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Pagan, seniors go out in style

Monday, March, 17 By David Willis
Staff writer

WORCESTER | Central Catholic point guard Wilfredo Pagan had to take a moment to wipe a few tears from his eyes as he reflected on the game that had just ended.

"I'm living a dream," said Pagan. "From the start of our freshman year, we wanted to win a state championship. This was my last high school game, and you can't go out any better than that."

Pagan picked the right day to put together the game of his career.

The 5-foot-9 senior stalwart went off for a season-high 21 points, using his much-documented speed to drive to the lane and draw fouls. He finished the night 11 of 14 from the free-throw line.

"Scoring's not what I do," said Pagan, whose previous season high was 16 in the Raiders' regular-season loss to BC High. "But I got aggressive and tried to pick it up. The guy guarding me (6-food David White) was bigger than me. But I was quicker.Plus, I noticed he was a lefty, so I tried to go to his right and it was bothering him."

Pagan did plenty more than score. He added nine assists and grabbed four steals, pestering St. John's of Shrewsbury all night.

"Wilfredo is our heart," said coach Rick Nault. "If you looked at him, he has floor burns all over his arms. He never comes out, and he never gives up.

"But all of our seniors are special kids and very good athletes. When you have those pieces, special things can happen."

Indeed, all of the seniors played and savored the win.

"This is something this school has only done once," said senior Rory Blinn. "To go down in history as one of the best teams in Central Catholic history is something very special."

It was role player Justin Narbonne who contributed the most iconic moment of the night.

Inside the final moments of the game, Narbonne knocked down a jumper from the corner. As soon as it dropped through, he ran past the Raiders crowd and held up No. 1 to the screaming Crazies.

"When I hit that shot, I had to hold up No. 1 because we are No. 1," said the senior, clutching the white jersey of late teammate Ryan Bourque. "But it didn't hit me until I hit the locker room and coach (Nault) gave me a hug. This is pretty emotional."

Fellow senior KB Oshodi (3 points) once again provided his brand of stellar defense and energized the starters, including star Adrian Gonzalez (28 points).

"KB came off the bench and brings the energy and defense," said Pagan. "Walson (Constant) comes in and shoots and Rory does the little things. Everyone made their mark."

Added Constant (7 points): "We wanted to leave our mark with a win, and we did it. We accomplished our goal."

            

Additional stories:

• Central romps to state title
• Same time, next year?
• Perfect ending for a (nearly) perfect team