NORTH ANDOVER – If anyone had perceived the Merrimack Valley boys hoop scene as vulnerable, the notion got washed away here at Merrimack College on Friday in the opening round of the Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic.
The top four seeds – North Andover, Central Catholic, Andover and Methuen High – all took care of business in the quarters, setting up a monster Saturday night semifinal slugfest.
North Andover 53, Lawrence 51The top-seeded, defending champion Scarlet Knights got pushed to the limit by likely the toughest No. 8 seed in the 49-year history of the event.
And it took a mammoth performance in the middle from North Andover big man Niko Catalano, just to survive.
“One hundred percent, we knew that they’d be tough coming in. We knew they were 0-2, the eight seed, but we’ve been in that position before,” said the senior Catalano. “From our side, we knew how big a game this was for us. Being 1-2 and going into the loser’s bracket was not what we were looking for. We used that as fuel.”
Trailing most of the night, Lawrence just kept coming. And when Brown Kouhiko came up with back-to-back midcourt thefts, converting them to easy layins, the upset alert was lit at 47-43 Lawrence.
That’s when the Knights, who had gone cold from the field, reconnected with their big guy.
“I just let them know, the shots weren’t going down, get the ball to me,” said Catalano.
He took care of the rest.
Catalano scored on two straight post moves to tie things at 47-47, then a third at the four-minute mark to take back the lead.
When Amos Vacher tied the score for Lawrence at 51-51 with his fourth three-pointer of the night, it was again Catalano providing the winning points by yanking down a huge offensive board and then knocking in two foul shots with 1:24 to play.
His 24th and 25th points of the night would be the last of the game for anyone as North Andover barely hung on.
Andover 74, Beverly 69
For weeks, Andover High boys hoop coach David Fazio has been adamant about where his team’s offense would emanate.
“We’re going to play through Sam Concemi,” he has told the media a handful of times through December.
He’s not lying.
When Beverly High pulled even midway through the fourth quarter of their Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic boys tourney opener on Friday afternoon, the Warriors went to a timeout and found Concemi on the block for an old-school jump hook and the lead.
The next trip down Concemi hit the mid-post, got the ball moving and that led to an in-rhythm wide-open Owen Crowley three for a five-point lead.
That was the ball game as the Warriors advanced to Saturday’s semis via the 74-69 win.
“The only reason we’re able to do that is because I have great teammates that can all play. It makes it easy for me to do my own thing,” said Concemi, who finished with 22 points in the win.
“I knew coming in Beverly was good. But I’m ready for all challenges.”
Crowley had his second straight dynamite game for the Warriors, netting a game-high 27 points. Josh Roux added 14.
Methuen 69, Newburyport 63
With the way its Christmas tournament started early Friday afternoon, the Methuen boys basketball team didn’t think it would have to sweat out making the semis.
The No. 4-seeded Rangers came out of the gates making everything at Hammel Court, desperately in search of their first tournament title since 1995. Before No. 5 Newburyport could even blink, Isaiah Andino and Lennon Abreu De La Cruz had the Rangers up 16-0 midway through the first quarter, and watched as the lead ballooned as high as 22 early in the second.
But the Clippers didn’t go quietly.
Thanks to a game-high 24 points from senior Carson Gretz, Newburyport came storming back to tie the game at 46-46 in the closing moments of the third. But Andino, De La Cruz and Quinn Vuylsteke withstood the avalanche, and were clutch down the stretch to help Methuen hold on for the hard-fought victory, 69-63.
“Starting up 18-2, we came out on fire and played great defense. I think Lennon on (Gretz), set the tone immediately,” said Rangers coach Ryan Middlemiss. “We have playmakers on the offensive end, and our shots went in. Fortunately, we were able to get up big. The start was obviously very important.”
The biggest moment was arguably the final play of the third quarter.
Newburyport had just completed the comeback, getting a driving layup from Gretz to tie the game at 46-all and get its fan into a frenzy. But for the final possession of the frame, Methuen gave the ball to De La Cruz, and put him in a high-ball screen. The senior used it to get by his man and to the hoop, then converted a tough layup over traffic to immediately give his Rangers the lead back at the buzzer.
A huge momentum shift for the Rangers mentally.
Then to open the fourth, Andino (24 points) and Vuylsteke (16 points) each hit 3s to quickly push the lead back up to 10.
Vuylsteke was a promising freshman at Pentucket Regional a couple of years ago, but the family has since moved, and the Rangers are certainly happy to have his shooting.
“He’s come a long way,” said Middlemiss of Vuylsteke, who swung between varsity and JV a year ago. “During the scrimmages, he was toward the end of our rotation. And he was frustrated after the first scrimmage. We talked about things, and after that, he’s been great. All the things we ask kids to do when they don’t like their role, he embraced them.
“He’s consistent every day in practice, talking, with his toughness. He’s someone we can count on down the road.”
Newburyport could have cut it to three on a free throw with 10 seconds left. But the ball clanked off the back iron, and Andino soared for the rebound before icing the game himself at the charity stripe.
Central Catholic 70, St. John’s Prep 53
Central Catholic gave the Prep half the court to work with. And once the Eagles crossed the midcourt line, it was on.
The Raiders’ stifling half-court trap gave St. John’s all sorts of issues, and Central junior Javi Lopez took care of the rest, tossing in a game-high 23 points in the 70-53 victory.
“We came out aggressive, like we were supposed to,” said Lopez, the returning Eagle-Tribune All-Star.
“It’s a little bit different now, we don’t have any 6-foot-5 guys so we have to play fast. We need to turn teams over and get transition hoops.”
The Raiders lived the script, building a 20-point lead in the first half, and while St. John’s scrapped, Central held the answers to the test.
“I think it showed all the work we’ve put in,” said Lopez. “I think we’re top four in the state. We’ve got a lot of room to improve, but we’re in a good spot right now.”
Zack Sangermano (11 points) and Elias Ynoa (10) each had a pair of three-pointers for the Raiders.
Methuen’s Gio Rodriguez had 11 points, and Lawrence’s Dawagner De Los Santos added 10 for the Eagles.
Kyle Gaudette contributed to this report.