LAWRENCE - Points never seem to come easy for visiting teams at the Central Catholic Fieldhouse, but heading into last night's crosstown showdown with No. 3 Lawrence many in the capacity crowd had the feeling that the high-flying Lancers would prove to be the exception to that rule.
Guess again.
Playing their best defensive game of the year, the Raiders shut down their high-octane guests and sent them back across town with a 59-50 loss to seize control of the MVC title chase heading into the second half of the season.
“We didn’t out-tough them - they’re a very tough team - we just played some of the best defense we have played all year,” said Central senior big man Colin Bradanese, who finished with a game-high 23 points and four blocks, while keeping Lawrence’s explosive big Luis Reynoso (14 points, four blocks) in check.
Central Catholic (8-3, 6-1 MVC) got up by as many 13 (34-21) in the second, before seeing the Lancers (9-2) storm back to tie it at 43-43 at the end of the third. The Raiders, behind Bradanese and junior guard Kevin Constant (14 points), held Lawrence to just three field goals the rest of the way, however, en route to the statement win.
Lawrence senior standout guard Juan Felix Rodriguez finished with a team-high 20, but had to work for each and every one as he was blanketed by Constant along with Andy Kalala and Cam Homesy.
“It’s just a testament to how tough the kids at Central Catholic are and how they buy in,” said first-year coach John Walsh, who led Danvers to three state titles before taking the Central job this summer.
“Our help defense was tremendous. They have two legitimate D1 (college) players and for us to be able to limit them defensively is just a real testament to our kids.”
Coming off their impressive win at home against Lowell last Friday, Lawrence could never get on track from the get go, shooting just 33 percent from the field (22-for-65) and, unlike in their win over Lowell, the Lancers got precious few second looks.
“It’s a point of emphasis every game,” Bradanese noted of Central’s prowess on the defensive glass. “We always talk about crashing the boards and no offensive rebounds. We came out and that was our mindset - no offensive rebounds.”
It was a plan that started on Walsh’s chalkboard well before the game.
“They’re the best offensive rebounding team that I have seen all year and it’s not even close, but we did a good job boxing out and we gang-rebounded which was important,” said the Raiders’ coach.
With the Lancers right there down by two in the final quarter, a coast-to-coast layup by Constant put the Raiders up 49-45 and a pair of free throws from Bret Edwards (9 points) would make it a 54-48 game with 1:41 left as Lawrence managed just three field goals in 16 attempts in the final quarter.
“It comes down to our energy level and it wasn’t where we needed it to be,” said Lawrence coach Raymond Nunez, who saw his team miss three dunks. “That’s something that we need to learn. When things aren’t going your way you need to ramp up that energy and fight through it.”
A three from the top of the key from Dom Keegan (nine points) would stake the Raiders to their largest lead of the game, 34-21, late in the second, but the Lancers would close the half with a flurry with back-to-back throwdowns from Chris Ruiz and Rodriguez, respectively to make it a just a seven-point game heading into the break at 34-27.
“It’s one of those wins that you need if you want to be in that upper echelon,” Walsh summed up afterward. “We needed it.”
