RallyNorth.net

By David Willis

dwillis@eagletribune.com

LAWRENCE — Andover head coach David Fazio hugged his wife, daughter, son and just about everyone within his reach.

“This was a long time coming,” said Fazio. “We’ve been the bridesmaid so many damn times over the years. It’s nice to finally be the bride. It is so special.”

LAWRENCE — As the seconds dwindled down, Andover assistant David Giribaldi implored the Golden Warriors, “Act like you’ve been there before.” Uh, coach, they haven’t been. Neither has pretty much anybody else in the state. Andover pulled out a pulsating 55-52 win over three-time defending champion Central Catholic to move onto the Greater Lawrence Christmas Tourney finals tomorrow night vs. North Andover. If you bleed Blue and Gold, it doesn’t get much sweeter than beating the defending state champions, who are again ranked No. 1 in the state. To be the first MVC team to beat the Raiders in almost three years — Lowell did it on Jan. 16, 2008 — was going to take a little magic. Unsung senior Van Caraviello, making his first career start, made like Larry Bird by draining two free throws with 12.3 seconds left as Andover snapped a 14-game losing streak to CCHS dating back to Jan. 6, 2006. “I did it for everybody before me,” said Caraviello. Was he cool, calm and collected? “I was peeing!” He didn’t tell Andover coach David Fazio he might be having bladder problems, though. When Fazio asked if he was going to make them, he said nonchalantly, “Yeah, I got it.” “Van the Man’s” 1-for-3 free throw shooting on the season prior to last night, notwithstanding, his coaches and teammates claimed they knew he’d deliver. He knew he had to. “They had to go down. There was no option,” insisted Caraviello. They went down and so did Central. Bedlam ensued 12.3 seconds later as Andoverites stormed the court. Caraviello, who hit his two earlier free throw attempts last night, said, “Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to start a big game and I wanted to hit a big shot.” Well, scratch two very important items off Caraviello’s bucket list! Andover’s 2-3 zone was giving Central fits but it looked like the Golden Warriors might be fried when their star guard, Joe Bramanti (20 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists), was whistled for his fifth foul with 2:10 left. This close to getting the monkey off their back and it was going to slip away, worried the Andover faithful. Not a 15th straight loss to Central! Not a 10th straight Christmas Tourney loss to those hated Raiders! Not so fast. A few thousand spectators might have thought Andover would cough up that 51-47 lead (51-49 after Central’s Luis Puello hit the two free throws.) But Joe Bramanti, he believed. “You gotta believe!” he said he told his teammates. When asked if he feared the dreaded Central jinx would continue, the Brama Bull turned deadly serious. “Nope. Nope,” he said shaking his head. Somebody would have to take the game over still, though. Central doesn’t hand over games. Enter talented sophomore Sam Dowden, who had been quiet until that point. “I knew I had to step up,” said the 6-4 forward. But to score, he’d have to go through 6-7 senior Jimmy Zenevitch, a strong candidate for Gatorade State Player of the Year honors. “I don’t really care who I go up against,” said the soft-spoken Dowden, in a case of uncharacteristic bravado. “Even Jimmy Zenevitch. I know what I can do.” He took it right to the reigning Christmas Tourney MVP and sank a pretty runner. Lucky shot? Hardly. “It’s just a lot of hours in the gym,” said Andover coach David Fazio. “I bet he made that move a million times at 6:30 a.m. at Andover High’s gym.” But never before with the hopes and dreams of a program riding on his shoulders.

The mighty have fallen Central Catholic had: Beaten Andover 14 straight times dating back to Jan. 6, 2006. Never lost to a conference foe since falling to Lowell on Jan. 16, 2008. Won the last three Christmas Tourneys and 11 of the last 14. Beaten Andover nine straight times in the Christmas Tourney dating back to 1987, when former coach Tom Ryser’s club beat the Raiders in OT.

LAWRENCE — Methuen took a 55-53 lead on a Kyle Mansour layup with 5:20 to play.

Andover, which is lacking depth to begin with, had two starters with four fouls. 

So there was good reason why Golden Warrior coach David Fazio looked like he was battling a bad case of indigestion.

ANDOVER — The game’s final play was one for the highlight reels, as Haverhill superstar sophomore Noah Vonleh jumped for an airball and, in one motion, slammed it home just before time expired. For the rest of the contest, however, Andover found the formula to keep the star silent in a 59-50 Golden Warriors victory last night. “They did a very good job on Noah,” said Hillies coach Mike Trovato. “He’ll have to learn how to adjust when teams are throwing all sorts of different things at him. He got into foul trouble, and that hurt him too. But It was a learning experience.” With Syracuse basketball associate head coach Bernie Fine in attendance, the Golden Warriors limited Vonleh — the No. 26-ranked sophomore in the country — to six points, all in the second half. “When you are facing a player that is one of the top players in the nation, he can go off at any time,” said Andover head coach David Fazio. “So we played smart defense. We did all we could to keep him out of the paint, and got the ball out of his hands.” James Costello, a 6-foot-2 junior, drew much of the duty guarding the 6-foot-7 Vonleh, with help including 6-foot-4 sophomore Sam Dowden. “Costello did a heck of a job,” said senior co-captain Joe Bramanti. “And we would collapse and help. We thought we had a good plan, and got off to a good start.” Vonleh was forced to the bench approximately five minutes into the contest, when he was whistled for his third foul of the game, two on charging calls. He did not play the entire second quarter. “We wanted to collapse on him,” said Dowden, who outscored his fellow sophomore with 15 points. “We forced him to the baseline and kept him off the glass.” Vonleh, who just received an offer from Pittsburgh, finally broke through with the first basket of the second half, and did manage a pair of impressive blocks. “He is still a 15-year-old and that was a very good team,” said Trovato. “And losing a whole quarter is tough. But it was still a four-point game going into the fourth quarter.” The Golden Warriors held just a 42-38 lead through three quarters, but opened the final frame on a 11-0 run. Bramanti had a pair of hoops and Brian Salvesen hit for all six of his points during the surge. “That was huge,” said Bramanti. “We built up a nice lead, and that allowed us to do what we wanted to do on the court. We felt more comfortable.” Andover never allowed the lead to drop below nine after that point. Bramanti scored a game-high 22 points, including a 3-pointer from NBA range, and Craig Luschenat added nine for the winners. The Hillies found some luck from the 3-point line, hitting 10 treys. Edwin Valentin hit three 3-pointers on his way to a team-high 12 points and Shain Roche also sunk three from behind the arc. “We played smarter on defense than we did on Saturday,” said Fazio. “But we have to play cleaner basketball. We have to remember you don’t get extra points for looking cool.”

LOWELL — A high school basketball coach never knows what he’ll get in a season opener. What Andover’s David Fazio got yesterday afternoon was a Clint Eastwood movie.

Despite never trailing by more than one point for all but the final 17 seconds, the Golden Warriors let their Merrimack Valley Conference opener slip away in a 50-47 defeat to Lowell at the Tsongas Center.