LAWRENCE – Down five in your trademark, old-school, Merrimack Valley Conference Friday night rock fight, Central Catholic caught a break when Andover point guard Charlie Tutwiler picked up foul No. 5 midway through the fourth quarter.
Blood spattered in the water. And the frenzied sharks, make that Raiders, attacked, running off a furious 11-1 barrage to take over and prevail, 55-50, before a packed house on Hampshire Street.
“The best point guard in the state comes off the court, it changes everything,” said coach Dave Fazio, whose Warriors will share the MVC1 championship with Central – each team finishing up at 12-1 in the league.
“It is what it is. It’s high school basketball. Those guys are three good officials. It was a great high school game. Great coaching by them to come after us and double him. Congrats to them, but I’m proud of my kids. My kids are tough. Two good teams fighting hard. I just wish we had our best on the court against their best late.”
Raider Javi Lopez, quiet in a tough shooting night, came up with all the winning plays in the final quarter, netting eight points, with two huge steals and a back-breaking, no-look assist to a wide-open Jordan Marion. The Brandeis-bound senior just refused to be denied.
“You could see. He got box-and-one the entire night, face-guarded the entire night, and it gets tough sometimes.” said Raider coach Mark Dunham, whose crew entered at No. 1 in the most recent MIAA Division power ratings with Andover at No. 2. “In a physical game like that, he kept his composure, and he kept fighting. You saw at the end, he had big baskets. He doesn’t complain. He just keeps going.”
With the Warriors zeroed in on stopping Lopez, Central sophomore Elkin Pena dropped his second straight message to the rest of Division 1 statewide:
Overlook him and pay dearly.
Coming off a 21-point, 14-rebound performance against Methuen on Monday night, Pena again ravaged the backboards in a 19-point, 16-rebound effort to torture Andover.
“Elkin’s a sophomore. He’s so physical. That first game (a December loss to Andover), he really, really struggled,” said Dunham. “Tonight, you could just see he was dominant down there. If we can get that out of him, like the other night against Methuen, he’s such a nightmare down there to match up with. We need that.”
Each team had its runs in this one. Andover spurted to a 9-1 lead as junior Josh Roux netted his 1,000th career point, scoring the first seven of the night.
Central bounced right back and knotted things at 14-14 through a quarter, then took a 31-24 advantage into halftime.
The lead went to nine on a Pena bucket to open the third, but Andover would dominate the quarter behind nine from Roux, erasing the deficit and moving ahead, 39-34, to start the fourth.
Lopez and Co. never buckled.
“Javi, Poopie (Jeremiah Almanzar), Elkin, Jordan and Drew (O’Keefe) have been in so many big games for so long. It’s going to be hard for them to give up, especially at this time off year,” said Dunham.
“Both teams know each other so well. You knew it was going to be a dogfight. I don’t think either team played very well offensively tonight. A lot more misses than makes for both teams. I’m not going to complain. We found a way to win the game.”
Both teams now end their regular seasons in tourney play with Central heading to Emmanuel College on Sunday to play Newton South. They will return to face either Masconomet or Catholic Memorial on Monday.
Andover hosts its Warrior Classic tourney, opening with St. John’s Prep on Monday night.
At that point, fans of both teams will be hoping for a Round 3 between these two MVC heavyweights.
If the current MIAA power rankings hold, there’s only one place that could happen – at Tsongas Arena in Lowell for the Division 1 state title game.
Central 55, Andover 50
Andover (16-2, 12-1 MVC): Josh Roux 12-4-30, Charlie Tutwiler 1-4-6, Patrick Ruane 0-2-2, Logan Sullivan 4-3-12, Totals 17-13-50
Central (16-2, 12-1 MVC): Elkin Pena 7-5-19, Jeremiah Almanzar 3-5-12, Javi Lopez 4-3-13, Jordan Marion 2-0-4, Drew O’Keefe 2-2-7, Totals 18-15-55
3-pointers: A – Roux 2, Sullivan; CC – Almanzar, Lopez 2, O’Keefe