggest difference.”

Every Raider on the floor delivered in the fourth, beginning with unheralded sophomore Doug Gemmell, who drained a wing three to kick-start the quarter.

With things tight, the incomparably unflappable Jaycob Morales (10 points, 10 assists, six boards) floated one home. Gemmell followed with a top for a 66-60 lead.

But after Akosa Maduegbunam’s second breakaway tomahawk tied things one last time at 66-66, the Raiders had enough left in the tank to finish the job.

Evan Sheehan’s 12-footer gave Central the lead for good. Slick sophomore Joel Berroa then dished back-to-back no-look assists to Zenevitch and Sheehan for a 75-71 in the closing seconds.

Charlestown was reeling and finally hit the canvas after what was a heavyweight hoop epic.

Zenevitch paced the Raiders with 19 points and 18 boards, admitting that he, “missed a lot of shots so I probably got a lot of those rebounds.” Nelson and Berroa each had 14 points.

 

Game Statistics:

Central Catholic (79):  Jimmy Zenevitch 9 1-4 19, Joel Berroa 6 0-0 14, Jaycob Morales 3 2-2 10, Tyler Nelson 4 2-2 14, Luis Puello 3 0-0 6, Evan Sheehan 4 0-0 9, Doug Gemmell 3 0-0 7, Totals 32 5-8 79 

Charlestown (71):  Akosa Maduegbunam 7 1-2 16, Tyrik Jackson 6 2-2 14, Rony Fernandes 1 2-2 4, Tyerese Hoxter 5 2-2 12, Omar Orriola 5 1-2 14, Iser Barnes 1 1-2 3, C.J. Dowdell 3 0-0 6, Mike Keough 1 0-0 2, Totals 29 9-12 71

3-pointers: CC — Berroa 2, Morales 2, Nelson 4, Sheehan, Gemmell; Ch — Maduegbunam, Orriola 3 

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