NORTH ANDOVER — The last time Zach Wolinski played before his home crowd, the North Andover superstar had a tough night, scoring just three points.
On Friday night, the senior was back before a packed house at Crozier Gymnasium and like he’s done so many times, he put on a show.
Wolinski scored a team-high 26 points, and sank what ended up being the game-winning free throws with seven seconds left to hold off a late charge by Central Catholic and help the Scarlet Knights come away with a 62-61 victory in a Merrimack Valley Conference tilt.
“We made it difficult on ourselves trying to close it out, but we’ll take it,” said North Andover head coach Paul Tanglis. “They hit some tough shots and down the stretch you have to defend every possession and we didn’t do that. You need to be careful against good teams like that because they’re not going to go away. Maybe we got a bit lucky tonight, but we got the win.”
The recent tough game wasn’t about to shake Wolinski’s confidence in a rivalry matchup.
“The important thing is not to be too hard on yourself because everyone has tough nights and you just have to come back strong from it,” said Wolinski. “I watched some film, worked on a few things and I just kept letting the (shots) fly. Eventually I knew they would fall.”
Before Friday’s Central Catholic game, Wolinski was honored along with his parents for becoming the third player in program history to surpass 1,000 career points. He topped the mark last Friday against Andover.
With that milestone behind him, Wolinski gave Central Catholic fits, attacking the rim all night long with many of his baskets coming on left-handed drives off fast breaks.
“One of the most important things is to get to the rim. When I struggle (shooting 3-pointers) early on, sometimes it’s hard to rebound from it and hard to get into a rhythm. So tonight I wanted to get to the rim, I wanted to get to the free throw line, I wanted to get some lay-ups, but I need to hit my free throws,” he said.
Shortly after a Jake Saalfrank basket extend the Scarlet Knights (8-2) lead to 14 with 3:11 to go, Central’s John Kelley scored on a nice underneath inside move, which initiated a 12-1 run, cutting the advantage to five points with 23 seconds left. Javi Lopez, who was sensational for the Raiders (6-4) with a game-high 28 points, nailed a three-pointer with nine seconds left to make it a two-point game. Wolinski was fouled two seconds later, and hit both free throws. Lopez drained another three-pointer right before the buzzer, ending the game.
For the Knights, Cam Bethel ended with 12 points, and Bryan Gyorda added nine points and Saalfrank had eight points.
For Central Catholic, Lopez had his 28, while Bladimir Hiraldo also had a big night finishing with 20. The Raiders finished 8 for 15 from the free throw line, including three misses in the fourth quarter.
“Our kids fight until the end. We’re young and we’re going through it,” said Central head coach Mark Dunham. “I’m proud of our efforts, but we’ve got to make free throws. (North Andover) is a seasoned team. They have four starters back from a Final-4 team, so they are seasoned. They shoot the ball so well, they set really good screens and they are physical. Playing here (at their home gymnasium) is obviously (a factor) so ultimately we’ll go back to the drawing board.”
Twitter:@JamiePote
North Andover 62, Central Catholic 61
Central Catholic: Bladimir Hiraldo 6-3-20; Elia Ynoa 1-0-3; Javi Lopez 10-5-28; John Kelley 3-0-6; Jeremiah Almanzar 1-0-2; Luke Zorbas 1-0-2. Totals: 22-8-61.
North Andover: Nico Catalano 1-2-3; Zach Wolinski 10-4-26; Jake Saalfrank 4-0-8; Bryan Gyorda 3-0-9; Angel Sanchez 0-2-2; Camden Bethel 4-0-12; Zachary Desrochers 1-0-2. Totals: 23-8-62.
3-Pointers: CC, Hiraldo 3, Lopez 3; NA, Bethel 4, Gyroda 3, Wolinski 2.
Records: Central Catholic 6-4; North Andover 8-2.