BOSTON â€" The more the harassment of the Central Catholic guards mounts, the nastier the harassment by the Raider guards gets.
"We've been criticized all year for not having good guards," said Central coach Rick Nault after his backcourt won more than its share of battles in the 59-50 war over Madison Park in the Eastern Mass. title game. "Our guards are playing pretty good basketball right now. They responded."
Much like two years ago when Wilfredo Pagan and Co. gutted BC High on this same, famed floor, the Raider guards were back at it again.
"We picked it up on defense. Coach let us know that we had to," said senior Andrew Ouellette. "Those guys on that team, they always stepped up, and to say we're at the same level as them is pretty cool."
All the fear Spencer Braithwaite had struck in the Central faithful pre-game was assuaged less than three minutes in when stifling sophomore Luis Puello picked the Madison Park point man's pocket and cashed in for a breakaway score.
"He's very tough. I just tried to get under his skin," said Puello."That gave me the confidence to push up on him more. When I saw him against Mansfield, I knew I had to step up my game. So I did."
No havoc would be wreaked here. In fact, the Central guards would just monotonously punish Braithwaite every time he touched the basketball.
"They played physical, a lot of bumping, good defense, (Puello) gives the ballhandler a lot of problems," said Braithwaite, who was held to a tourney-low 11 points by the Raiders. "I kind of had a feeling they were going to do that, but they played good defense on me tonight."
Clearly, this is a huge part of what has become the Nault plan.
"I said it when I got hired, we're going to defend the heck out of it, and we're going to play extremely hard," said Nault. "It may not look great on offense, but we're going to do what we do. It's our nature, in terms of how we go about things, in games and in practice."
It was much more than defense last night, too.
Puello pitched in six points and seven rebounds. Jaycob Morales delivered nine points, with a pair of threes including one from the loge that stopped the Raider bleeding in the third when things got most desperate.
Steady seniors Cam Wroblewski and Chris Conlin each knocked home first half threes, and Andrew Ouellette pretty much sealed things late with two huge plays, tracking down a loose ball in a mad backcourt scramble then courageously attacking the Madison Park frontcourt on a sweet drive.
Why no panic?
Central Catholic's lead, once as big as 12 at 41-29, had been sliced to two. Carson Desrosiers was seated on the bench, burdened with four fouls, and there was dancing in the Madison Park aisles.
So why didn't Central fold up?
"Today we really it up in the fourth quarter," said Desrosiers. "I can't say enough about the bench players. Pat Rooney stepped up when I got my fourth. I was itching to get back in, but he did a great job."
Instead, some unsung Raiders stepped up and simply denied Madison Park.
If one number jumps off the page, it's the Cardinals 6 fourth-quarter points. Consider that much of that quarter was played without Desrosiers and you know huge a defensive effort it was.
"They just played solid team defense on us," said MP's Braithwaite. "We tried, but they just took it away from us."
Not convinced
AIC-bound forward David Campbell might have been on the losing end, but he wasn't convinced the better team won last night.
"We shouldn't have lost this game," said Campbell. "Both our losses, I think we were the better team."
Campbell was a horse in the paint, gathering plenty of attention in his 15-point night.
Central doubled Campbell on every touch in the second half, holding the big man to only five second-half points.
Carson Desrosiers Day today?
Well, not quite.
Still, youngsters in Desrosiers hometown of Windham, N.H., were allowed the opportunity to come to the TD Garden and watch the Raider win without paying the price on a school night.
There is no school today at all schools in Windham, not because of Carson Desrosiers Day but because of elections in town.
Odds end ends
Another perfect performance of the Star Spangled Banner by Central Catholic senior Shanna Wiggins, who has dazzled with her efforts in the Raider stretch drive. Wiggins looked quite at home on the big stage. ...
Who says you have to make your free throws?
Central was 9 of 24 from the line in the victory. Of course, it helps when the opposition is just 7 of 17 as Madison Park was. ...
Central coach Rick Nault noted he'll give his team a well-deserved day off today. Of course, the Raider brain trust will road trip it tonight out to UMass Amherst where the Central/West state semifinal pits St. John's of Shrewsbury against East Longmeadow High.
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