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Franklin Martinez lit up Lowell for 25 points and five 3-pointers and Yadoris Arias and Danny Gonzalez pumped in 12 each as Lawrence rolled 77-69.

LAWRENCE — Rebounding from its first regular-season conference defeat in more than four years, Central Catholic appeared to be easily on its way to righting that loss last night against Lawrence.
But the Lancers came off the mat and made the Raiders work for their third win of the season in the rivalry.
Leading by 13 with less than five minutes remaining, visiting Central Catholic held off the furious rally for a 57-53 victory in front of a standing-room-only crowd.
“We really got after it in practice trying to get our mind off that loss,” Central guard Tyler Nelson said of Friday’s 62-56 decision to Lowell, which cost the Raiders their No. 1 ranking in the EMass. and statewide polls. “We wanted to come out here and make a statement, get a win and get back on another winning streak.”
And after breaking open a halftime tie, it seemed the Raiders, who had won 53 straight regular-season MVC games, would do just that.
Like it did while winning the first two games between the two by a total of 12 points, Central’s move to a zone midway through the third quarter sparked the rally. The Raiders forced turnovers on six of nine Lawrence possessions and blocked a couple shots to turn a one-point lead into a 40-30 advantage with 2:20 left in the quarter.
“I think with certain lineups we defend a little better with a zone,” Central coach Rick Nault said. “And we had foul situations where we had to sit guys so that’s why we went to the zone.”
The Raiders (16-1 overall, 11-1 MVC) scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to take a 47-34 advantage with 4:55 left. But Lawrence refused to roll over. The Lancers made things tight with a 10-4 run to cut the deficit to three with 10.8 seconds left.
“I think we just made too many silly fouls in the end,” said Nelson, who led a balanced Central scoring effort with 14 points. “(The Lancers) got a few lucky and ones, and made a few big shots at the end like they needed to. They didn’t give up.”
Luis Torres sparked the Lancers by scoring seven straight points then delivering an assist on bucket by Leonny Burgos. Lawrence (11-4, 9-2 MVC) closed to within three again on a pair of free throws by Yadoris Arias with 5.9 seconds left, but a free throw by Henry Rodriguez secured the win.
“A lot of it was them,” Lawrence coach Paul Neal said of the Raiders. “But we’ve got to learn from it. It starts in practice. I don’t think we lost that game tonight. I think we lost it in the days leading up to it. ... If you start feeling good about (playing them tough) and being close, then you’re never going to get better. It’s got to hurt. It’s got to be painful.”

ANDOVER — It was a great day for Lawrence junior Adrian Sosa, but not a perfect one. Sosa, a talented 138-pounder, fought off his back in the first period to record a second-period pin to help fuel the Lancers to a 42-21 victory over host Greater Lawrence. The win lifted Lawrence to 19-3 on the year and provided its third straight city title. The Lancers had previously beaten Central Catholic, 46-24. The only problem for Sosa was that his older brother, Nick, is a Reggie and he dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to Yariel Velez at 195 pounds, and he couldn’t help rooting against his team in that match. “I want my team to win the meet, but I have to pull for my brother,” said Sosa, who gave his sibling a little pep talk before his match. “I’m a family-first kind of kid.” Two other Sosa brothers, Victor and Isaac, also wrestled at Greater Lawrence, on the back-to-back Division 2 dual-meet state championship squads and, the youngest one admits, “My first choice was to be a Reggie — I grew up here — but I was turned down, so I have to do my best for the Navy Blue and White (Lawrence).” Thus far, he’s done just that, recording an impressive 19-1 dual-meet record and, for awhile, it looked like yesterday’s pin might be pivotal because the Reggies (12-7) put up an emotional battle on their home mat. Following a pin by 132-pound teammate Edgardo Rios, Sosa had given Lawrence an 18-9 lead, but the Amador twins brought the Reggies back with perhaps their best matches of the season. Wilkin Amador recorded an 11-5 decision at 145 and Melvin Amador followed with a 13-6 decision at 152, barely missing a pin at the buzzer. Michael Amador lifted Lawrence back in front 22-15 with a major decision at 160, but Carlos Aquino brought the Reggies to within one, 22-21, with a second-period fall at 170. Lawrence won the next four weight classes to wrap up the victory, but it was hardly easy. Although Marionel Garcia dominated with a technical fall at 182 and heavyweight Janer Reyes ended the match with a pin, Sosa was beating Velez late in the match and Lancers’ 220-pounder Mike Mena nearly got pinned twice in the first two periods, falling behind 12-2, before pinning Henry Tejada at the 4:24 mark. “I expected a battle and they (Greater Lawrence) are a tough team — it’s always an exciting match,” said Lawrence coach Rob Niceforo. “But our kids wrestled well and showed a lot of class. “I was real happy with Michael Amador, and (Mike) Mena just never gives up.” Also winning for Lawrence were Hector Reynoso and Rizky Riyanto, with decisions at 106 and 113 respectively, while for Greater Lawrence, Adan Marquez had a decision at 120 and Lenny Jorge got a late pin at 126. The only negative to what was a terrific dual meet, with terrific spirit on both teams, came when it was over and most of the Reggies walked away and refused to shake the hands of their Lawrence counterparts.

After a heartbreaking, buzzer-beating loss to Haverhill the night before, Lawrence bounced back for its first girls hoop victory of the season, 49-37 over Greater Lawrence. Smothering team defense got the Lancers a 26-point lead through three quarters as freshman guard Kiandra Vasquez led the way with 14 points and 10 assists.

Kayla Pellot hit a buzzer-beating 2-pointer to lead Haverhill over Lawrence, 51-49, on the road. 

Pellot, who netted 19 points, received an inbound pass with 1.4 seconds remaining. She quickly dribbled to the baseline, faked a shot, then took her shot and scored as time expired.

LAWRENCE — A reporter hectored Franklin Martinez as to why he and the Lancers couldn't put four high-octane quarters of basketball together.

The honest answer was probably that true-blue,Paul Neal, Lancers basketball just takes so much out of you.

Lawrence (14-3) recorded four major decisions anda technical fall from improving 106-pounder Hector Reynoso in a 36-18 victory over Lowell. Henry Carpio looked sharp in a 13-1 win at 152.

Freshman Megan May cleared 4-7 to win the high jump and senior Ashley Bodenrader, who has placed in every meet, won the hurdles to lift Methuen past Lawrence, 53-32.

LAWRENCE — If the first two games between the two are an indication of what’s ahead, fans might want to circle Feb. 7 on their calendar right now.
That’s when Central Catholic, the top ranked team in the entire state, and 22nd-ranked Lawrence square off for the third and final time of the regular season.
Game 2 in the series turned into an overtime thriller yesterday that Central won by a 69-67 count in front of a standing-room only crowd at Central’s Memorial Gym.
Using a 15-0 run that began in the third quarter, Central appeared in control, holding a 56-45 advantage with 5:52 left in regulation. But Lawrence, which dropped a 10-point decision to the Raiders in the Greater Lawrence Christmas Tournament finale, then scored 14 of the period’s final 17 points to force overtime.
The Lancers (7-2 overall, 5-1 conference) tied the score at 59 on a steal turned layup by Yadoris Arias, who had 19 points. The teams then combined to miss three field-goal attempts the final 77 seconds.
In overtime, Central (9-0, 5-0) broke a tie with 2:15 left on a little hook by Nick Cambio that provided a 63-61 lead the Raiders would not lose. Central, which made all 18 of its fourth-quarter free throws in the holiday tournament win, converted six of eight attempts in the extra period. Henry Rodriguez made five straight to help secure the victory.
Rodriguez was part of a Central bench that scored 28 points, including a team-high 16 by the sophomore Cambio. Rodriguez has been one of the guards making up for the loss of senior playmaker Luis Puello, who has missed each of the past four games with a sprained ankle.
“I think it just makes us so much better down the road,” said Raider coach Rick Nault whose club has beaten the Lancers 13 straight times since Lawrence’s 64-57 win on Feb. 6, 2007.
“When you win without your best players and you see guys step up … Henry Rodriguez might not be in the game if Luis were there and he’s dropping (free throws). It makes us so much better because it makes everyone raise their game.”
Lawrence was paced by sixth-man Franklin Martinez, who poured in a game-high 22 including 12 in the fourth quarter and overtime.
“We made some silly mistakes,” said Lawrence coach Paul Neal. “It was a game where it could have gone either way. We played hard, but we came up short again. I think at this point it’s more of a mental thing than a physical thing. We’ve just got to find a way to overcome that, but I think we’re headed in the right direction.”

Central Catholic 69, Lawrence 67 (OT)
 Lawrence (67): Leonny Burgos 2 0-0 4, Yadoris Arias 7 2-2 19, Argenis Reinoso 1 2-4 4, Tre’von Farley 3 8-12 14, Roberto Speing 0 0-2 0, Franklin Martinez 8 2-2 22, Denny Gonzalez 0 0-0 0, Esmelin Romero 1 0-1 2, Jorge Soto 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 14-23 67
 Central Catholic (69): Lucas Hammel 0- 3-4 3, Tyler Nelson 4 2-2 11, Joel Berroa 5 1-1 12, Shawn McCoy 2 1-2 5, Doug Gemmell 5 4-6 14, Nick Cambio 7 2-2 16, Henry Rodriguez 0 7-8 7, Matt McDermott 0 0-0 0, Mike Barry 0 1-2 1. Totals 23 21-27 69
3-pointers: L — Martinez 4, Arias 3; CC — Nelson, Berroa
Lawrence (7-2, 5-1):    19 14  8 18  8 — 67
Central Catholic (9-0, 5-0):    19 12 14 14 10 — 69

 An impressive 8-0 major decision by heavyweight Janer Reyes over Chelmsford star Lou Ferrar, who was second at All-State last year, sparked Lawrence to a resounding 50-25 victory over Chelmsford, handing the Lions their first loss of the season. The Lancers (10-3) had seven pins, a technical fall and dominated the upper weights.