Category Archives: Central Catholic

February 17, 2011 · 11:12 pm

Andover Defeated by Central Catholic Buzzer Beater 59-56

Joe Bramanti (22 points) applies some defense to Jaycob Morales.

Jaycob Morales (10 points) hit the last-second, 3-pointer to give Central Catholic the win.

(Andover) Jaycob Morales hit a three in the 3rd quarter to put an end to an 18-point Andover run and topped that shot with a game-winner in the 4th at the buzzer to give Central Catholic (17-1) a 59-56 victory on Thursday night at Andover High School.

Jaycob’s three climaxed a game that both teams seemed to have taken control of a couple of times.

Andover’s Craig Luschenat (13 points) tied the game (56-56) with a three from the right corner with 56 seconds left. The teams then swapped missed shots setting the stage for the Raiders with 12.5 seconds to go.

You suspected that CC coach Rick Nault might set Jimmy Zenevitch (26 points) up in close for at least some foul shots or maybe have a drive to the basket from Luis Puello (13 points) or Jaycob Morales (10 points). You knew that whatever CC did, it would be done late so that Andover couldn’t respond if there was a miss.

The “late part” went as expected. The Raiders, however, stayed outside and when Jaycob’s final shot, from just to the left of the top of the circle, went through the net there wasn’t even time for Andover to get the ball inbounds.

Despite the fact that Central Catholic had already clinched the Merrimack Valley title the tone in this one was at the post-season, tournament-final level. There was plenty of vocal support from the two team’s student sections and plenty of crowd-pleasing action to watch. The teams had split the two previous meetings.

Jimmy Zenevitch (26 points) puts up a free throw in the 4th quarter that tied the score.

CC was by far the better team in the first half. Despite an unseemly twelve turnovers, they frequently got the ball into 6-7 Jimmy Zenevitch’s hands for high percentage shots. They shot nearly 50% in the first half.

Andover had Joe Bramanti (“The Brama Bull”) bring the ball into the frontcourt on almost every possession. He delivered twelve points but there never was an easy attempt. Having Luis Puello chasing him everywhere he went factored into his struggles early on. Andover trailed 27-20 at halftime.

It was obvious that Andover had zero chance of winning if the second half was a repeat of the first. I don’t know what was said at halftime but the Golden Warrior team played a third quarter that was remarkable under any conditions. Played against the #2 Division 1 team in the state and it was indeed something special.

Luis Puello (13 points) defends Joe Bramanti.

Andover went from trailing 27-20 to leading 38-27 in about 6 ½ minutes. That’s a nifty eighteen unanswered points! You never saw such a turnaround. The Raiders missed two free throws, eight shots from the floor, and committed seven turnovers during this ugly (for them) segment. Joe Bramanti (8), Brian Salvesen (4), Craig Luschenat (4), and Jack Kieckhafer(2) all contributed points for the Golden Warriors.

You watched the onslaught and had to start thinking that Andover, with a 42-31 lead after three quarters, was on their way to a W. It didn’t turn out that way.

The 4th quarter started and instantly it’s CC that can’t miss and Andover begins to struggle to score. In three minutes and fifteen seconds the Golden Warriors squandered their entire eleven-point lead thanks to a 17-3 run by the Raiders. Jimmy Zenevitch came alive with two layups and two old-fashioned 3-point plays. Jaycob Morales hit his second of three 3’s in this comeback segment for Central Catholic.

With 4:44 to go and a 48-44 lead it looked as if CC was ready to roll to victory but credit Andover for fighting back. Despite missing three free throws, the team rode slashes to the basket by James Costello and Jack Kieckhafer, and the last-minute three by Craig Luschenat, to a tie score before Jaycob Morales’ last-second heroics.

Luis Puello scored thirteen points but it was his defense that was noticeable. He made Joe Bramanti work hard for his 22 points. Luis picked up his 4th foul with five minutes left but managed not to foul out and also to continue to play great defense.

Joel Berroa scored only four points for CC but he set up Jimmy Zenevitch for a number of layups with his passes.

Joe Bramanti struggled with his outside shooting and had to face shot-blockers when he drove. Still he managed 22 points. His defense was impressive to watch against Luis Puello and also Jaycob Morales.

Coaches from St.John’s Prep and Lynn English were in the house. Central Catholic plays at St. John’s on February 23rd. Lynn English is in a tournament at Central Catholic starting Sunday and could face CC in the finals.

Seniors were honored before the game.

The Raiders have now won thirteen straight.

Andover (13-4) defeated North Andover earlier this week.

Luis Puello shoots over Jack Kieckhafer in front of the Golden Warrior student section.

The student sections created so much noise that you never heard individual voices. The cheerleaders from both teams performed stunts that looked dangerous to this reporter.

(I collect my own stats and take my own pictures. I also draw my own conclusions. Mistakes are unintentional.)

Central Catholic Boys Overwhelm Bishop Hendricken 69-44

DaJuan Ives (#11) feels the defensive heat of Jaycob Morales (#10) and Luis Puello (#21)

Jimmy Zenevitch (6’7″) dominated the glass and collected 21 points in limited playing time.

(Lawrence) Central Catholic blitzed Bishop Hendricken at the start of each half and cruised to a 69-44 victory on Sunday afternoon.

The Raiders last loss was February 8, 2010 against these Hawks. Maybe that had something to do with the very noticeable defensive intensity the home team displayed.

CC (14-1) had a tough win over Lowell (66-60) on Friday night but had more than enough weapons and energy to handle the visitors from Warwick, Rhode Island. They’ve now won ten straight.

The Hawks (9-6) have been state champs in Rhode Island for six straight seasons. From what I saw today, getting the seventh straight will be a struggle.

The Raiders ran perpetual defense at BH and dominated the boards completely.

Jimmy Zenevitch (21 points) led all scorers and had an easy time of it with limited minutes getting seventeen of those points in the first half.

Luis Puello, Jimmy Zenevitch and Joel Berroa

BH was in trouble quickly in this one. In the first three minutes the Raider defense forced four turnovers and turned up high percentage opportunities down the other end. Luis Puello, Evan Sheehan, Jaycob Morales, and Jimmy Zenevich were scoring parts to a fast, 13-2, breakout.

BH trailed 18-6 after a quarter still struggling to get any sort of high percentage shot off. However, they did find some long-range accuracy in the second quarter with two 3’s from Lee Messier and another one from Rory Temkin. The long-distance offense narrowed the Hawk deficit to 23-15 three minutes into the second quarter.

Teams live and die long-range. While BH missed their next three 3’s, Catholic Central ran eight straight on three’s by Tyler Nelson and Evan Sheehan and a Jimmy layup. Back the lead went to 31-15. CC led 36-20 at halftime.

The Raiders went off on another both-ends blitz in the second half. In the first 2:45 the home team, led by Luis Puello’s seven points, dumped eleven straight on BH. That surge put BH down 47-20 and out.

BH outscored CC, 24-20, the rest of the way as both teams gave reserves playing time.

Luis Puello (13 points) had eleven in the second half.

Sophomore Lee Messier (13 points) was the lone bright spot for BH.

Sophomore Lee Messier (13 points) led Bishop Hendricken.

I came away very impressed with the defense of Central Catholic. They just wouldn’t allow any straight paths toward the basket. They were all over dribblers and pass receivers. They forced twenty-nine turnovers.

BH used zones with an eye on Jimmy. When he moved to the corner there were all sorts of opportunities for teammates in close.

The rebounding was impressive. By the time CC had the 47-20 lead early in the second half, the Hawks had gotten only one second shot! That’s covering the boards.

I was impressed with the routines of the CC cheerleaders. They were excellent gymnasts. Their tosses were spectacular in my non-schooled opinion.

Jimmy Zenevitch will play for Division 2 Assumption next season.

I visited CC last year when they hosted Lawrence. Much thinner crowd this time. Some folks probably knew that the Celtic/Laker game had the same start time today as the game with Bishop Hendricken. Where’s the school loyalty?

(I collect my own stats, take my own pictures, and draw my own conclusions. Mistakes are unintentional.)

Central Catholic struggles vs Lawrence 60-54 but continues undefeated

Carson Desrosiers – The Wake Forest recruit had 20 points and some foul problems against Lawrence.

(Lawrence) It took the Lawrence Lancers (7-4) nine possessions to get their first points but once they got going they gave Central Catholic all they could handle.

But at the end it was CC with a surprisingly tight 60-54 win in Merrimac Valley Conference play on Friday night before a spirited crowd on both sides.

The Raiders (9-0) by winning will stay among the top three in the state in Division One with Lynn English and St. John’s Prep. They face the Eagles in Lawrence on February 17th.

Their gymnasium is loaded with banners describing the many championships they’ve won in all sort of sports.

Of more interest to CC might be their return date with Lawrence (February 5th) at Lawrence High School. You’d have to think that the Lancers would shoot better at their gym then the 33% (22-for-66) they shot at CC.

What made this game interesting was the way Lawrence took the ball at All-American Carson Desrosiers (20 points/12 rebounds/4 blocks). There were some rejections (Carson is 6’11”) but he also got called for fouls. His second foul put him on the bench for a good portion of the second period and Lawrence responded with a rally that got them within three (24-21) at the half.

The Lancers started the second half with six unanswered including a slashing layup by Jaylen Alicea (20 points) and had the lead. CC rallied back but a Dawrin Pereyra three had the teams even at 33 with three minutes left in the third period.

Central Catholic grabbed the lead for good over the next 1 ½ minutes running nine points in a row for a 42-33 advantage. During this decisive segment guard Luis Pulleo (9 points/13 rebounds) converted a miss, Carson drained his only three of the game, Jimmy Zenevitch hit a couple of free throws and Carson clicked on a short jumper. This collection of solid offense was the difference maker. Lawrence hustled its way back to within five a couple of times thereafter but could not get closer. They even got a 4th foul on Carson early in the 4th quarter but it didn’t matter.

Carson appears to play now as he will at the next level. You would imagine that he could dominate inside at the high school level, and he probably could, but he avoids the heavy traffic inside. He doesn’t force his offense and the other CC players pursue their own offense. His greatest value in this game, in my opinion, was being the safety valve in the CC press breaker. This position put him in a position to defend the basket if there was a backcourt turnover.

The Raiders were very good at breaking down the Lawrence defense on the rare occasions when they put two or three passes together. Carson had several dunks at the end of such sequences.

The turnovers committed by a quality team like CC (23 including 11 in the second period) were shocking. The Lancers swarmed nonstop but there were way too many bad passes to make any coach happy.

Jaylen Alicea launches a free throw. The 6′ junior scored 20 points for Lawrence.

The best matchup was easily Luis Pulleo defending Kaylen Alicea and vice versa down the other end. You talk about quickness and althleticism! Luis is a sophomore and Kaylen a junior.

The gym was filled and the crowds seemed to behave as far as I could tell. I wasn’t so sure it was a good idea to have the first row of the CC student section standing right along the sidelines, however.

(All stats are unofficial.)