LAWRENCE - For a majority of last night's Division 1 North final, it was men against boys at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Despite
the plaudits, all rightly earned, top-seeded and undefeated Central
Catholic was helpless against the size, speed and physicality of
defending state champion and perennial powerhouse Everett.
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Football, 11/11/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
NORTH ANDOVER — A deafening roar filled the gym at North Andover High School, and the more than 1,000 spectators rose to their feet as Everett’s Ghared Boyce dribbled the ball up the court.
Trailing by three and blanketed by Central Catholic sophomore Kevin Constant, Boyce stepped forward, then back, looking for some kind of opening. Constant gave away nothing. Finally, with the clock ticking down, Boyce heaved up a prayer, and for a split second the gym fell into near silence as the ball floated in the air.
Clang.
Pandemonium. When the would-be game-tying 3-pointer rimmed out, Central’s players poured onto the court and piled on top of one another in celebration, reveling in the hard-fought, 68-65 victory over No. 2 seeded Everett in Wednesday’s Division 1 North Semifinal.
“I feel like we’re the best basketball team in the state,” said an elated Colin Bradanese, who scored a team-high 20 points for Central, including a pair of 3-pointers and a dunk. “I feel great right now. I’ll come back down to Earth tomorrow and I’ll get right back to working but right now it feels great.”
It was an emotional win for Central, and a hard-earned one at that. Both teams spent nearly the entire game trading haymakers, with neither side able to pull ahead much more than a couple of points the whole way.
The difference down the stretch proved to be junior point guard Bret Edwards, who scored Central’s last four points, including a crucial lay-in with 12 seconds left to stretch Central’s lead to three.
“That kid’s got a lot of moxie,” said Central coach Rick Nault. “He’s the starting quarterback on the football team. He hasn’t forgotten the pounding that they (Everett football) gave to them a couple months ago, so he had a chip tonight.
“He had a real edge to him. He wanted to go at them, and even that last bucket he did, he made big plays inside during the second half but that last bucket obviously was probably the biggest play of the game.”
When it wasn’t Edwards, it was Constant, who enjoyed one of the best games of his high school career by playing shut-down defense while slashing to the basket at will in the second half.
Constant helped get star Everett center Theo Zidor to foul out with four minutes to play in the game, and ultimately went 9 for 14 from the free throw line.
“I knew I had to hit them,” Constant said. “They were big shots, big free throws, we needed the points, they’re free, so I just took my time and knocked them down.”
Everett led 15-13 after the first, while Central pulled ahead 35-34 right before halftime on one of Dom Keegan’s five 3-pointers. Everett threatened to gain some separation early in the fourth quarter.
But a 9-0 run by the Raiders flipped the script and turned a five-point deficit into a 59-55 lead with 4:25 to play.
The Crimson Tide immediately responded with two quick buckets to tie the game with 3:35 to play, but after that Central made the key plays when it counted and Everett never led again.
The closest the Tide came was after Edwards made a lay-up to make it 66-62, Boyce drained a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game.
But Everett opted not to foul on the ensuing possession, giving Edwards a chance to run the clock down until he saw an opening. His basket on the team’s final offensive possession gave the team breathing room, which the Raiders admitted afterwards they thought they might have needed.
“I was thinking it was good,” Bradanese said of Boyce’s last shot. “I was thinking we were coming right back in overtime and were going to give it to them, but it rimmed out so we won.”
Central Catholic 68, Everett 65
Division 1 North Semifinals
Central Catholic (68): Bret Edwards 5 0-1 10, Victor Mwaurah 2 1-2 6, Dom Keegan 5 0-0 15, Sam Lara 3 0-0 6, Colin Bradanese 7 4-6 20, Manny Sanchez 1 0-0 2, George Smith 0 0-0 0, Kevin Constant 0 9-14 9, Andy Kalala 0 0-0 0, Matt Downer 0 0-0 0, Almando Marinez 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 14-25 68
Everett (65): Isaiah Likely 6 3-5 15, Ghared Boyce 6 7-8 21, Donnell Skeen 1 0-0 2, Theo Zidor 5 0-2 10, Jordan McAfee 7 0-0 17, Shooby Beldor 0 0-0 0, Gabriel DeSouza 0 0-0 0, Jalen Iles-Smith 0 0-2 0, Christopher Jenkins 0 0-0 0, Arlind Shehy 0 0-0 0. Totals: 25 10-17 65
3-pointers: CC — Keegan 5, Bradanese 2, Mwaurah; E — McAfee 3, Gh. Boyce 2
Everett (19-3): 15 19 17 14 — 65
Central Catholic (20-5): 13 22 12 21 — 68
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Boys Basketball, 03/08/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
