Central Catholic basketball gets it right in Massachusetts

Great teams don't get mad. They get even.

Or in the case of defending MIAA Division 1 champion Central Catholic (Lawrence), the Raiders got their game in high gear and beat Merrimack Valley League rival Andover 64-55, avenging their only loss of the 2010-11 season.

Saturday's home-court victory, achieved before a crowd of 1,500, came just 11 days after Central Catholic (7-1) had fallen to Andover in the semifinals of the Greater Lawrence Christmas Tournament.

The teams will play for a third time on Feb. 17 in Andover.

"We haven't lost in this house in the last four years and we don't plan on it, either," Central Catholic's Jaycob Morales told the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune. "I hate losing. Our whole team hates losing, especially to Andover."

Morales helped fuel a 7-1 fourth-quarter run by Central Catholic that turned a narrow 43-40 lead by the Raiders into a 50-41 bulge with three minutes remaining in the game.

Central Catholic, which beat St. John's Shrewsbury for last season's MIAA state title, placed three players in double figures as Jimmy Zenevitch (18 points), Evan Sheehan (18) and Luis Puello (11) led the attack. Morales registered eight points, and Central Catholic time and again won the battle of the boards, particularly on the offensive end.

"Defensive rebounding, that's the game, it's our biggest deficiency," said Andover coach Dave Fazio. "(Central Catholic) must have had 20 offensive rebounds, and that's the game. We play good defense, but they just got so many second and third shots."

Andover (6-2) got 13 points each from Joe Bramanti and Brian Salvesen. Sam Dowden scored nine.

CONNAUGHTON, NO. 1 ST. JOHN'S SCORCH BC HIGH
Senior guard and University of Notre Dame recruit Pat Connaughton scored 22 points, including 12 on four 3-pointers, and grabbed 12 rebounds as top-ranked St. John's Prep (Danvers) dismantled No. 13 Boston College High, 63-45, in Danvers.

Back-to-back 3-point goals by Connaughton early in the third quarter helped open up a 14-point lead for St. John's Prep (7-0).

"I knew in the first half I rimmed out a few 3s but I tried to stay positive,'' Connaughton told the Boston Globe. "I tried not to think about it and keep shooting, and when shots were open, I took them. When they weren't, I swung (the ball) and other guys hit their shots.''

BC High (4-3) did well to stay within striking distance for the first half before the St. John's offense took over in the third period.

"It takes a 32-minute effort,'' BC High coach Bill Loughnane said. "They're just a good team, which is why they're undefeated. When you have that third or fourth or fifth weapon out there, it's tough to guard them all.''

MILESTONE TUESDAY
A variety of career scoring milestones were reached by players from around the state last Tuesday:

* Samantha McCann, Quaboag's 6-foot-1 senior center, scored 26 points, including the 1,000th of her career, as the Cougars beat Bartlett, 53-29.

* Watertown's Marco Coppola scored 24 points and went over the 1,000-point mark for his career in the Red Raiders' 55-49 win against Woburn.

* Gloucester's Adam Philpott eclipsed the 1,000-point mark, scoring 28 points for the Fishermen in a 70-46 beating of Danvers.

* Junior Jen Gonsalves scored 18 points to reach 1,000 for her career as Harwich rolled past Mashpee, 70-47, on Cape Cod.

* Senior forward Morgan Jenkins of Revere scored her 1,000th career point (and also had 15 rebounds) to lead the Patriots past Peabody by 76-36.

ALSO OF NOTE
* Newton South's three senior captains, Kendall Burton, Sophie Bikofsky and Chloe Rothman, are three major reasons why coach Sam Doner's Lions are ranked No. 2 in the state by the MaxPreps' Freeman Rankings. Burton averages 20.3 points per game; Bikofsky leads the team with an average of nine rebounds per outing and Rothman tops the Lions in assists at 5.8 per game.

* The Lenox Memorial boys basketball team improved to 7-0 for the season at the Coaches vs. Cancer Showcase at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, scoring a 64-32 win over Drury. Chris Bravo scored 16 points, while Andrew Bravo had 13. Austin Martin scored nine of his 10 points in the first quarter on three 3-pointers.

* The Dias sisters - senior Anna Dias and freshman Tatianna Dias - each scored 16 points in a 67-39 win by Southeastern RVT (South Easton) against Upper Cape Tech. Tatianna Dias also had 11 steals for the Hawks (3-1) while Vanessa Sylvain added a double-double in the win with 14 points and 16 rebounds.

* Guard/forward Sarah Kober of Hampshire scored 16 points to lead her team to a 60-28 victory over Springfield Commerce. Earlier this season, the sophomore star recorded a rare quadruple-double, amassing 13 points, 14 rebounds, 10 steals and 10 assists in only three quarters of play against Southwick-Tolland.

* Westfield celebrated its unanimous spot atop the MassLive.com Western Massachusetts' boys basketball poll and remained unbeaten at 8-0 as senior guard Alex Garstka scored 17 points in the Bombers' 67-33 victory over Renaissance.

* Sophomore guard Corey Gatta scored 13 points and dished out seven assists as Tantasqua Regional (Fiskdale) moved to 7-0 with a 76-45 win at Sturbridge. Junior guard Jaylen Dottin added 14 points and seven rebounds, while junior forward Windell Westbrook contributed 12 points for the winners, who are ranked sixth in Central Mass.

* Neil Burke (Algonquin), Andy Cline (Phillips Andover), Tom Healy (Canton) and Pat Yanchus (St. John's Prep) will be inducted into the Massachusetts Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Jan. 29 in Westborough. Yanchus tops the group with 437 career wins, though one game that got away from him was a loss to Algonquin and Burke in the 2007 state final.

Jim Stout is the CBS MaxPreps Media Manager for the Eastern United States. He may be reached at 845-367-2864 or at jim.stout@cbsinteractive.com.