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Haverhill ends losing streak to Lawrence

Tuesday, January, 07 By Jeff Hamrick

LAWRENCE – Entering the season, the boys at Haverhill appeared capable of getting payback on some Merrimack Valley Conference opponents who have had their way with the Hillies the better part of this century.

Tuesday night, Haverhill turned speculation into fact.

Turning back a furious late rally by Lawrence, Haverhill held on for a 59-56 victory, snapping a 12-game losing streak to the Lancers for the program’s first win since Jan. 6, 2011.

“I just told my guys, this is the first time since I’ve been coaching here myself that we got a nice win here,” fourth-year Haverhill coach Souleymane Wane said. “It was a team effort, and I could see in the boys’ eyes that they refused to lose … The boys were looking forward to this one.

“It’s the type of attitude we’re developing. I told the boys it was time we started messing with the big boys of the MVC Large teams. Our team is growing and the boys are believing we can mess with everybody. It was nice to see the effort the boys produced tonight.”

The game was tight the opening half as Haverhill (3-2 MVC, 5-3 overall) held its biggest lead at 19-14 early in the second while Lawrence (1-3, 4-3) led by three twice.

Haverhill pulled away after intermission, using a 13-5 third-quarter closing run to open a 51-42 lead. Junior guard Elijah Haas did the bulk of the damage, scoring six of his 12 in the frame, including seven in the final 3 minutes.

But a 2-3 zone helped Haverhill disrupt Lancer shooters the final 16 minutes when the Lancers were 7 of 39 from the floor.

“It shows we’re a great defensive team,” Wane said. “Well, I wouldn’t say great, but we’re a work in progress. At the end of the first half, we played zone and it kind of slowed them down a little bit, so we stuck with it.”

The Hillies appeared in control when a fast break three by senior point guard Emmanuel Arias with 3:43 remaining and a pair of free throws by Zach Guertin (12 points) 20 seconds later provided a 58-45 lead.

But despite converting only two of their final 16 fourth-quarter shots, the Lancers stormed back, drilling eight of nine free throw attempts while Haverhill was going scoreless. Abraham Estrada’s two free throws cut the deficit to 58-56 with 72 seconds left.

Phillip Cunningham halted Haverhill’s drought at the 1-minute mark with a free throw.

The Lancers, who had 17 offensive rebounds in the second half, were unable to convert any of their six shots over the final minute and Estrada’s off-balance three at the buzzer was blocked by Haverhill’s Junior Efosa.

The loss continued a tough four-day stretch for Lawrence, which saw a nine-game winning streak over Dracut end on Friday in a two-point loss to the Middies, who knocked off the Lancers for the first time since Jan. 5, 2010.

“It’s been tough,” Lawrence coach Moose Moore said. “We’re not focused. It starts in practice. We haven’t been great in practice, and it’s carried over into the games. Give some credit to Haverhill. I think they’re length bothered us, but we took a lot of bad shots. We got selfish … we’re not willing passers and I think that’s been the difference since earlier in the season.”

Arias, a transfer from Whittier, continued his strong early play for Haverhill with a season-high 17 points.

“I just wanted to go against the best conference I can around here, and there’s no better place than Haverhill High,” said Arias, who added four assists before fouling out with 2:20 left. “I thought transferring was a good choice for me.”

Arias’ addition was felt even before the season started.

“Manny is a great addition to this team,” Wane said. “He’s a solid point guard who can shoot. He’s a great leader. The boys named him captain and that says a lot. It’s unusual for a transfer to come in and be named captain right away, but it shows what kind of character he has.”