Hoops: Central Catholic rolls

Last year the Central Catholic girls basketball team battled all season in a tough Merrimack Valley Conference en route to finishing 15-5 in a three-way tie for first place.

The Raiders only seemed to get stronger, carrying the momentum into the Division 1 tournament. They rolled all the way to the state finals, winning the North title and a semifinal at the TD BankNorth Garden.

"I think that what happened was every coach's dream," coach Susan Downer said last season. "Things just kind of clicked at the right time."

Downer can be forgiven if she’s hoping for a repeat of last season. The Raiders finished the 2007-08 season in third place in the MVC. Early season struggles appear to be in the past, as Central is playing its best basketball of the season.

The Raiders graduated two starters from last season, Melissa Lucas and Kaylyn Grange. Their absence would be felt early on.

“I think it’s just one of those situations where you don’t know how much you’ll miss something until it’s gone,” said Downer. “They brought those intangibles, like leadership, and we needed kids to step up.”

Toward the end of the season, Central was getting exactly that heading into last week’s Comcast Board 27 Tournament at BC High.

“Our last four or five games, we may not have won them all, but I think we’ve peaked as a team,” said Downer.

The Raiders entered the Comcast Tourney with an 11-7 record and looked to be the underdog, but they served notice with a 71-51 win over Barnstable, the first-place finishers of the Old Colony League. Next was a matchup in the finals against Archbishop Williams.

The Bishops took a similar path to a state title in Division 3 last season, peaking late and rolling through the tournament. They may very well do so again this year, as they entered the Comcast tourney after knocking off previously undefeated and No.1 Cardinal Spellman. They followed that up with a win over Winthrop to set up the title match with Central.

“That’s why we accepted the invitation to play in this tournament,” said Downer.
“We get a chance to play against quality teams that maybe we wouldn’t normally face.”

That the Raiders would prevail against that competition was an added bonus. It wasn’t that they beat Archbishop Williams, but the way they did it. Central was in command for most of the game, but then sophomore center Katie Zenevitch fouled out in the fourth quarter.

The Bishops would take control and seize a 50-45 lead late in the game, but the Raiders would not fold. Guards Gia O’Connor and Gabie Polce each were fouled driving to the hoop. Both buried their free throws to pull within 50-49. That would set up Jackie Vienneau’s heroics, as she calmly delivered a three-pointer for her first basket of the game, giving the Raiders the lead, 52-50. Central would continue to bury its fouls shots, including some clutch shooting from freshman Melissa Miller, to pull out a 58-53 win.

“This was really cool,” said Zenevitch, who was named tournament MVP. “We know that if we just play together, we have a chance in games like this.’

Downer also liked the way her team battled adversity down the stretch.

“This was huge for us,” said Downer. “To pull that game out with our best player on the bench. The kids stayed focused. Jackie didn’t hit a shot all game, but then she stepped up and hit that three. We’ll be a lower seed in the tournament, but we’ll be ready.”

Get well soon

Certainly, injuries are part of sports. Still, it is tough to see kids getting hurt in their senior year with what could be season-ending, and possibly career-ending injuries.

That may or may not be the case for a pair of seniors that were fast becoming fan favorites. Cardinal Spellman's Jade Santos suffered what appeared to be a devastating knee injury in the Cardinals' showdown with Archbishop Williams. What had been a raucous gym became eerily silent after Santos hit the floor late in the game. Here's hoping the injury isn't as serious as it looked and that she can return for the tournament.

Ditto for BC High's Tim McKinney. Last year, McKinney played a crucial role as BC High went 20-0 through the regular season before getting hurt in the first game of the tournament. He would miss the rest of the season as the Eagles rolled to the Division 1 title. This year, McKinney was elected one of the captains and was having another fine year before injuring his leg again. He too is holding out hope that he'll be able to play again this season.

Eagles eye new coach

Speaking of the Eagles, keep your ears and eyes open, because perhaps as soon as this week, BC High may announce the hiring of a new head coach for football. The names bouncing around are intriguing, but at the end of the day, I can't help but feel that the best man for the job is the one that BC High AD Jon Bartlett sees everyday when he looks in the mirror.