LAWRENCE - The anticipated showdown between the past two defending Division 1 state champions proved an unexpected runaway.
Top-ranked Central Catholic, which won the 2010 state title, wasted no time showing defending-champ and 10th-ranked St. John's Prep who the favorite is this year, taking a lead it would never relinquish less than 5 minutes into yesterday's encounter.
When it was over, the Raiders owned a convincing 80-56 victory. The win made up for two losses by a combined five points to the Prep last year.
"That's probably one of the best 32 minutes of basketball we've played all season," Central coach Rick Nault said. "We lost to these guys twice last season. They ended our season (a three-point decision in the Sectional semis), and we've talked about that feeling we had in the locker room last March and it stuck with these guys. They were pretty fired up all week and it showed with their energy and their effort."
The Raiders (12-0) trailed twice by two points the entire game for a total of 57 seconds, but took the lead for good on a turnaround jumper by Joel Berroa that provided a 10-8 advantage with 3:41 left in the opening period.
The first half especially was something to watch as Central converted 50 percent of its field-goal attempts (16-32) while turning over the ball only six times en route to a 37-24 lead. And typical for the Raiders, it was defense that ignited the explosion as 11 Prep turnovers turned into 14 Central points.
"That was something we wanted to focus on," Nault said of his team's defensive pressure. "We wanted to get up on them and challenge them and make them play the full length of the court. And it felt, especially in the first half, we got some easy turnovers because of our ball pressure."
In the third quarter, seven different players scored points for Central, which led by as many as 18 in the period.
"They're very good defensively," St. John's coach Sean Connolly said of the Raiders. "They were just a lot tougher than us. They killed us on the boards and had us playing back on our heels."
St. John's, however, used a 9-2 run early in the fourth to cut its deficit to 10 with 5:57 left. But after a timeout, the Raiders scored 12 of the ensuing 13 points to end the Prep's only real threat.
"These guys have been in some huge games the past three years," Nault said of his upper classmen. "So we rely on their experience, and we have some great leadership on this team. ... We just wanted to settle down a little bit on the offensive end. A team like (St. John's) is going to make runs on you."
Berroa paced the Raiders with 18 points, including 12 in the first half, 11 rebounds and one big blocked shot during Central's fourth-quarter run. Nick Cambio came off the bench to contribute 16 points while starting guards Lucas Hammel and Tyler Nelson each added 11.
Minus starters, Central girls lose
Without starters Casey McLaughlin and Caitlin Dell'Orfano, who both have leg injuries, Central Catholic scored only five points in the second quarter en route to a 59-39 loss to 10th-ranked Masconomet.
The 14th-ranked Raiders (7-4) fell behind by 15 at intermission and never were able to close the gap on the visiting Chieftains. Amanda Williams scored a team-high nine points for Central while Masconomet had three players in double digits led by Brooke Stewart's 14 points.
Central Catholic boys 80, St. John's Prep 56
St. John's Prep (56): Freddy Shove 2 2-2 7, Stephen Haladyna 5 0-0 10, Owen Marchetti 2 5-5 9, Mike Carbone 5 6-7 18, Tyler Dooley 0 4-6 4, Marcos Echevarria 1 0-0 2, Drex Costello 1 0-0 3, Isaiah Robinson 1 0-1 2, Ben Judson 0 0-0 0, Josh Syska 0 1-2 1, Zack Burt 0 0-0 0, Shawn Hines 0 0-0 0, Max Butterbolt 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 18-23 56
Central Catholic (80): Lucas Hammel 5 0-0 11, Tyler Nelson 4 2-2 11, Joel Berroa 9 0-1 18, Shawn McCoy 3 1-2 7, Doug Gemmell 3 1-1 7, Henry Rodriguez 0 1-2 1, Nick Cambio 6 1-4 16, Luis Puello 1 0-0 3, Mike Barry 1 2-2 4, Matt McDermott 0 0-0 0, Jake Driscoll 0 0-0 0, Connor Perry 1 0-0 2, Jamahl Lopez 0 0-0 0. Totals 33 8-14 80
3-pointers: SJP — Carbone 2, Shove, Costello; CC — Cambio 3, Hammel, Nelson, Puello
St. John's Prep (8-3):13 11 19 13 — 56
Central Catholic (12-0):21 16 23 20 — 80
Masconomet 59, Central Catholic girls 39
Masconomet (59): Nason 3 6-6 12, Kiernan 0 2-2 2, Evans 1 1-4 3, Simonetti 1 2-2 4, Davis 4 3-4 13, Hutchinson 2 0-0 4, Marsh 3 1-4 7, Stewart 6 1-2 14. Totals 20 16-24 59
Central Catholic (39): Walsh 3 2-2 8, Nagri 2 0-1 6, Borrelli 3 1-2 7, Smith 1 0-0 3, Williams 2 5-11 9, Hadad 0 2-2 2, Summers 1 2-02 4. Totals 12 12-20 39
3-pointers: M — Davis 2, Stewart; CC — Nagri 2, Smith
Masconomet (7-1):14 16 17 12 — 59
Central Catholic (7-4):11 5 13 10 — 39
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