RallyNorth.net

Andover pulls stunner; beats Central team which had beat Warriors 22 of last 23 overall meetings

Saturday, December, 28 By Jeff Hamrick

Facts about Central vs. Andover: 

Before last night: Central had won 22 of the last 23 meetings dating back to Jan. 6, 2006

The loss in that span: 2010 Christmas Tourney semis (55-52 on 12-28-10); prior to that CC had beat Warriors 14 straight; then beat them four times in 2014, twice in 2012 and twice in 2011 

########### 

ANDOVER — The way the Andover bench acted, you'd think the Golden Warriors beat Central Catholic  all the time.

"We try to be classy," coach David Fazio said placidly. "Win or lose we always try to be classy. We have the utmost respect for that program and we're happy to win tonight.

It was the Golden Warriors that classed up the Volpe Complex floor last night with a tough 72-68 over their eternal nemesis Raiders. Andover's Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic Bob Licare Division championship win snapped Central's eight-game winning streak over the Warriors that dated to 2010. Andover's last win was a 55-52 victory in that year's Greater Lawrence semifinals en route to it's last tourney title. In fact, scouring through the Eagle-Tribune record books reveals Central (3-2) had won 22 of 23 between the two until last night.

"It's an amazing feeling to come out here and play with so much energy and beat them," said forward Ben Brown, one of only three seniors to see action last night for the Warriors. "It's like no other feeling."

Central, which lost to perennial national power St. Anthony's the previous night, appeared ready to continue its dominance over its border rival, jumping to an 8-0 start before hitting the 2-minute mark.

"When you get down like that, we have to look at what we're doing," said Brown, who finished with 12 points. "We just had to get into the flow of the game. We were rushing too much. Once we got comfortable, we just kind of took it from there."

A well-placed early timeout obviously settled the Raiders, who did not have a turnover the final 6:40 and finished the period on a 12-0 run that provided the lead for good.

"These kids want to win," Fazio said. "They know it's a long season and they're going to get better, but they want to win. I told them the tougher team is going to win."

The Warriors continued to surge in the second period, scoring six of the quarter's first nine points, including five by Connor Merinder to open a 28-15 lead. Then a srong start to the third turned a 10-point halftime advantage into a 49-33 lead with 3:38 remaining in the frame.

Andover (4-0) not only responded offensively, converting nine of its 18 threes and 25 of its 52 shots, but muscled up defensively against Raider threat Tyler Nelson, who had scored 45 points his previous two games. But with Brown and Pisacreta leading the way, the Warriors used a multiple of tactics to hold the returning Eagle-Tribune MVP to 11 points and nine field-goal attempts. He took only four shots after intermission.

"We know Tyler Nelson is a great shooter, and we had to shut him down this game if we were going to win," said Brown, who caught some needed defensive help on the sharpshooter from teammate John Pisacreta. "Coach told me to face guard him, and I just had to put all my effort into it," Brown said.

Junior David Giribaldi powered the Andover attack, finishing with a game-high 27, including 17 in the second half as the Raiders continoulsy fought off Central charges, one of which cut the deficit to 1 at 55-54 with 5:58 remaining. Fittingly it was seniors Brown and Pisacreta combined to make seven of eight free throws the final 66 seconds to secure the win.

"The seniors went through the four losses (to Central) we had last year," Fazio said. "At some point when you're a senior you get your opportunity, and you decide. You decide what your legacy is and what your season is going to be. This is just a terrific win for our team."

Nick Cambio paced the Raider offense with 24 points, including 16 in the second half to keep Central within range.

"I think we just stopped executing on the offensive end," Central coach Rick Nault said. "When you rely so much of your offense on Tyler Nelson and the team is doing a good job of shutting them down or taking him away, you have to do some other things to get him some looks. And we didn't do that. We definitely didn't put the ball in the basket."