fb-pixelCentral Catholic turns back Lowell - The Boston Globe Skip to main content
FRIDAY’S SCHOOL ROUNDUP

Central Catholic turns back Lowell

It was a conference title game, a chance for bragging rights for the next 365 days, one for all the marbles, a preview of the Division 1 North tournament, a rivalry — call it what you wish. On Friday night, fifth-ranked Central Catholic delivered a statement in arguably the most competitive league in the state this year.

In a game where they never trailed and that featured four players in double figures, the Raiders (16-3) put on an offensive showcase to win the Merrimack Valley Conference Large over host Lowell, 80-67.

Seniors George Smith (20 points, 11 rebounds), Kevin Constant (20 points), and Jalen Aquino (18 points), along with Anthony Traficante (12 points) off the bench, drove the victory.

Advertisement



“Just to get a win in Lowell, not many people do and that’s a testament to [Lowell’s] program.” said Central Catholic coach John Walsh.

“That is amazing in itself, and then to win the league in itself makes you feel really good because the kids deserve it.”

Central Catholic raced out to an early double-digit advantage, coming out with high energy and not allowing the Red Raiders to find any rhythm on offense. Lowell didn’t connect on its first field goal until senior Devin Okowuga (21 points) hit a three-pointer with 3:45 left in the first quarter.

Central was able to take a 45-33 lead into halftime, but Lowell kept barely hanging around just needing one spark to get back into it.

The Red Raiders came out of the break scoring the first 4 points within seconds of each other and cutting the deficit to single digits. An Okowuga 3-pointer with 5:40 remaining in the third quarter trimmed it to 49-44.

A quick substitution by Walsh to get Traficante on the floor for the first time all night proved to swing the momentum back in Central’s favor. Lowell had no answer for the 6-foot-6 -inch Traficante, who scored 8 of his 12 points in the third, and the Raiders snapped off a 14-4 run to close out the quarter.

Advertisement



“That was huge,” said Walsh. “Lowell went on that run and [Traficante] came in and gave us his 8 points.”

Lowell got within 9 points with 1:33 to play, 74-65, but it was too little too late. Constant’s third two-handed slam of the game on the ensuing possession put the game firmly to bed.

Abington 62, Mashpee 61 — Bryson Andrews (15 points, 8 rebounds) buried a shot at the buzzer to launch the Green Wave (14-6, 9-4) past the Falcons and clinch the South Shore League Tobin title, their first outright title since 2009.

Apponequet 71, Bourne 60 — Senior Tim Johnson netted 20 points for the visiting Lakers (12-6).

Billerica 69, Dracut 63 — Behind 27 points from Ryan Murphy, the Indians (12-9, 8-7) clinched a share of the Merrimack Valley Small title.

Canton 52, Milford 46 — Senior Devin Foster became the program’s career scoring leader, passing 2000 grad Brian Pendergast (1,187 points) in the Hockomock League win for the Bulldogs (12-8).

Catholic Memorial 70, Brockton 58 — Sophomore point guard Kurtis Henderson led the 12th-ranked Knights (14-5) with 27 points.

Charlestown 80, Fenway 62 — Emmanuel Carr poured in 43 points to propel the Townies (10-9) to the semifinals of the Boston City League tournament.

Advertisement



Foxborough 47, North Attleborough 46 — Senior guard Anthony Mollica (10 points) hit two free throws with 2 seconds left to carry the Warriors (11-8). Junior guard Brandon Borde led Foxborough with 17 points.

Franklin 57, Attleboro 36 — Senior Will Harvey scored 19 points and classmate Jalen Samuels added 15 points for the 10th-ranked Panthers (14-5).

Mystic Valley 71, Greater Lowell 59 — Senior forward Ben Soto led the Eagles (15-3, 13-3 CAC) to a share of the Commonwealth Athletic Large title for the first time with 23 points and 15 rebounds.

Norwell 55, Dennis-Yarmouth 50 — Junior Nick Fantom (29 points) carried the Clippers (13-6).

Scituate 82, North Quincy 65 — Junior Nate Lopes had 20 points to lead the Sailors (15-3).

Seekonk 74, Dighton-Rehoboth 54 — Senior Adam Horowitz closed his high school career leading the Warriors (7-11) with 11 points.

South Shore Voc-Tech 61, Old Colony 53 — Junior Kyle Schlieff (16 points) led the Vikings (12-8, 7-1) to their fourth Mayflower League title in six years.

Wareham 69, Old Rochester 66 — Destine Haywood scored a game-high 24 points and combined with senior captain Taylor Carlson (20 points) to spark a comeback to help the Vikings (15-3, 13-1) capture the South Coast Conference crown.

Westwood 103, Holliston 56 — Westwood coach Steve St. Martin said ‘‘everybody stepped up’’ for the Wolverines (17-3) to score what he believes is an all-time high in single-game points. Junior captains Pat Reilly (20 points) and Jack Terzian (15 points) led the way.

Advertisement



Girls’ basketball

Abington 50, Paulo Freire 16 — Senior Kristyanna Remillard led the Green Wave (14-6) with 14 points and senior Moe Stanton added 10 points and eight rebounds.

Apponequet 55, Bourne 29 — The Lakers (11-2, 9-1 South Coast Conference) clinched the SCC title behind 15 points each from seniors Jayda Fortin and Sophia Gaucher.

Bishop Fenwick 44, St. Mary’s 33 — Senior captain Sammi Gallant poured in 23 points as the host Crusaders toppled the Spartans (12-7) in the Catholic Central Large.

Blue Hills 46, Bristol-Plymouth 23 — Senior forward Ariel Carter scored 15 points as the Warriors (15-5, 6-2) clinched a share of the Mayflower Conference Vocational Large Division title.

Cohasset 56, Carver 54 — Junior Molly Greer had 18 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Skippers (9-10).

Dracut 51, Lawrence 34 — Senior Kat Morissette led the Middies (4-16) with 12 points.

Durfee 53, New Bedford 50 — Mackenzie Carriero had 25 points to lead the Hilltoppers (4-13).

Foxborough 60, North Attleborough 29 — Junior Shakirah Ketant scored 15 points and junior Lizzy Davis and senior Chelsea Gibbons each added 14 points for the No. 12 Warriors (16-2).

Mansfield 65, Taunton 56 — Senior captain Maggie Denehy led the Hornets (14-5, 12-4) with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Masconomet 56, Pentucket 43 — Junior Mak Graves (19 points, 8 rebounds), sophomore Morgan Bovardi (17 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists), and sophomore Paige Richardson (10 points, 10 rebounds) led the way for the host Chieftains (15-5).

Advertisement



Newton South 50, Cambridge 39 — The host Lions (12-6, 6-2) clinched a share of the Dual County League Large title.

Peabody 50, Gloucester 26 — Junior Kristina Rossignol collected 13 points and 4 assists and senior Jonalyn Carpenter added 5 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks as the Tanners (19-1, 15-0) capped an undefeated regular season in the Northeastern Conference.

Somerset Berkley 57, Wareham 46 — Sydney Filipe (15 points) and Allie Powers (14 points) powered the way for the Raiders (11-9).

Boys’ hockey

Nobles 5, Belmont Hill 2 — Junior Jack Cronin recorded a hat trick for the Bulldogs (15-5-2), including his 20th goal of the season.

Phillips Exeter 1, Rivers 0 — Garrett Foster scored the winner in overtime for the Big Red off an assist from Mike Pitts. Goaltender Ryan Welch secured the shutout.

Girls’ hockey

Nobles 6, Thayer 0 — Sophomore Ellie Bayard (2 goals, 1 assists) and freshman Kate Ham (1 goal, 2 assists) led the way for the host Bulldogs (21-0-5) in the Independent School League win.

.   .   .

Cambridge Rindge & Latin has hired former Austin Prep and Melrose assistant Robert Merrill as its varsity baseball coach. Last season, Merrill worked with the pitchers and catchers at Austin Prep in the program’s drive to the Division 3 state title. He is a special ed teacher at the Sanborn Middle School in Concord. He replaces Mike Caron . . . Gloucester has named 2003 grad and former assistant Dan O’Connor as its new varsity football coach. He replaces Tony Zerulli, who stepped down after eight seasons. O’Connor worked under Zerilli during the 2011 season.


To report scores, call 617-929-28/60/3235 or email hssports@globe.com.