NORTH ANDOVER — In the early going, Lawrence has proven it may possibly win in a myriad of fashions.
Danny Reyes poured in 20 factors together with the go-ahead basket halfway by way of the fourth quarter as Lawrence used a late 12-0 run to scoot previous Central Catholic, 58-51, on Wednesday night time and advance to the Commonwealth Christmas Classic championship sport at Lawler Arena on the campus of Merrimack College.
Lawrence will play in opposition to Beverly on Friday night time for the boys crown whereas Central Catholic will tackle Andover within the comfort bracket.
“It was ugly today both ways but I am proud of our guys and their ability to find a way to win,” Lawrence coach Jesus Moore stated. “Central was very physical and got us out of our element. We’re still not there yet, but Danny (Reyes) and our seniors stepped up and helped us win.”
Through its first 4 video games this season the Lancers (5-0) dominated the competitors averaging a margin of victory of over 25 factors. On Wednesday, nonetheless, Lawrence stared down a fourth quarter deficit as a John Kelly (13 factors, 8 rebounds) quick break bucket gave Central Catholic a 42-39 benefit heading into the fourth.
In entrance of a frenzied, energetic, and boisterous crowd the Lancers modified up their stress switching to a 3 quarter court docket 2-2-1 zone press that transitioned again to a matchup zone. The maneuver labored as Lawrence went on a 12-0 run that noticed them flip Central Catholic over 9 instances to leap in entrance. Reyes’ layup gave Lawrence the lead 45-44 with 5:03 remaining and moments later Ryan Grunon drilled a transition three to stretch the result in 48-44.
“Central handled our pressure very well so we went to zone press to slow them down,” Moore stated. “It got us some stops and then we were able to hit some tough baskets.”
Jonathan Ocasio stretched the result in six earlier than Marius Canery put the sport out of attain with consecutive buckets to make the benefit 10 with two minutes remaining.
The first half was tight all through with neither group getting a lead bigger than 5 factors. Mired in a excessive tempo sport that contained a little bit of sloppiness the 2 sides mixed to show the ball over 29 instances whereas taking pictures simply 13-of-46 from the sphere.
Reyes poured in 11 of his factors within the first two quarters to assist Lawrence take a 28-26 lead on the break.
Source: www.bostonherald.com