RallyNorth.net

BOSTON — After three straight losses in early January, Central Catholic boys basketball, for the first time in a long time, looked vulnerable.

After opening the season with three straight wins, Central lost to St. Anthony’s of Jersey City, N.J., Andover in the Christmas tourney final and North Andover High.

Lloyd Hayes hauled in the puck, skated in a breakaway and fired a shot that squited through the pads of the gialie 5-hole with less than two minutes to left to give Central Catholic a 4-3 victory over perennial powerhouse Catholic Memoral, the No. 3 ranked team in the state.

Central Catholic won two of three meets in a quad-meet, losing only to Milton (36-27). Tom Pagliarulo continued his fine season, going 3-0 at 106.

Rick O'Connor opened the scoring with a 2-run home run in the third, and Jeff Martelli added some insurance with a three-run homer in the fourth as North Andover bested Catholic Memorial 6-1.

Mike Kelleher's first-period goal gave Central Catholic a 1-1 tie with perrenial power Catholic Memorial. Steve Merrick and Lloyd Hayes each assisted on the goal and Kyle Williams made 27 saves for the Raiders.

Central Catholic needed to win against Catholic Memorial to make the state tournament. With help from Robert Petrosillo posting his fifth shutout of the season and goals from Adam Johnson and Zack Bunnell, Central was able to best Memorial 2-0 to make the state tournament.

WEST ROXBURY — There is not much positive you can take from this one if you're Haverhill, which totaled 81 yards of offense in a 35-0 loss to No. 8 Catholic Memorial yesterday. 

St. John's Prep was lead to a 239 to 251 victory over Catholic Memorial, by Haverhill's Nick Maccario and Atkinson's Nick Pandelena who both shot 39's.

 WEST ROXBURY – If it weren’t for bad luck, Haverhill wouldn’t have any at all.

Catholic Memorial returned the opening kick of the second half 89 yards for a score and Haverhill fumbled on the goal line in its sole chance to get back into the game in the fourth quarter, falling to the Knights 27-6.

One preseason baseball poll had Catholic Memorial rated No. 2 in EMass Division 1.
Marc Pelletier begs to differ.
"That's the No. 1 team in the state," stated the coach after his Central Raiders battled hard but fell to CM, 9-6, yesterday. "It was our fifth time outside, and they've played nine times (including scrimmages). We didn't pitch like we needed to, but I definitely see some bright side."
Timmy Wheeler had a monster day at the plate, with three hits and four RBIs. Matt Pelletier and Robbie Taylor added two hits each.