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Methuen closed the season with a flourish, defeating North Andover 52-50. Romeo Diaz capped his fine career with a 21-point performance.

The Scarlet Knights had a shot at the buzzer, but it rimmed out. Sean McManus chipped in 16 points and Steve Boudreau scored a team-high 17 points.

Sean McManus scored 15 points to lead North Andover past Methuen, 54-47. Steve Boudreau added 13 points for the Scarlet Knights.

"We defended the 3-pointer much better in the second half," said North Andover coach Mike McVeigh. "Our defense was just better than their offense after halftime and that was the difference in the game."

Methuen hit a combined 16 3-pointers on the way to besting Tewksbury, 72-60. Edwin Gonzalez hit six 3-pointers on his way to 26 points while Romeo Diaz (25 points) had five 3-pointers while Mike Gorman (15) also hit five from beyond the arch.

Injuries have truly put a chokehold on Methuen and the problems continue.

First, the Rangers lost Edwin Gonzalez to a sprained ankle and Matt Merritte to an inadvertent Christmas tourney pop in the jaw by a teammate.

Methuen High made plenty of headway in slowing down Lawrence's beefy big men, Mariano Fortunato and Jorge Escoto.

But the Rangers, gritty as can be, had no such solution when it came to Lancer point guard Justin Nieves.

On a day in which Methuen had one of its lowest scoring games in years, the Rangers' defense saved the day.

Methuen held Greater Lawrence Tech to 22 points, a record-low in the 33-year history of the Greater Lawrence Christmas Tourney. The previous mark was 23 by Pinkerton against Salem in the 2003 semifinals.

It wasn't quite exactly Michael Jordan getting cut from his high school JV team, but it still stung Romeo Diaz.

"The coaches forced me to play on the 8th-grade 'B' team," said Methuen's Diaz.

Diaz never forgot the slight.

2006-07 record: 9-12, lost in Division 1 North prelims

Returning starters (4): Romeo Diaz, 6-4, Sr., forward; Matt Merritte, 6-2, Sr., forward; Edwin Gonzalez, 5-8, Jr., guard; Matt Richardson, 6-2, Jr., guard