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North Andover Scarlet Knights Boys Basketball '10-'11

Fri, Feb 18, 2011 06:30 PM @ Masconomet
Team 1 2 3 4 Final
North Andover 10 20 8 17 55
Masconomet 11 14 11 12 48

Knights dump Masco, now one win from CAL title

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Friday, February, 18 By Hector Longo

BOXFORD — Derek Collins kicked it, hovered over it, ripped it off the floor and buried it.

 

The North Andover sophomore’s shot-clock-beating 27-footer shattered Masconomet’s spirit midway through the fourth quarter, propelling the Knights’ to a well-deserved 55-48 road win.

 

Now 10-2 in the Cape Ann League, 15-4 overall, the Knights can lock up a share of their third straight CAL large division championship Monday with a win at Hamilton-Wenham.

 

Typical of North Andover and Masco, neither gave an inch over the first three quarters. Masco got physical with Collins and junior standout Zach Karalis, while the Knights ran just about anyone in a black uniform at Chieftain sophomore Adam Bramanti.

 

The younger cousin of Andover’s Joe, Bramanti was held to just 13 points, four in the second half, well below his 20 point a game average.

 

“He’s so smart rubbing off screens, we just said we would switch everything with him,” said Knights’ coach Mike McVeigh. “Whether it was Colby (Smith), our littlest guy playing him or our biggest guy playing him, we were going to bite the bullet and switch. We did a real good job trying to cut off the head of the monster.”

 

Nothing was truly settled until Collins came alive in the fourth. The game-changer came just inside six minutes left with North Andover holding a slender 40-39 lead.

 

“I was tripping, I just wanted to get it off quick, and it went in,” said Collins, who shared game-high scoring honors with Jimmy Warden at 16 points last night. “Until that point, it was going back and forth. That got us a little loose.”

 

Collins would hit one more triple, answering a Ben Panunzio jumper at the 3:30 mark, making it 47-41 Knights.

 

A pair of missed free throws would allow Masco one last breath, slicing the margin to 51-48 with 17.5 seconds to play, but Smith was up to the task when it matter, draining two from the line to final put the Chieftains away.

 

It’s not easy. We’ve both had good years, and it comes down to the end,” said McVeigh. “We knew what we were going to get from them, and we were very tough down the stretch defensively.”

 

As the final buzzer sounded, the Knights congratulated each other for knocking their fiercest CAL rival out of championship contention, but the mood was clearly subdued.

 

“Maybe, we’ll celebrate a little on the bus ride home,” said Collins. “But there’s still work to do.”

 

Game Statistics:

North Andover (55): Smith 1-2-4, Hubbell 0-0-0, Erb 0-0-0, Collins 4-5-16, Karalis 3-0-7, Warden 6-4-16, Nelsen 2-0-4, J. Miller 0-0-0, Moroney 4-0-8. Totals 20-11-55

Masconmet (48): Bramanti 5-0-13, Brown 5-1-11, Zaniewski 3-1-7, Panunzio 4-0-9, Silveria 3-0-6, Hunziker 1-0-2. Totals 21-2-48

3-pointers: NA — Collins 3, Karalis; M — Bramanti 3, Panuzio 3

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