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Never too early to start talking tourney … Who’s in, who’s out, who’d better start winning really quick…

Jan 25th, 2009 by Hector Longo

It’s never too early to start thinking about the state EMass boys hoop tournament, which is now less than a month away.
Right now, the region can boast three automatic qualifiers, that is teams who’ve wrapped up the magic number of 50 percent wins.
They are:
Central Catholic … 11-1 thanks to Sunday’s 32-point win over the Rangers of Methuen.
North Reading … 11-1 … Right now, the beast of the CAL small
Georgetown … 10-2 … right on the Hornets’ tail …

As for the rest, here’s how we’ll break them down:

Punch their ticket this week:
North Andover (9-3) … i admit it, after the Christmas tournament and the 2-3 start, i thought the knights would be all out to win 10 or 11, as the 21-game schedule dictates. Talk about over-achieving. Six of the final nine are on the road, but there’s no reason North Andover won’t put up 14 or 15 wins now, in what was supposed to be a total rebuilding year.

Just keep the wheels on the bus:Greater lawrence Tech (8-4) … The slate favors the Reggies, at least in the conference, but we won’t get a real feel for this team as a D3 North contender when North Reading and Bishop fenwick stare Greater lawrence down in a couple weeks.

Methuen (8-6) … A combination of a weak MVC small and some creative non-league scheduling have the Barden’s boys looking at a 13-7 kind of year, which means a pretty decent seeding come D1 North pairings time.

It’s the MVC, who really knows???
Andover (7-5) … Not sure if the Warriors are really 6-5 in the MIAA’s eyes, because i’m pretty sure they elected to have the BC high game, win or lose, not count on the record for the tourney. Not sure on the Brockton game, though. So, say the Warriors need four more wins, just to be sure. Lowell, Central, at Haverhill and at Lawrence won’t be bunnies. That leaves the Warriors a pretty short margin for error. Once thought of as a force in the North, Andover now has some real work to do.

Haverhill (7-5) … You’d hate to see it come down to the final regular season tournament in Medford, but it just might. The Hillies could kick the door in, taking three of the next four (Methuen, Andover, at Lawrence and Billerica) to seal the deal, then let it fly with no repercussions at Lowell and Central, then use that Medford tourney as a postseason prep. Of these three, Haverhill, because of the schedule, looks like it has the best chance to qualify.

Lawrence (7-5) … If you can unlock the riddle of what is the Boston City League, then you’d get a better feel for the lancers’ tourney hopes. I do know Lawrence beat southie by 30, and Southie beat Eastie. If you can chalk up wins against both teams coming up, you’ve got Lawrence in the tourney already. But it is the city, and there’s also Charlestown, which played a good Woburn team tough and beat Southie, to deal with. if the Lawtown folks can take two of those three, they look good for the postseason. If not, a win or two at home vs. andover or Haverill, or at Lowell or central become musts.

Extreme longshots …
Whittier Tech (5-8) … Obtaining the magic 10 won’t come easy for this crew, which finishes with six of the last seven on the road. Two wins out of road trips to Chelsea, Greater lawrence, Minuteman and Assabet are absolute musts for the Cats.

In deep, deep, deep trouble

Fellowship (1-9) … The improving Rams would need to close the season with eight straight wins
Pentucket (3-9) … The Sachems scrap, but the current five-game losing streak has truly hurt.

Posted in Basketball, Hector Longo, Uncategorized | View Comments

  • Granitom

    Hector,
    Good breakdown and you have to start to ponder tourney seedings and matchups. In D1 north Lynn English is still undefeated, has played no one, and won’t play anyone until the final game vs. Lowell. Westford is still undefeated with a weak schedule, ditto one-loss Lex. So as good as Central clearly is, they could end up a #4 seed in the north. In past years there were always a couple of teams out there that scared you (Brookline with Jeff Adrian, NN, Charlestown, etc.). Not this year.

  • Fib1106

    Gotta defend Andover. They opened with Tewksbury.
    Then played 11 straight games against teams with winning records.
    Only 4 of their 12 have been at home.
    Now it is more favorable. Upcoming games include:
    Home vs 4-7 Billerica.
    Home vs 1-9 Chelmsford.
    At 0-13 Weymouth.
    At 6-7 Brookline.
    Yes, Lowell and Central, but they both come to Andover.
    Lawrence shot well and played well at Andover Friday night, but Andover looked and played nasty.

  • MVCguy

    Hey Granitom,

    Westford Academy is Division 2, so they won’t factor into Central’s seed at all. Lynn English has a make-up game with Everett (who they already beat once, but who’s playing much better as football kids get into hoop season) and 2 games with Lowell (who is obviously playing much better, including a win vs. BC High yesterday; They were postponed due to weather earlier in the season) left to play. Lexington plays a pathetic schedule, but has to play Watertown again (who seems to have their number). No way Central ends up as the 4 seed. Somewhere between 1-3, which means they’ll have home games as long as they can before it moves to a neutral court. And since neither LE or Lex can hang with them, it won’t really matter too much- All it will change is the order that Central beats them in.

  • tim

    does andover still leave the doors at the far end of the gym open in the first half when the visiting teams are shooting in that direction ?? its a huge distraction as the depth perception makes it difficult to shoot- especially when the doors are closed in the second half when andover shoots in that direction

  • granitom

    MVCguy,
    Yeah, I had forgotten that Westford was D2. It just seemed odd to me that, given CC’s strength, they could end up a 4 (or 3) seed. But I do agree that it won’t matter; Bye, two home games, neutral, etc. If I recall, Central has beaten the muscled-up bunch from Everett three times in recent years in the tourney. Ditto the perennially undefeated Lex team until they get Central. I still see Andover and Lowell playing Central tough, perhaps in the tourney, but is there anybody else out there that causes you to say “Wo!”?

  • Fib1106

    Good question about Andover doors. When they renovated, that dynamic changed. Now people enter/exit through the side.
    That said, Andover is capable of strategic nonsense, for sure.

    Regarding D1 North, Malden is very competitive. Cambridge is having a rare down year. Charlestown is not as strong.
    I had heard Westford petitioned up to D1 this year but it is not reflected in MIAA site.
    It’s too bad Lawrence lost Big Jorge Escoto to injury, but the underclassmen who are getting those minutes are making the most of them. They will improve faster now and be a force next year if not sooner.

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