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Lowell ends Ranger run

LOWELL – The look on coach Anthony Faradie's face was not one of excitement.

Judging by the leaps his program took this year, it soon will be, at least when the dust settles.

“Tough to find it in any 30-point loss,” lamented Methurn High's Faradie after his Rangers watched No. 2 seeded Lowell run away and hide here in yesterday's Division 1 North quarterfinal at the Riddick Fieldhouse, 84-53.

Faradie's first Rangers' state tourney team set a foundation in this 14-10 campaign, a season that included a first-round road win at Lynn English and three regular-season head-turners over Lawrence.

Oh yeah, and if you looked at the Rangers' two leading scorers yesterday, they were sophomores Evan Hardy (12) and Dante Rivera (10).

“I think we were just a little nervous, I mean none of these guys have played in state tournament games,” said Faradie.

Speaking of sophomores, Lowell has a pretty good one, too, in Alex Rivera.

The 5-11 assassin had “one of those days,” knocking down 11 of 15 shots for a game-high 29 points.

Unconscious would be the best term to describe his migration from the second quarter to the third.

He closed out the second with back-to-back threes, including an off-balance leaner at the buzzer. Rivera lit it up on the other end for three more bombs, all unanswered as the Lowell advantage went from 33-27 to 48-27 in a blink.

“The third quarter has been a problem all year, and I'm not sure why,” said Faradie. “Rivera just came out and made everything. He took over the game.”

Lowell felt Rivera's flow, too, as the Raiders rolled up a 33-13 third quarter and the carnage was complete.

The Raiders will next face No. 3 Everett, at Beverly in the North semifinals on Wednesday night.

Faradie's crew loses a trio of quality senior leaders in Keegan Lannon, David Dizazzo and James Ogunjobi.

“We've got some really good kids coming, too,” said Faradie. “We like the way things are headed right now.”