WORCESTER – No one saw this coming, right?
Central Catholic one win away from the Division 1 state championship game?
Truthfully, those lofty goals seemed to be more suitable for next year’s team.
After all the Raiders came into this season young, undersized, yet extremely talented.
On Monday night, the No. 4 seed exceeded preseason expectations and fell short of its incredible run to the program’s first state championship appearance since 2014 and first state title since 2010.
The No. 1 seed and returning state finalist from Franklin (25-1), led by its size and experience, came away with a 52-44 victory in the Division 1 state semi-final game played in front of a sold-out crowd at Worcester State.
“We have a real young group, so we are really excited about the future,” said Central head coach Mark Dunham. “Unfortunately, sometimes you have to go through a process like Franklin did last year. Hopefully we’re going through that process right now.”
“The guys playing this game today know what it feels like (to lose) and what the physicality is going to be (at this level). Ultimately, I’m really proud of how the season went, proud of our guys and our coaching staff. I think we’re building something here and we’re excited to be where we are,” added Dunham.
Two years ago, Central finished 17-7 and lost in the quarterfinals and then lost two players who elected to transfer. Last year, Central finished 14-8, lost in the Round of 16 and saw 6-foot-9 center John Kelley leave the program after graduating.
This year’s team (20-3) had arguably the best player in the state, Javi Lopez, returning, as well as senior starters Antonio Lopez and Elias Ynoa. After that there were a lot of question marks. Quickly though, many of those questions were answered when players like junior Jeremiah Almanzar and freshman Elkin Pena stepped up into starter roles.
“Coming into the year I thought we had a chance to be pretty good. A lot was going to depend on the development of our younger guys, and our leadership with Antonio and Elias and they were phenomenal all year,” said Dunham. “Elkin Pena from where he was last year to now, he was in the eighth grade and now he played for probably thirty minutes in a Final-4 game. He’s going to continue to get better, Javi is going to continue to get better, Jeremiah Almanzar and all those guys.
“We’re excited and we’re not done. The goal is to get back here next year fighting for the same thing.”
Besides the talent on the floor, the coach said the leadership this season was impeccable and hopes that continues next year when – assuming everyone returns to the roster – Central will be heavily favored as one of the top teams in the state.
“The whole senior group, the four of them (including role players Anthony DeLaCruz and Eddyson Colon), really laid a foundation for this program,” said Dunham. “As a group, this is the best leadership that we have had in the program. They set a foundation for what is going forward. We lost so many kids to prep school over the years, so we continue to stay on the top part of the MVC three of the last four years and now we’re in the Final-4, so we’re taking the right steps, and we’ll keep grinding.”