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Methuen's boys basketball team was firing up 3-pointers as usual (eight overall), but it was the Rangers' defense that stood out in a 69-54 victory. The Rangers held Medford to 15 points at halftime and then coasted in the second half. Mike Gorman led the offense with 25 points.

Edwin Gonzalez scored 31 points, including eight 3-pointers, as Methuen boys basketball bounced back with a 63-52 win over Dracut.  Matt Richardson registered a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds while Mike Gorman added eight assists to his seven points. 

METHUEN - Your basic, run-of-the-mill 29-point third quarter will remedy even the most desperate losing streak.

Andover High, sluggishly trudging through a three-game mini-skid, finally kicked it into gear out of the halftime intermission, rolling out a 29-15 third quarter to starch host Methuen, 76-61, last night.

Sophomore Raudy Minaya had a big night for Methuen basketball, collecting 7 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists to lead the Rangers in a 60-46 victory over Tewksbury.

Methuen's Michael Gorman (32 points) buried nine 3-point shots but the Rangers came up short in a 71-59 decision to Pinkerton Academy, in the firth place game of the Greater Lawrence Christmas Tourney. Edwin Gonzalez (10 points) and Matt Richardson (10) each had a pair of 3-pointers for the Rangers (3-4).

It wasn’t pretty, but a lot of Andover’s wins this year might not be works of art according to Golden Warriors’ coach Dave Fazio.
“Our offense has a ways to go, but we have 10 guys in our rotation who can play some defense,” said Fazio after Andover’s 60-47 victory over Methuen in the final first-round game of the day. “Hopefully, we can wear teams down.”
That’s indeed what happened as Methuen (2-3) rode four early 3-pointers to a 16-11 first-quarter lead, but — facing a tenacious trapping Andover defense — couldn’t find the range on a consistent basis the rest of the game.
The Warriors’ defense was at its best in the decisive second quarter, forcing seven turnovers and holding the Rangers to only eight shots and eight points. A 9-0 run gave Andover (4-0) a 27-24 halftime lead.
Some sub-par shooting (17 of 50) by Andover kept Methuen close until the fourth quarter when an 11-0 run gave the Warriors a double-digit lead they would hold onto.
Sophomore Joe Bromanti led the Warriors with four 3-pointers and 17 points and Kevin Polanco chipped in with 15 points, including 11 in the second half, and helped Andover dominated the boards. Connor Arnold added nine points, including seven in the second half.

Methuen senior Matt Richardson had a huge game with 15 points and 19 rebounds as the Rangers downed Medford, 67-47. Making the feat all the more impressive is the fact that Richardson is a 6-2 guard, not the typical stature of rebound machine.

Methuen may have lost to Lowell, 67-49, but Edwin Gonzalez played the game of his life.

"He was unreal," coach Rich Barden said. 

Gonzalez scored a career-high 34 points and hit eight 3-pointers. Unfortunately for the Rangers, they entered the fourth quarter ahead by a point only to get outscored 25-9 in the final frame.  

Edwin Gonzalez (19) and Matt Richardson (13) racked up 32 combined points to help Methuen topple North Andover, 54-37, in the season opener for both squads. North Andover held the lead after the first quarter, 6-4, but Methuen stormed back with a 16-point second quarter to go up 20-12 at the half. Evan Sheehan led the way for the Scarlet Knights with eight points, and Ryan Bruynell contributed six points and six rebounds for a depleted North Andover squad that was missing several seniors.