RallyNorth.net

Lawrence back on track

Tuesday, January, 14 By Jeff Hamrick

LAWRENCE – A week ago, Lawrence had just gone through one of its worst four-day stretches of the century.

Three wins in the most recent four-day stretch, however, has the Lancers fixing what ailed them.

Rebounding from a halftime deficit Tuesday night, Lawrence burst out of intermission by scoring 14 of the first 16 points on its way to a 67-63 victory over Andover.

After suffering a pair of once-in-a-decade losses to Dracut and Haverhill, the Lancers have bounced back with a couple of MVC Large victories and a nonconference win at Charlestown.

“We’ve improved our focus,” said Lawrence forward Gabriel Zorrila, one of four Lancers in double digits with a team-high 15 points. “We’ve been having good practices and came in here with the right intensity to play and played physical.”

A Zorilla layup midway through the period capped the early third-quarter assault that turned a five-point deficit into a 42-35 lead.

Five different players scored points in Lawrence’s 23-point third, including Jeremiah Melendez and Abraham Estrada, who came off the bench to score a combined 23 points – 18 after intermission.

Melendez hit a couple threes during the run while Estrada had back-to-back buckets that gave the Lancers a 46-40 lead with 2:22 left.

“Those our two of my top guys,” Lawrence coach Moose Moore said. “The only reason they’re coming off the bench is because we have to go deep. They’re bench starters for us. My goal is to play as many kids as I can without hurting us.”

Another Zorilla layup with 6:15 left in the game gave Lawrence its biggest lead at 55-46.

“We know what we’re capable of,” Zorilla said. “We showed it in practice (Monday). We just have to do the same thing. We just didn’t bring the right energy in the first half. We brought it in the second.”

But Andover never folded, closing to within four three times down the stretch behind Kyle Rocker, who finished with a game-high 28 points.

“It was a couple plays here and there,” Andover coach David Fazio said. “They hit a couple really big threes. We rimmed out a couple big shots, but we’re close. These kids are really digging in. We’re just a step behind defensively, but just a little bit.”

Besides Zorilla’s 15 points, Lawrence got solid production from Melendez (13), Brandon Goris (11), Estrada (10) and Angel Herrera (9). That kind of balance should keep the Lancers on track.

“From top to bottom, we weren’t holding ourselves accountable,” Moore said of the rare defeats. “We went back to the film and saw the mistakes that we made, and they were correctable.

“The one thing I didn’t like was we weren’t playing hard and tough, and I think we’ve got the edge back. It took us a few games to wake up, but I’d rather that slide came early than late. The kids have more of a sense of urgency.”