LOWELL — So what happens to Central Catholic now?
The Raiders, ousted by Lynn English in the Division 1 North final last night, 71-60, finish another impressive season at 23-2 and say goodbye to seven seniors, including 2008 Eagle-Tribune MVP Billy Marsden, two other starters in Benny Fernandez and Tim Wheeler and two other regulars — Jose Pena and Michael Garcia.
The presence of 6-10 center Carson Desrosiers, plus three other ready-for-prime-timers in junior Michael Alvarez, sophomore Jimmy Zenevitch and freshman Luis Puello, assure that the Raiders will be the heavy favorite in the Merrimack Valley Conference race.
Central will again be ranked in most everyone's preseason Eastern Mass. top five. Perhaps No. 1.
But there is plenty of work to be done.
"We've got some pieces, when you start with Carson, Jimmy, Luis and Mike Alvarez," said Nault. "We've got some holes to patch, too. You're not going to replace a Billy Marsden, or a Tim Wheeler for that matter."
Folks forget that Marsden isn't the only three-year starter moving on.
Nault said, "Not many kids that can say that they were a three-year starter for Central Catholic that won three league championships, two Christmas Tournament championships, a state title and three North finals appearances. Not many kids can say that. Timmy can."
A year ago, it was reliable Wilfredo Pagan leaving the point guard duties in limbo.
"Point guard will be question mark as it was last summer," added Nault. "Benny (Fernandez) came in from Day 1, took the job and never let it go. People might think he didn't play that well tonight. We don't get here without Benny. There's no way we get here. His toughness, his desire got us through a lot of games."
He said the job is up for grabs.
"We've got some kids in the program that can help us."
Finally, somebody knocks off the champ
Central Catholic was the top priority for the opposition every game on the schedule this year, save for American Heritage of Florida, which plays a monster national slate.
Night in and night out, the Raiders took every team's best shot and came away unscathed against Bay State competition until last night's upset.
"The fact that we were ranked preseason No. 1, the expectations were very high," said Nault, whose club was ranked seventh in the East in the most recent USA Today poll. "We talked about it all year. We were the hunted. Last year we were the hunter. We did have a target on our backs, and I think our kids relished that role. It drove them and motivated them."
Sectional summary
Earlier in the day, three other North champs were crowned.
Woburn got 22 from Mark Roffi to topple Middlesex League foe Belmont, 48-45 in the Division 2 tilt. Billy Marsden's future college teammate Hanell Velez added 14 for the Tanners.
Watertown held Bishop Fenwick's Mike Clifford to just nine points through three quarters then hung on as the big man came alive in the fourth as the Raiders took the Division 3 sectional title, 62-48.
Winthrop's Dino Mallios led all scorers with 34, but North Cambridge Catholic worked overtime to win Division 4 North, 65-62.
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