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NORTH ANDOVER - All season long, through a 15-game winning ride, North Andover High found a way to shut teams down.

Last night, there was just no answer for Matt Trahan and Burlington High. The All-Middlesex League senior netted 11 of his game-high 26 points in the third quarter, lifting the No. 10 Red Devils past the second-seeded Knights, 65-47.

North Andover's boys, trailing by nine with two minutes left, rallied to tie the score in regulation, on a Matt Sifferlen put-back at the buzzer, and then took control in overtime for a 69-58 victory over Wilmington. It was the Knights' second win in 10 days over the arch-rival Wildcats. Matt O'Connell had four 3-pointers and 19 points for North Andover.

North Andover's boys clinched the Cape Ann League large school division in rousing fashion with a 59-49 victory over Masconomet. Senior Nick Fay led the way for the Knights (12-0 in CAL, 14-3 overall) with 17 points and Matt Sifferlen added 12. Trailing 15-8 after the first quarter, North Andover took the lead for good with a monster 25-point second quarter.

Andrew Fecteau and Colin Smith scored eight points each for Triton. Charles Anderson had four points and four assists.

Methuen got the better of North Andover in their initial meeting back on Dec. 14, 54-37, but the Knights turned the tables and snuck out a 60-54 victory in spite of trailing 17-10 at the end of the first quarter. Tommy O'Connell (10) and Alex Blane (10), neither of whom played in the season opener, combined for 20 points. Evan Sheehan (15 points) and Matt Sifferlen (13 points) each hit three from beyond the arc. The Knights (12-3) held Rangers standout Edwin Gonzalez to just 5 points, while Chris Murach stepped up big to hit four 3-pointers and score 16 total points.

North Andover boys basketball sealed up a state tournament berth with its 10th win of the season, a 58-39 victory over North Reading. Nick Fay led the Knights in scoring with 12 points, and John Warden had a huge performance with eight points and eight rebounds. Kevin Lentini scored a team-high nine points for the Hornets as North Andover didn't allow a single double-digit scorer.

NORTH ANDOVER - The inferiority complex building with every victory, North Andover High chose the proactive route. "The papers, nothing. Nobody was even talking about us," said Knight junior Matt Sifferlen. "We kept hearing an awful lot about Georgetown, though. And that was pretty much our motivation." With Sifferlen exploding for 15 of his game-high 19 points in the second half, North Andover, now 9-3, erased a a second-quarter 16-point hole with a ferocious 24-3 run. Handing Georgetown its first Cape Ann League loss, 59-50, the Knights protected their home turf and their sagging reputation among the CAL large elite. "That's an excellent basketball team," said Knight coach Mike McVeigh of the now 10-2 Royals, who came in off a gigantic upset of Masconomet. "They were one point (a 54-53 loss to unbeaten Cathedral) from coming in here undefeated. Our guys got down early, but they never panicked and that was the key." Indeed, the Royals looked like they'd run the Knights right out of their own gym early, even with super soph Jaymie Spears picking up two fouls in the first 29 seconds. Julio Colon had nine and Josh Ingram seven as the Royals built their lead, but at 22-6 lead with 4:50 to intermission shrunk to 29-21 by the break. The Knights were coming, and there was little Georgetown could do about it. Sifferlen, Jeff Surette and Nick Fay all had hoops in the paint, forcing the Royals to collapse. "Coach told us to go inside first, and that would make the threes come easier," said Sifferlen. Suddenly, all those Knight bombs that clanged off in the first 16 minutes started tingling net. Tommy O'Connell (10 points), Sifferlen and Scott Ricketts (9 points) all drilled triples, and North Andover led by seven headed to the stretch run at 43-36. Georgetown, led by Spears with 15 points on 4 of 14 shooting, would get no closer than five the rest of the way. "Our press wasn't effective and we just couldn't buy a basket in the third quarter," said Georgetown coach Mike Rowinski.

After missing a game with the flu, Joe Clancy had a monster game with 16 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, and two steals, but it was not enough to escape North Andover. Bruce Pollard also had nine points, and Nick Welch had nine rebounds.

 It was a tough game for Amesbury, who were without the services of David Smith as well as Bill Medvitz and Jared Flannigan for much of the game. Steve Serwon had eight points and 18 rebounds in the loss.

Sophomore Evan Sheehan hit a pair of 3-pointers on his way to a game-best 15 points as North Andover salvaged the 7th place game at yesterday's Greater Lawrence Christmas Tourney, 46-34, over Greater Lawrence. Matt Sifferlen had 11 for the Knights (3-3) while Donald Celestin led the Reggies (3-3) with nine points.