RallyNorth.net

READING — Central Catholic survived 27 sectional quarterfinal turnovers against Lowell.

Last night here before about 1,500 fans in the Division 1 North semifinals, No. 5 Charlestown inflicted damage with each of Central's 26 giveaways, pounding out a 54-47 decision and earning a trip to Tsongas Arena for the North title game Saturday.

LAWRENCE — Four score and four wins to go, Central Catholic's bounding ballers kept their postseason drive alive, rumbling past Lowell High, 61-49, in the Division 1 North quarterfinals before about 1,500 crazed fans here last night.

LAWRENCE — Returning to the court for the first time in 10 days, Central Catholic convincingly kicked off what it hopes will be a six-game journey that ends with the program’s third state championship in five years. Top-seeded Central advanced to the Division 1 North quarterfinals by routing 16th-seeded Medford 69-40. “I told them it was the first step,” Central coach Rick Nault said. “We have a certain goal that we want to accomplish and this was the first step to get to that goal. I think the guys came out ready to go tonight and take care of business.” By taking care of business, Nault was referring to Central’s rollicking start against the visiting Mustangs (11-11), who were coming off the school’s first postseason win since 1999 in the preliminary round over Peabody. With junior forward Joel Berroa asking for the ball and getting nice feeds inside to the tune of nine first-quarter points, the Raiders (21-1) jumped to an easy 18-7 lead through the first eight minutes. It didn’t stop there as the 6-foot-4 Berroa added seven more of his game-high 21 points in the second quarter, helping Central open a 36-15 advantage at intermission. Nault said, “We established the post game with Joel early on … And that’s key for us. We know we have perimeter players with Tyler (Nelson) and Lucas (Hammel) and Shawn McCoy. But when we can get (inside players) Joel, Dougie (Gemmell) and Nick (Cambio) going, that’s when we’re really pretty good on the offensive end.” While the offense was clicking, shooting 47 percent in the opening half, Central’s defense was more than holding up its end of the bargain, limiting the Mustangs to only five field goals before intermission. At one point in the second quarter, Gemmell (3), Cambio and reserve Mike Barry combined to block shots on five of seven Medford possessions. “You obviously have to be real strong with the ball,” Medford coach Anthony Faradie said. “(Their) ball pressure is outstanding. You have to have people who can take the ball off the bounce to the (basket) simply because their denial is so good.” Central also received significant minutes off the bench. With Cambio leading the way, Raider reserves combined for 30 points and eight assists. In Sunday’s quarterfinals (6 p.m. at Central), the Raiders will play the winner of tonight’s contest between No. 8 Lowell and No. 9 Somerville. Lowell was the only team to defeat Central this season in a 62-56 decision on Feb. 3.  

LAWRENCE — If there was any doubt Central Catholic deserves the top seed in the upcoming Division 1 North Sectionals, it was removed in the final 4 seconds of last night’s IAABO Board 130 Classic championship.

LAWRENCE — The Joel Berroa All-Scholastic defensive tour continues, much to the delight of the folks at Central Catholic.

Central Catholic has had bigger stars and more star power.

Rick Nault, though, said he's never had a more driven squad.

"I don't think many people would have had us at 18-1 at this point," said Nault, whose Raiders claimed sole possession of their sixth straight MVC Division 1 title with a 72-54 thumping of Andover last night.

Highlights of Central's victory over Andover, along with interviews with the Raider captains.

Luis Puello hurt his ankle again in the first quarter and didn't return but Central Catholic still rolled to a 74-46 win over Haverhill. Joel Berroa scored a game-high 16 points while Parker Rogers led the Hillies with 11.

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.”

Unbeaten Central Catholic, which is ranked first in all the EMass. and statewide polls, trailed by 12 at the half and never could catch up in a 62-56 shocker to Lowell. Central had won 22 straighht games vs. MVC teams dating back to a loss to Andover in the 2010 Greater Lawrence Christmas Tourney. The Raiders had won 53 straight MVC regular-season games since losing to Lowell on Jan. 16 2008.