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A defensive dissection of the defending champs

Tuesday, March, 11 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

BOSTON | Fear, fatigue, pressure, attrition.

Boston College High School basketball coach Bill Loughnane felt those lethal symptoms eating away as his South champions in the second half last night.

There was nothing the architect of four state titles (last year at BC High, three at South Boston High) could do.

Their legs rubbery and unresponsive from relentless defensive pressure from the Central Catholic guards, the Eagles wilted.

Like Charlestown and Lowell before them, BC High watched Central waver, recover and run right on by to post a 54-44 Eastern Mass. title win before 4,500 at the TD Banknorth Garden.

Loughnane was impressed.

"That's part of their game plan, and they did a good job," said Loughnane who watched his team hit two hoops | one of them a lay-up as the clock ran | in the final 10 minutes of the game. Central's devastating 26-5 run to close the game was obviously the difference.

The savage assault on the backcourt was not limited to the second half. In fact, it began early in the first quarter when Raider coach Rick Nault summoned senior KB Oshodi from the bench.

Central was floundering on the offensive end, hitting just 8 of 27 from the field in the first half, but Oshodi had his hands in everything BC High tried to accomplish.

The onslaught was like Roberto Duran's fabled body punches. You didn't really notice the amped up defense on the scoreboard | although it helped keep the Raiders' halftime deficit manageable at 28-20 | but it certainly took its toll.

All the Raiders needed was a breath of life to kickstart things after the break. They found it in the longtime Raider staple ... an in-your-face, man-to-man defense.

Longtime Central fans could almost hear the voice of Dick Licare from years back echo through the rafters, "Red, red, red!" gaining in pitch and intensity with every defensive stop.

Only this time it was the second-year coach Nault leading the charge.

"That was Ricky as a player," said Licare, who watched with pride from his perch in the loge seats. "Winning with toughness and defense, it's been like that at Central for a long time. Watching Walson (Constant) and KB come in off the bench and just crank it up, it just brought back memories of the old days, guys like Nelson (Ovalles), Jeffrey (Tejada). even all the way back to Mark Grise and Mark Vachon."

Oh, yes, this effort was old school. It's inherited when you put the uniform on. Licare laid down this tradition back in the early 1980s when he first put bricks in Leo Parent's hands as he rumbled through those countless zig zags and defensive slides.

Nault, to his credit, has done nothing but enrich that tradition, and his team now stands one win away from the school's second ever state title.

"Coach has let us know, that is something we have to do, it's not optional," said junior Billy Marsden. "It's the No. 1 priority."

Even Marsden, known for the acrobatic crunch time scorer, got down and dirty defensively.

Perhaps it was out of desperation. Central was in big trouble, trailing 39-28 midway through the third.

"You could see it on their faces, their guards were tired," said point guard Wilfredo Pagan. "You could just see we were in better shape. We were more energetic. Coach says it starts with me. Every time I get going, the team is right behind me. I was trying to be enthusiastic, to get active. The team followed right away."

While Nault nurtures this badgering atmosphere, he's also been fortunate to reap the benefits of the fertile Lawrence Boys Club program.

Have you ever shot around on Water Street some Saturday afternoon? First and foremost, if you don't rebound, you never get a chance to shoot. That's just a fact.

Nault says the full court scrums and skirmishes take on lives of their own.

"Some of these guys from the Boys Club have been playing this kind of defense all their lives. Everything there is in your face. It's very contagious," said Nault.

"By the end of the game, we were pretty fresh, and they were looking tired. That's our dedication to defense. Our man just picked it up a level. Guys like KB and Wilfredo, they just never stop."

When Central finally took a lead, BC High was just too worn out to respond.

"They weren't missing off the back rim," said Licare, beaming with pride as if he were still on the bench. "Everything they shot hit the front rim. You know they were tired and worn down."

Tired, worn down and now systematically eliminated ... the Central Catholic way.

Additional stories:

• Power surge: Central heats up late, wins EMass. title
• Animated Oshodi energizes Central
• Desrosiers proves himself against the best