ANDOVER – The mad, fourth-quarter, leave-your-heart-on-the-floor scramble by the home team was nothing new to the standing-room crowd at Tarbox Gym.
These are who their relentless, resilient Reggies, have been since opening night.
“It’s what we’ve lived on all year, never-say-die attitude, just stick together, move together,” said Reggies coach Stevie Martinez, whose CAC co-champs finished up at 15-8. “I said it the other day, this group is all about unity.”
Greater Lawrence’s patented 32 minutes of intensity and energy came up just short in Friday night’s Division 3 state quarterfinal as Old Rochester hung on, 52-49.
The Reggies, who held their biggest lead of the night (21-15) in the second quarter, trailed 50-41 with 2:28 left before mounting on final charge.
Jaden Baralt drilled a long three, and then off a steal, Ebe Efosa soared through the lane to score, making it 50-46.
Then, with 33.3 seconds left, Albert Diaz buried a 25-foot bomb of his own, slicing things to 50-49.
Twice, it looked like the Reggies forced a turnover, but somehow OR held onto the ball. With 12 seconds left, Gavin Martin calmly sank two huge free throws, and in the final seconds a good-looking Reggies bid from deep for the equalizer rimmed out.
Martin was a difference-maker for the Bulldogs all night, finishing with a game-high 22 points.
On the Greater Lawrence side, it was Efosa, who attacked the paint and owned the glass in a 17-point, 14-rebound effort. All but two of those points came after halftime.
“Ebe was absolutely amazing. He had the eye of the tiger. He was on a mission,” said Martinez. “His urgency was definitely on a hundred. He understood the magnitude of the game, the opportunity, and he came through.”
While Martinez’ program is building for the long haul with six freshmen, led by the dynamic Amarian Lopes, contributing, losing this senior class is going to hurt.
Efosa, big man Ellis Macea, Baralt and Darialdy “Taco” Lara have been pillars of strength throughout the year.
“Those guys, it’s amazing,” said Martinez. “Jaden sat for a quarter-and-a-half, maybe two quarters, got in and was just relentless on defense and rebounding. Taco’s shooting all year and his leadership, Ellis’ is as good a shooter as you’re going to get, and his best basketball is ahead of him.”
Seconds after the final buzzer, Martinez picked up the microphone and saluted the sensational Tech student section that has been behind this group since Day 1.
He also let them know his team would be back.
“We won our league this year (co-champs). For the most part we were the fifth ranked team in (Division 3) all year,” the charismatic coach said. “We have to be relentless and stay hungry. We can’t and won’t be satisfied.”
No. 20 Old Rochester 52, No. 5 Greater Lawrence Tech 49
OR (14-9): Noah Thorell 1 2-2 4, Grady Oliveira 5 1-1 14, Brody Hiles 3 0-0 6, Henry Berry 1 0-0 2, Gavin Martin 7 7-8 22, Hunter Hersey 2 0-1 4, Totals 19 10-12 52
GLT (15-8): Elian Alvarez 1 0-2 2, Albert Diaz 1 0-0 3, Ebe Efosa 7 3-5 17, Zayden Goicochea 2 0-0 4, Jaden Baralt 2 0-0 5, Darialdy Lara 3 0-0 8, Amarian Lopes 2 0-0 5, Ellis Macea 2 0-0 5, Totals 20 3-7 49
3-Pointers: OR – Oliveira 3, Martin; GLT – Diaz, Baralt, Lara 2, Lopes, Macea