NORTH ANDOVER – Heading into the fourth quarter with a three-point lead versus No. 14 Newton North, Zach Wolinski shared a message with his Scarlet Knights squad.
“We really can never take anyone lightly, but we looked around and said they have not worked as hard as we have,” said Wolinski. “All those late nights in the gym, working on our craft, we just looked at everyone and said let’s get it done.”
With everything on the line in the MIAA Division 1 Round of 16, the message proved to come true, as No. 4 North Andover went on a 9-0 run and rolled to the 59-47 victory.
“I love the way we were defending, Zach (Wolinski) obviously hit some big shots, and we got the ball moving in the second half,” said North Andover head coach Paul Tanglis. “They were rebounding, we held them to a decent amount of points, and the offense started clicking.”
Both sides knew it would be a close one, and the first half lived up to the hype.
North Andover took a nine-point lead early, led by Wolinski, who hit three shots from deep in the quarter, and finished the half with 14 points.
“I let the game come to me, I knew my teammates were going to make big plays around me,” said Wolinski. “It was all about getting to the free throw line, finding the rhythm, and everything just came to me.”
Trailing by five points at the end of the first, the Tigers weren’t going anywhere.
Newton North’s Teagan Swint, who lit up Lawrence for 43 points at the Comcast Tournament, was scoreless in the first quarter, before scoring seven in the second, including a three, to tie things up at 24 heading into halftime.
“Teagan is so tough, he can score at so many different angles, and we needed to throw different bodies at him to throw him off,” said Tanglis. “We knew that if he was going to score 30 or more, it was going to be a long game.”
The Tigers jumped out to an early lead to begin the third, as free throws from Swint put Newton North in front for the first time since minutes in, but Wolinski scored four straight to close the quarter at 42-39 Knights.
The 9-0 run to begin the fourth began with two layups from Jake Saalfrank, a three from Wolinski and free throws from Niko Catalano put North Andover up 11 with three minutes remaining.
Next up for North Andover is the winner of No. 5 Xaverian vs No. 21 Methuen.
“Both Methuen and Xaverian are really good, and I would not be surprised if the Rangers came away with it,” said Tanglis. “We will be ready either way.”
“Nothing better that you can ask for, this is special,” added Wolinski on playing one final high school game in Crozier Gym. “Our goal was to get those three home games, we got it, and we have to keep playing the way we play. This is the best community to play in front of.”
Follow Evan Applebaum on X at EvanApplebaum2.
North Andover 59, Newton North 47
NA – Zach Wolinski 29, Niko Catalano 8, Jake Saalfrank 7, Zach DesRochers 5, Bryan Gyorda 3, Angel Sanchez 2