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Central beats buzzer then topples top-ranked Charlestown in OT

Wednesday, March, 05 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

Right now, the Charlestown High basketball braintrust is probably second-guessing its push to move last night's Division 1 North boys semifinal with Central Catholic out of Lawrence.

For the second straight year, the Raiders embraced Reading High like it was home, stunning the sectional's top seed, in this case the now 23-2 Townies, 74-63 in overtime to earn their sixth sectional final in the last eight years.

Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Tsongas Arena they'll play the winner of tonight's Lowell-Everett matchup (7 p.m. at Lawrence High).

As wild as the 2007 version was, with sharpshooter Billy Marsden nailing an off-balance last-minute three to gun down unbeaten Lexington, this one might have topped it, at least in the eyes of the 1,500 or so fans crammed in to the Reading High Field House.

The Raiders (22-2) weren't themselves through two-and-a-half quarters.

"They were hitting so many shots, and we couldn't find our rhythm," said Marsden. "They were gambling defensively at the beginning and hurting us. But it hurt them at the end." Central trailed 30-14 early in the second quarter, 40-28 in the third and 56-47 with less than five minutes to play ... And the Raiders were lucky.

The only things separating Central from an early blowout were Carson Desrosiers' defensive dominance and the unflappable Marsden, who continues to pen his own legend as one of the gutsiest state tournament performers in Raider history.

Central coach Rick Nault was all out of gimmicks. Charlestown, the consensus top-ranked team in Eastern Mass., toasted Central's man-to-man defense to the tune of a 25-point first quarter. Then the Townies had finally solved the Raiders' 2-3 zone and sliced through their halfcourt trap.

All Nault could call on was his players' pride as he flipped back to man-to-man one final time.

And that's when the Raiders made their game-changing 9-0 run.

Desrosiers opened the run with a 6-foot turnaround and senior Walson Constant nailed a three on his first shot attempt of the night.

Two Desrosiers free throws and a Constant leaner knotted things at 56-all with 1:50 left, but Charlestown wasn't done.

Greg Hackett rainbowed a runner over Desrosiers, and Ravon Dunbar's steal and lay-in made it 60-56 Townies with a minute to go.

Central nearly lost the ball three times on the next possession, but somehow Wilfredo Pagan saved the ball near midcourt. He found Adrian Gonzalez, who instinctively fired a 17-footer that found nothing but net.

Down two, the Raiders were forced to foul, and after a Charlestown miss, had possession and 16 seconds to play. Charlestown gave a foul to kill the clock, and the Raiders called timeout with just 2.1 seconds left in regulation.

"We knew if we got the ball to a guard, they would just foul (Charlestown still had one to give) and that would eat up the clock," said Nault. "So we decided to go to Carson."

Nault called for a lob to the big man, a perfect archer from Gonzalez to Desrosiers, who caromed in the game-winning lay-up as time ran out.

"I told Carson I was going to put it where he wanted, and just to finish it," said the Bentley-bound Gonzalez. "He caught it and finished. That got us to overtime, and we took over from there."

Headed to overtime, the Raiders had Charlestown in trouble and didn't relent.

Gonzalez' steal and fast-break hoop gave Central its first lead of the game. Then, it was Marsden, scooping in a long rebound and simply outrunning the lead-legged Townies down the floor for a 4-point lead.

Central's suffocating pressure finally got to the top seeds, whose only previous loss was in the city title game to East Boston High. Charlestown was held scoreless for nearly the entire four-minute OT, and Marsden, smelling blood, sealed the deal with a steal and assist to Gonzalez and then a three for a 69-60 advantage with 50 seconds left.

This one was over, and Central could celebrate.

"We're a championship team, we had to believe in ourselves," said Pagan. "We couldn't put our heads down. I kept telling the guys it wasn't over. Even with two seconds to go, I told these guys we were going to win this game."

Marsden led all scorers with 30 points, including 22 after halftime as the Raiders clawed back in it.

The incomparable Desrosiers added his second playoff triple-double with 16 points, 11 rebounds and an uncanny 18 blocks.

Gonzalez, feeling the effects of a painful oblique muscle strain, overcame a dreadful start with some huge plays down the stretch in a 12-point, nine-board effort.