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Central rolls past Andover

Friday, February, 01 By Alan Siegel
Staff writer

LAWRENCE — In a rare in-game meeting between opposing head coaches, Andover's Dave Fazio smiled and gave Central Catholic's Rick Nault a playful shove.

"I thought I had you," Fazio said.

It was late in the third quarter, and the Raiders had just crushed any hope of a full Golden Warriors comeback. Andover, Fazio conceded, just didn't have enough to stay with Central.

To beat the Raiders in their house, "Everything has to be going right," Fazio said after Central prevailed 66-44 in front of an overflow crowd last night.

Nault's club didn't come close to suffering a let down after beating Lowell Tuesday. The Raiders hit their first seven shots, and nine of their first 10, to build a 22-8 first-quarter advantage. The lead never dipped below 10 points the rest of the way.

"That's when we knew we got them," said senior forward Adrian Gonzalez, who scored 14 points, including a two-handed jam in the first.

He pointed to the "Central Crazies" afterward, drawing a technical foul. The dunk, however, served its purpose. It sent the crowd — and the Raiders — into a frenzy.

Said Gonzalez, who finished with a team-high nine rebounds, "It's all good."

Judging by the early returns, he was correct.

"To have a quarter like that kind of sets the tone for the night," Nault said of the explosive first.

It's not like the Raiders (12-1, 9-1 Merrimack Valley Conference) needed extra motivation. The Golden Warriors (10-5, 6-4 MVC) were in town.

"Central-Andover is always special," Nault said. "It's easy to get fired up."

Fazio's club made it interesting in the third quarter, using an 11-2 run to cut a 39-20 Central lead to 41-31 with 2:58 left.

The Raiders, however, answered with a spurt of their own. Two buckets by Carson Desrosiers (9 points) and a Billy Marsden jumper put Central up 48-31 and provoked the good-natured exchange between Fazio and Nault.

Marsden was immense down the stretch, scoring 14 of his team-high 20 points in the second half. Senior point guard Wilfredo Pagan (7 points, 6 assists) was also effective, using his speed to crack Andover's back-court pressure. Essentially, the night unfolded exactly as the Raiders envisioned it.

"After Lowell," Marsden said, "we had to make sure we didn't let down."

The way Central sprinted out of the gates proved that wouldn't happen.

"That was the best quarter we've played (this year)," Marsden said.

Said Fazio: "They jumped us."

Beasley a bright spot

Senior guard Derrick Beasley had a nice night for Andover, scoring a team-high 13 points. He fearlessly drove the lane, crashed the boards and finished 5 of 8 from free-throw line.