RallyNorth.net

Classic survival for Central

Sunday, March, 09 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

LOWELL | An epic disaster was brewing for Central Catholic before more than 5,500 fans in the Division 1 North final here at Tsongas Arena.

The Raiders, who were outscored 14-0 in a nearly seven-minute span from late in the third until 6:16 of the fourth quarter, simply wouldn't let it happen.

Junior Billy Marsden once again thrust himself into the postseason spotlight, nailing a baseline runner and drawing a blocking foul in the process.

His traditional three-point play with 24.1 seconds left gave Central a 55-53 lead, a margin that held up despite a wild closing stretch.

"That's what he does, Marsden hits big shots," said Central coach Rick Nault. "He really craves that moment. He wants to make the big play, not because he's selfish, but just because he's so confident there."

With the victory, Central, now 23-2, advances to tomorrow night's Eastern Mass. title game at the TD Banknorth Garden against Division 1 South champ BC High. That one tips off at 7:45 p.m. The Eagles beat Central in the regular-season finale, 64-60.

The Garden berth almost never happened for Central, which looked to be in complete control through three quarters with a 50-39 lead.

Just then, the hoop closed on Central, and Lowell, which shared the MVC large title with the Raiders, closed in for the kill.

"We fell apart, we felt like we were playing well in the third," said Nault. "We just got out of synch in the fourth. It seemed like we hadn't been a team all year."

As the lead melted away slowly, it got tougher and tougher for Central, which also lost a big lead in a crushing loss to Cambridge in the 2007 North finals.

Merrimack Valley Conference co-MVP Fernando Perez helped bring the Raiders back the hard way, with four buckets, all going right at 6-foot-9 Carson Desrosiers.

David Brown's two foul shots with 4:30 left gave Lowell its first lead since the first quarter at 51-50.

"I was saying to myself this can't be happening again," said Nault. "I just thought, 'What am I doing wrong?'

"But we rallied and got it together in the last two minutes. We made some big defensive plays and a couple of big hoops." Central would not score for nearly three minutes more until sophomore Carson Desrosiers hit a smooth 10-foot fallaway with 1:44 to play.

After each team endured an empty trip, the lefty Perez drove the lane and scored again, giving Lowell its final advantage at 53-52 with 55 seconds left.

Lowell's fatal flaw was giving the Raiders two chances. An Adrian Gonzalez missed banker went off a Lowell player and Central got the ball with just about 30 seconds to play.

Marsden took the inbounds pass in the right corner, pump-faked a three and then drove the baseline, floating a one-hander over the traffic as Lowell's Jethro Kollie stepped in underneath.

The hoop and hack sent the immense Central student section into a frenzy.

But the work wasn't done.

Perez tried Gonzalez this time, but was bumped outside. He missed the free throw, and Desrosiers pulled in his 11th rebound.

Desrosiers left Lowell a chance, missing a pair before Central finally finished the job on the defensive end. Senior Rory Blinn got his hands on a Lowell entry pass and KB Oshodi came away with it as the clock read just 2.7 seconds to play.

Oshodi also missed both free throws but with the scramble and the clock running, all Lowell could muster was a 70-foot heave that wasn't close.

"That's a great team," said Nault. "If we play them 10 times, I'll bet we go 5-5."

Additional stories:

• Big Shot Billy's legend grows