RallyNorth.net

ACTON —Lawrence High hit only one 3-point shot in its second round loss in the Div. 1 North state tournament.

Enough said.

Also, the fact that Acton-Boxboro High, hit seven of 13 shots from beyond the arc was enough to do in the Lancers, which end the season 15-6.

LAWRENCE — Pat Connaughton and Jaylen Alicea have moved on.

Lawrence's boys basketball team sanke 25 free throws, which was 16 more than Malden Catholic, in a 70-63 victory which gave the Lancers (14-5) third place in the Masconomet Tournament. Senior Tre'von Farley led the way with 21 points.

Reading rebounded from a three-point deficit to defeat Lawrence, 53-50 in the Masconomet Tourney. Tre'von Farley had 11 points, 13 rebounds and 4 assists for the Lancers in defeat while Franklin Martinez added 15 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists.

Second chance suits Lancers’ AriasANDOVER – A year ago last March, Yadoris Arias couldn’t begin to ponder his future.

Second chance suits Lancers’ AriasANDOVER – A year ago last March, Yadoris Arias couldn’t begin to ponder his future.

ANDOVER – A year ago last March, Yadoris Arias couldn’t begin to ponder his future.

Franklin Martinez lit up Lowell for 25 points and five 3-pointers and Yadoris Arias and Danny Gonzalez pumped in 12 each as Lawrence rolled 77-69.

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.”

LAWRENCE — A reporter hectored Franklin Martinez as to why he and the Lancers couldn't put four high-octane quarters of basketball together.

The honest answer was probably that true-blue,Paul Neal, Lancers basketball just takes so much out of you.