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Central squeezes a quarterfinal win

Thursday, February, 28 By Jeff Hamrick

LAWRENCE – There are several cliches about beating a team three times in a season, and Central Catholic nearly fell prey to the worst of those Thursday night.

Playing a Billerica team they easily handled twice in the regular-season, the Raiders first had to rally from a shocking halftime deficit and then watch a potential game-winning three rattle and roll around the rim with 3 seconds left before escaping with a tenacious 46-45 victory in the Division 1 North quarterfinals.

“We knew they’d come in with nothing to lose,” Central coach Casey Grange said of the Indians, who had scored nine points or fewer in seven of the eight quarters of MVC play. “They lost to us by (36 and 23) points, so of course they’re going to play their hearts out.

“I don’t think we took them lightly. It was just they were on at the start of the game, and we weren’t. It was just going to be a close game.”

It wasn’t close the first 12 minutes as 11th-seeded Billerica (12-10) found its range early with Haley Reinold and Madison Watford combining for four first-half threes. The Indians led by seven with 2:43 left in the first and by 12 with 5:50 left in the half. Billerica’s 15-point second was its most productive period in the three Central games as the Indians opened their largest lead at 29-16 less than a minute before intermission.

“I knew it was going to turn around in the second half,” Grange said. “We talked about how we had to take it one possession at a time. We couldn’t score 10 points on one possession.”

An awesome third by Nadeshka Bridgewater helped the Raiders (18-4) claw back. The 5-foot-3 point guard paced the Central press, making four steals – one of which she turned into a runaway layup that cut the deficit to 36-33 with 3:38 remaining.

“Starting off I don’t think I was mentally prepared,” said Bridgewater, who added three free throws and a couple rebounds in the quarter. “But I knew I had to be there fighting for my teammates. It was so intense I had butterflies in my stomach.”

Third-seeded Central took its first lead at 39-36 on a three-point play by Kaylee Thomas off a baseline drive with 5:36 remaining. A Bridgewater layup provided its biggest lead 41-36 moments later.

“She was awesome,” Grange said of Bridgewater. “When she plays disciplined defense, she gets us steals that are such game-changing plays. When she’s on, she’s on.”

But Billerica, which committed 13 of its 18 turnovers after intermission, battled back to tie behind Reinold, who had a game-high 25.

A Central timeout led to a Thomas three from the top with 3:05 left for a 44-41 advantage. A Thomas drive made it 46-43 with 1:58 remaining. But a Reinold runner cut the margin to one with 17 seconds left.

A turnover on Central’s ensuing possession gave Billerica a final shot, but Julia Trainor’s three bounced off the rim a couple times before Thomas hauled in the rebound with 2.2 seconds left.

“We started off rough, but we went into the locker room strong,” said Thomas, who scored 14 of her team-high 20 in the second half. “We knew we had to fight our hardest to win that game. It was a complete team win and everyone did what they had to do to get that win.”

The Raiders advance to play the winner of tonight’s game between No. 2 Peabody and seventh-seed Haverhill in the semifinals.