RallyNorth.net

Lawrence Lancers Boys Basketball '17-'18

Sat, Mar 10, 2018 07:30 PM @ Neutral Location
Team 1 2 3 4 Final
Lawrence 9 21 11 15 56
Everett 16 13 14 25 68

Lawrence falls in North final to Everett

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Saturday, March, 10 By Jeff Hamrick

LOWELL — Lawrence couldn’t have found a worse time to have its worst quarter of the season.

Missing lay-up after lay up and free throw after free throw, the second-seeded Lancers watched a two-point deficit after three quarters blow up in the fourth quarter as top-seeded Everett ran away with a 68-56 victory in the Division 1 North finals at the Tsongas Center.

“We have to give credit to Everett,” Lawrence coach Ramond Nunez said. “They were playing in this game because they’re a great team. They’re well coached and we were competing against them. You have to give them credit for their defense and they’re offensive execution.”

Playing in its first North final since 2011, Lawrence opened the game unable to find the basket, converting only four of its 17 first-quarter shots.

“I just mentioned that there were no words I could say or any of my assistant coaches could say to take away the pain of the loss of this game,” Nunez said. “But throughout the year, they’ve represented themselves well, the city, themselves, their family and their school. We couldn’t thank them or appreciate them more.”

After falling behind by 11 only 5 minutes into the game, Lawrence rallied in the second quarter behind Christian Kinsley and Juan Felix Rodriguez, who combined for 11 in the second quarter to forge a 30-29 halftime advantage.

Not only did Kinsley nail three three-pointers in the half, but also held Everett’s 2,000-point scorer Ghared Boyce to 7 in the half.

But Boyce was not to be denied in the second half, scoring 10 in the third quarter and 21 of his game-high 28 after intermission.

“Coach told me to keep being aggressive, so I got to the line and got to the basket,” Boyce said. “And we finished on defense to win the game.”

Lawrence (21-3) trailed 43-41 entering the fourth, but the Crimson Tide (23-1) scored the period’s first 11 points to take a 54-41 lead. Boyce scored 10 of Everett’s first 12 points in the quarter.

The Lancers, meanwhile managed only a Chris Ruiz drive with 5:02 remaining during the first six minutes of the crucial fourth.
But Everett’s defense was the story, holding down the explosive Lancers, who averaged 74.0 points in their previous two tourney games.

“We played great defense,” said Everett coach John DiBiaso, who won his 500th career game last week to go along with his 304 football victories. We worked as a team. We asked a couple guys to cover (Luis Reynoso, 6 points) and (Juan Felix Rodriguez, 11 points). We alternated guys on them, and they did a great job.”

Ruiz led the Lancers with 14 points, while Kinsley added 12 and Rodriguez 11.

Game Statistics:

Division 1 North Final
LAWRENCE (56):
 Juan Felix Rodriguez 5 0-1 11, Christian Kinsley 4 0-0 12, Jaden Castillo 0 4-4 4, Sebastian Dilone 0 0-0 0, Luis Reynoso 2 2-5 6, Chris Ruiz 6 0-0 14, Miguel Camacho 2 0-0 6, Angel Vasquez 1 0-0 3. TOTALS 20 6-10 56

EVERETT (68): Isaiah Likely 5 1-3 11, Ghared Boyce 11 5-7 28, Monte Campbell 0 2-2 2, Caleb Jacobs 4 0-0 9, Jalen Iles-Smith 3 0-0 6, Nathaniel Mehu 1 0-0 2, Erick Thompson 3 0-0 6, Jake Wilcox 0 0-0 0, Shooby Beldor 2 0-0 4, Marcus Alexis 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 29 8-12 68

3-pointers: LAWRENCE — Kinsley 4, Ruiz 2, Camacho 2, Rodriguez, Vasquez; EVERETT — Boyce, Jacobs

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