Fri, Dec 29, 2017
06:00 PM @
Lawrence
| Team |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
OT |
Final |
| St. John's |
24 |
18 |
19 |
26 |
10 |
97 |
| Lawrence |
15 |
21 |
28 |
23 |
5 |
92 |
Prep rallies from 9 down late, beats Lawrence in OT classic
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Friday, December, 29
By Michael Muldoon
METHUEN — Lawrence led by 9 with 3:53 left and by 8 with just over 3 minutes left but St. John’s Prep forced overtime and pulled out a wild 97-92 thriller.
The Eagles (3-1) will play Central Catholic for the title tonight (7;45 p.m.) here at the Klimas Field House.
Prep coach John Dullea admitted, “It didn’t look good.”
The key play in the instant classic was a Lawrence intentional foul, leading to two free throws with LHS up 85-81 and 1:25 left in regulation.
Talented freshman guard Will Batchelder of Newburyport (13 points) sank both free throws and then on the ensuing possession canned a cold-blooded 3-pointer, which cut it to 1 with 1:03 left.
The Eagles took the lead on a corner 3-pointer with 33 seconds left and Lawrence (4-1) tied it as reigning Eagle-Tribune MVP Juan-Felix Rodriguez (32 points) hit 1 of 2 free throws with 23 seconds left.
In the extra session, 6-8 Tommy O’Neil had four of his 26 points. Rodriguez had a 3-point play to cut it to 92-90 and Jaden Castillo had a circus drive to cut it to 93-92 with 1:30 left. But the Prep scored the final four points.
Of the intentional foul, Dullea said, “That’s a huge play for us.”
Lawrence coach Raymond Nunez didn’t have much to say afterward.
Asked about the intentional foul, he said, “Officials will make calls whether I agree or disagree.”
He added, “We’ll come back tomorrow. It’s a long season. You win some and you lose some.”
This is a loss that will sting, there is no way to sugar-coat that.
Rodriguez was Rodriguez and rugged 6-4 junior Luis Reynoso (24 points including a dunk) at times took over the game with his powerful drives to the hoop.
Chris Ruiz (14 points) and Jaden Castillo (10 points) were other Lancer mainstays.
Batchelder has big local ties as his dad (Billy) and uncle (Rob Carpentier) were baseball stars from Andover and both played minor league ball.
The slender frosh was the X-factor against the patened Lawrence press as Jarnel Snow-Guzman battled foul problems. Batchelder backed O’Neil, skywalker Nate Hobbs (30 points) and sharpshooter Matt Relihan (20 points).
Game Statistics:
Commonwealth Classic Semifinal
St. John's (97): Snow-Guzman 2-0-4, O'Neil 9-7-26, Hobbs 9-11-30, Plourde 1-1-4, Batchelder 2-7-13, Relihan 6-3-20. Callahan 0-0-0. Totals 29-29-97
Lawrence (92): Camacho 0-0-0, Vazquez 0-2-2, Ruiz 5-3-14, Rodriguez 13-5-32, Kinsley 2-1-6, Castillo 4-2-10, Dilone 2-0-4, Reynoso 9-5-24. Totals
3-pointers: SJP: Relihan 5, Batchelder 2, O'Neil, Hobbs, Plourde; Law: Ruiz, Rodriguez, Kinsley, Reynoso
