RallyNorth.net

Central controls Andover

Sunday, January, 05 By Jeff Hamrick

LAWRENCE - A lot of factors go into winning basketball. But nothing good ever happens if a team can't hold onto the ball.

Maintaining possession was something Central Catholic did to perfection for an entire half of a Merrimack Valley Conference showdown Sunday afternoon. And playing turnover free in the middle two quarters helped send the Raiders to a 62-53 victory over rival Andover.

"I knew we were good with the ball, but I didn't know we were that good," Central coach John Walsh said. "We're happy with that, especially when we're trying to play the way we play and playing faster."

A week after Central's convincing 16-point win over the Warriors in the Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic, both teams scored a combined 26 points in the first and final quarters, so it was the second and third periods that proved key. And those middle quarters were tight with six ties and seven lead changes.

Central's offense starts with sophomore Xavier McKenzie and senior Jonathan Peguero sharing the ball-handling duties, and they were stellar against Andover (2-1 MVC, 4-3 overall). After a turnover on the Raiders' final first-quarter possession, they were clean until the first possession of the fourth.

"That's because of X and JP," Walsh said of the error-free ball. "They're not only tremendous with the ball, they settle us down. They're tremendous kids."

McKenzie scored seven of Central's final nine points in the second quarter as the Raiders (3-1, 5-2) grabbed a 34-32 advantage at intermission.

"I feel coach is just depending on me and JP to control the offense," said McKenzie, who finished with 16 points. "We need to get (the team) into (the sets) we need to be successful."

With Central misfiring on nine of its first 10 third-quarter shots, Andover took its last lead at 38-37 on a Kyle Rocker fast-break layup with 4:40 remaining.

But a McKenzie pull-up gave the Raiders the lead for good 90 seconds later. A couple field goals by Nate Godin, who had a game-high 18 points, were part of a third-quarter closing run of 11-3 that was capped on a three-point play by McKenzie, who was fouled on a runner he banked in.

"Xavier McKenzie is as good as anyone around," Walsh said. "He's mentally tough and he's just scratching the surface. He's going to be a scholarship player. He's scoring; he's hitting tough shots. He does everything we need."

The Raiders opened their biggest lead with 3:10 remaining in the game on a baseline jumper from freshman Marcus Rivera, who had 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

"We're building up his confidence," McKenzie said of the youngster. "He's going to be a big player for us, so we need him to have that confidence."

Andover closed to within five with 2:08 left, but Ryan Pacy's two free throws were the Warriors' final points. In the end, it was the middle quarters that turned the game.

"It's certainly a compliment to (Central)," Andover coach David Fazio said of his opponents' error-free quarters. "But it certainly goes to tell you where our defense is at ... I thought we played better than we did last Sunday. I think we're getting better and starting to get an identity. But I have to get these kids to play harder than they think they're capable of playing."