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Central big men dominate Londonderry

METHUEN — Colin Bradanese pilfered a Londonderry pass, dribbled the lengthened of the court with two Lancers on his hip, elevated and hammered a one-handed tomahawk dunk.

Seconds later, the 6-foot-4 Central Catholic senior tiptoed atop the key and drained a three, right over the defense.

Message sent. Loudly, emphatically and resoundingly.

Third-seeded Central Catholic, behind 23 from Bradanese and 21 more from his front-court “ballin’ brother,” Sam Lara, rolled over the No. 7 Lancers, 90-55, in the last of four Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic boys quarterfinals.

“We’ve got two guys who make plays in the paint and can shoot it, so that can make us a tough cover for some teams,” understated coach Rick Nault, whose 2-0 Raiders will face No. 2 North Andover Tuesday night (6:15) in the first of two tourney semifinals here at Klimas Fieldhouse.

The Raiders started fast, zipping to a 12-0 lead that grew to 25-12 after a quarter.

“It was a tough start,” said Lancer coach Nate Stanton. “It took us about six minutes to realize that we could actually play with them.”

The Lancers, now 0-3 in the early going, saw the margin grow as large as 17 before the intermission, and looked to make a game of things when Jake Coleman’s driving hoop sliced the Raider advantage to 38-26 at the half.

But after closing to within 8, foul issues landed Londonderry on tenuous ground in the third and both Raider bigs feasted, combining for 18 third-quarter points as Central pulled away.

“Sam and I have been together on the varsity for three years now,” said Bradanese. “We get along great off the floor and on it, we make each other better. I wouldn’t be here now without him.”

A new, trimmed-down Lara, the St. John’s University pitching recruit, played more of a complete game than Raider fans might have expected. He grabbed 8 boards and added four steals, a pair of blocks and even a couple assists.

Nault went to his bench liberally, and the Raiders showed plenty of depth, especially on the perimeter where Dom Keegan chipped in 10 points and frosh gunner George Smith added 9.

Central’s smothering defense forced Coleman, the lone returning Eagle-Tribune All-Star on the floor, to work hard for his team-high 14 points. The Raider tenacious face-guarding triumverate of Victor Mwaurah, Kevin Constant and Will Lewis forced the smooth senior into a 6 for 19 shooting night.

Cole Britting added 11 for the Lancers, who’ll tangle with Salem in a 4:30 p.m. consolation game on Tuesday.

Central Catholic 90, Londonderry 55

Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic 1st round

Londonderry (55): Jack Anderson 1 2-2 4, Brandon Radford 1 2-4 4, Cole Britting 5 1-2 11, Jake Coleman 6 0-0 14, Ethan Garofalo 2 2-2 7, Patrick Zepf 2 0-1 4, Cam MacDonald 2 3-3 8, Cam Champa 0 1-2 1, Jeb Collins 1 0-0 2, Totals 20 11-16 55

Central Catholic (90): George Smith 3 0-0 9, Kevin Constant 1 2-2 4, Bret Edwards 0 0-0 0, Victor Mwaurah 2 0-0 6, Dom Keegan 3 2-2 10, Sam Lara 9 3-6 21, Manny Sanchez 1 1-2 3, Matt Downer 2 0-0 5, Colin Bradanese 10 2-5 23, Andy Kalala 0 1-2 1, Will Lewis 1 0-0 2, Jalen Aquino 1 0-0 3, Almando Marinez 1 1-2 3, Totals 34 12-21 90