By Chuck Frye
sports@eagletribune.com
---- — LAWRENCE — It took just 30 seconds to find out that Central Catholic meant business.
The Raiders won the opening tap of yesterday’s IAABO Board 130 Classic opener against Auburn and went right to work. Although they didn’t score on that possession, it wasn’t from a lack of trying as they got four shots off thanks to offensive rebounds from Casey McLaughlin and Alex Nagri, and the tone was set.
That energy never waned and quickly became productive as Central laid waste to the Rockets, 69-44. The Raiders will face Pentucket, which beat Newton South in the earlier game, today at 5:30 p.m. in the title game.
“We like to always start games strong,” said McLaughlin, who finished with a stellar stat line of 14 points, 14 rebounds, 10 steals, 5 assists and 3 blocked shots. “We want to win the tip and set the tone.”
On two fast-break layups, one set up by a steal, and a putback from Amanda Williams (team-high 17 points), Central (now 16-4) raced off to a 8-0 lead after three minutes of play. Auburn (15-3) would get no closer the rest of the game.
“In order to win, we have to run,” said Nagri. “Against Andover (in a loss three weeks ago) we got away from that, but in the last couple of games (including a 19-point revenge victory over the Warriors last Thursday) we’ve gotten back to it. We’re an athletic team, we have to press and get fast-break layups.”
With Nagri (11 points, 5 assists and 3 steals) cracking the whip at both ends of the court, the Raiders did just that. Auburn suffered 24 turnovers and could never get on a run to make the game close.
“We’ve been focused and have been really good at sticking to our game plan,” said Central head coach Sue Downer. “We’ve had positive energy, and it proves that if we do what we should, good things will happen.”
A little insight into your opponent helps as well.
“We scouted them last week and knew they were a zone defense team,” Downer said. “We don’t see too much zone so we worked on it in practice for a day. We executed well, we had good inside/outside passing.”
“The subs really step up in practice,” Nagri said. “We work on 1-3-1 and 2-3 offense and they really press us. We know how to break press defense, and it helps that we know each other so well.”
Things will change today against 19-1 Pentucket — a kindred spirit running man-to-man pressure full-court all game.
“We had 30 turnovers (against Auburn) and we can’t have that against Penftucket,” said Downer. “We have to value every possession if we want to win.”
Central Catholic 69, Auburn 44
IAABO Board 130 Classic
Auburn (44): Sarah Palace 9 3-4 23, Lyndsey Gabrielian 3 1-3 7, Erin Burke 1 4-8 6, Erin Scanlon 2 1-2 6, Ryanne Burke 0 2-2 2, Amber Abderrazzaq 0 0-0 0, Jackie Matthews 0 0-0 0, Jordann Hauge 0 0-0 0, Emily Sarkisian 0 0-2 0, Nathalie Khafaga 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 11-21 44
Central Catholic (69): Amanda Williams 8 1-1 17, Casey McLaughlin 6 2-5 14, Alex Nagri 5 0-0 11, Caitlin Dell’Orfano 4 0-0 9, Courtney Walsh 3 0-0 6, Madison Borrelli 2 0-0 4, Toni Joy 1 0-0 2, Allie Tierney 1 0-0 2, Erica Hadad 1 0-0 2, Darion Summers 1 0-0 2, Colleen Frey 0 0-0 0. Totals 32 3-6 69
3-pointers: A — Palace 2, Scanlon; CC — Nagri, Dell’Orfano
Auburn (15-3): 6 12 14 12 — 44
Central Catholic (16-4): 19 17 18 15 — 69
