NORTH ANDOVER – How did Anthony Faradie ever revive his Rangers after Tuesday night’s crushing loss at Andover High?
It’s a question they will be asking on Ranger Road for a long time. Somehow, the Methuen High boys hoop team found some stunning recuperative powers over the past few days.
Friday night at Crozier Fieldhouse, the Rangers found a way to close the deal, trading punches with MVC super-power North Andover — the No. 2-rated team in Massachusetts — and pulled off the dramatic, 58-56, upset of the Knights.
“I don’t think it’s me. I think it’s (our team). Credit to0 them. It takes a lot of character, because that loss was so deflating,” said Rangers coach Anthony Faradie, whose club led Andover by 18 in the third quarter before falling in a one-point game.
“It’s a huge win, it’s a confidence (building) win.”
Guard Isaiah Andino found Nethaniel Clemente wide open in the middle of the lane for a nearly uncontested layin at the buzzer to win it.
“They all came up on me. They thought I was going to take the last shot,” said Andino. “But I saw my big man, (Clemente), he’s been playing great lately. I saw him wide open, I trusted him with it. I knew they thought the shot was for me. I just had to read it.”
The winning hoop cracked the fifth and final stalemate in a highly competitive and entertaining fourth quarter.
“We’ve played in a lot of these close games. To be able to pull out these close games, to learn how to pull out these close games, we were desperately looking for this type of win, playing against these big hitters,” said Faradie. “We know we can play with them, and we’ve been desperately looking to pull out one of these games. Today we got it.”
Methuen, which improves to 7-6 on the year, should see a surge from its spot at No. 23 in the current D-1 state rankings. The Rangers got 21 from Andino, who feasted on North Andover’s second-half zone defense, scoring 16 of those after the break.
“He’s a great player. That’s what he does,” said Faradie. “He’s shifty, so crafty, getting in there and making plays.”
His backcourt running mate Lennon Abreu DeLaCruz likely forced the switch to zone at the half. All but three of his points — a gutsy, long triple that put Methuen up 56-54 late — came in the opening two quarters.
North Andover drops to 8-3 with the loss, one that coach Paul Tanglis could see coming after a sluggish Knights start resulted in a 20-13 Methuen lead after a quarter.
“They’re a good team, they’re tough, they defend,” said Tanglis. “I didn’t think we came out with enough intensity, and you know they are going to bring it in a game like this. They obviously got the better of us.”
Zach Wolinski paced the Knights with 25 points, while Cam Bethel and Niko Catalano added nine apiece.
Methuen 58, North Andover 56
Methuen (7-6): Nelson Abreu DeLaCruz 6-2-18, Isaiah Andino 8-5-21, James Levesque 1-2-4, Drew Eason 1-1-3, Earl Pemberton 3-0-6, Nathaniel Clemente 3-0-6, Totals 22-10-58
North Andover (8-3): Zach Wolinski 8-7-25, Cam Bethel 3-0-9, Niko Catalano 3-3-9, Bryan Gyorda 1-0-3, Jake Saalfrank 1-2-4, Angel Sanchez 3-0-6, Totals 19-12-56
3-pointers: M – Abreu DeLaCruz 4; NA – Wolinski 2, Bethel 3, Gyorda