NORTH ANDOVER – Methuen High School boys basketball coach Ryan Middlemiss got what he wanted Saturday night. His team beat North Andover 54-51 in the Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic semifinals to earn a rematch with Andover.
The Warriors beat the Rangers 63-59 Monday, and the teams will meet again Sunday night (7:30) in the tournament’s championship game at Lawler Arena.
“The kids are excited to play them again,” Middlemiss said. “I know they weren’t happy with their performance in that game. Usually we don’t have Andover on the schedule again unless we land them here or in the state tournament, so we have another chance. We’ll have to play our best game to come away with the championship.”
Andover advanced by beating Central Catholic 65-60 in Saturday’s first semifinal.
Methuen’s only tournament championship came in 1995. Andover will be seeking its first tournament title since 2014.
“They gave us all we could handle Monday,” Andover coach Dave Fazio said. “Well-coached, talented and it’s going to be three days in a row for both teams. It’s going to be whoever has that little extra motor tomorrow night.”
Methuen 54, North Andover 51
Methuen took a three-point lead when Isaiah Andino made two free throws with 10.9 seconds remaining, and then played smothering defense on North Andover’s final possession. Zach DesRochers launched a desperation 3-point attempt at the buzzer that was short of the rim.
“We were going for the 3 and they knew that and were kind of hugging us on the three-point line,” North Andover coach Paul Tanglis said. “We tried to have a couple options but it just wasn’t there.”
Andino led all scorers with 22 points. The top-seeded Rangers (3-1) received 13 points from Lennon Abreu De La Cruz and 12 from Nethaniel Clemente.
“I liked our resilience,” Middlemiss said. “Things didn’t go our way all the time. There were plenty of times we could have hung our heads or started pointing fingers and the boys stuck together.
“The kids wanted it. They wanted that win. They weren’t going to let anything get in their way.”
Four players scored for North Andover. Niko Catalano led the way with 20. DesRochers and Cam Bethel each finished with 11, and Angel Sanchez had nine.
The Knights trailed 32-22 at halftime, but prevented fans from leaving early by scoring the first eight points in the third quarter. A Bethel free throw handed North Andover (2-2) a 51-50 lead with 1:05 to play, but De La Cruz answered with a basket that gave Methuen a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
“We battled back,” Tanglis said. “We just couldn’t get the ball to fall for us down the stretch. We’re still trying to piece together who we are. At times we took a step in the right direction, but we have a lot of work to do. Good effort, but we have to be better.”
Andover 65, Central Catholic 60
Outside shooting was the key for Andover, which made 10 3-pointers after connecting on nine shots from behind the arc in Friday’s first-round victory over Beverly.
Owen Crowley (13 points) and Josh Roux (12) each made three 3-pointers for the Warriors (5-0), who led 35-22 at halftime and 58-41 entering the fourth.
“We were terrific for three periods,” Fazio said. “We like to go inside out, and we have guys who can really shoot it, but you saw the fourth period. We couldn’t make a shot.
“When you’re not making shots, your defense is lax. You’re making shots your defense gets better. We just have to find a way to close those out.”
Central Catholic trailed by 22 in the third quarter but was within four points following a Jordan Marion layup with 28.7 seconds to play.
Elias Ynoa led the Raiders (4-1) with 14 points. Javi Lopez added 13 points and Marion tossed in 11.
“Happy with our guys’ fight in the second half and giving us a chance to win in the end, but you exert so much energy to get back into a game it’s tough to win those,” Central Catholic coach Mark Dunham said. “We started to wear them down. I wish we had four more minutes to play, but credit to them. We’ll keep grinding.”