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Hernandez, Central rally past Lawrence

Friday, January, 23 By David Willis
Staff writer

LAWRENCE — The sky seemed to be falling for Central Catholic boys basketball just two weeks ago.

The Raiders had suffered a rough loss on the TD Garden court to St. John’s Prep on Sept. 10, their fourth loss in five games, and their record had slipped to 3-7 for the season.

“We were feeling rough after that loss,” said sophomore star Kevin Fernandez. “The atmosphere around the locker room was bad. We were so frustrated in ourselves.”

Now 14 days later, the vibe around the Raiders is considerably different.

“Oh yeah, a LOT different,” said forward Sam Lara with a smile.

Tied at halftime, Central Catholic rode Fernandez’s 19 second-half points to defeat dangerous Lawrence High 69-53 on Friday at Central.

It was the Raiders’ fourth straight victory, and evened their record at 7-7.

“When you are 3-7 the whole world looks like it’s ending,” said Raiders coach Rick Nault. “I told the guys with wins comes confidence, and we are playing with a lot more confidence after four wins. We are finally believing in one another.”

Nault’s squad had a whole new look to them last night, executing on the court and celebrating after the victory.

“Our confidence is up and we are on a run,” said Lara, who scored 15 points. “Our confidence is through the roof right now. We are finally having fun and playing the way we should. Right now, we believe we can do anything.”

That feeling did not exist after falling to the Prep 71-58 just days after an upset bid against archrival Andover fell just short.

“That was a bad day for us,” said Lara of the Prep loss. “We didn’t feel good then. But we got back to practice, got focused and now we have changed everything.”

The Raiders followed that Garden loss with three straight victories — over Sutton, Lowell and Dracut — but last night did not start so easy.

Lawrence jumped out early to a 20-13 lead, and led by 25 combined points by Andy Henriquez and Julio Vicente in the first two quarters owned the momentum at halftime.

“Lawrence is a talented team,” said Fernandez. “They were on the break the whole time in the first half and that got us. So we made a few changes at halftime. Tanahj (Pettway) and I started to stay back to slow them down and Brian (Triglione) took Dantae Neal.

“Coach also came over to me after having a tough first half (one point) and told me I had to step up. It is my home town and I wanted to show them I could play.”  

Fernandez opened the second half with a tough drive to the basket for two points. After A.J. Pettway hit a jumper Fernandez continued to sizzle with a pullup jumper, then a nifty up-and-under layup.

By the end of the third Central had made it 49-40, and Lawrence would muster just a minor rally in the fourth.

“Lawrence came out and punched us in the mouth,” said Nault. “But the good thing is we responded. In the second half we got stops and we were pushing the ball, and that is when we are at our best.

“A lot of people are questioning right now if we are going to make the tournament. But right now, I am confident we can not just make it but make a run.”