English faces a hobbled Central Catholic in D1 North final Saturday

When Lynn English visits the Tsongas Arena in Lowell Saturday (7:45) the Bulldogs will face a Central Catholic team decimated by late-season injuries.But before anyone gets too comfortable with that notion, you should also know that the Raiders – no strangers to the upper echelon of state basketball – got to the Division 1 North final, despite their injuries, because they played airtight defense. In its semifinal win over Andover, Central allowed the Golden Warriors just 10 first-half points – and only three in the second quarter – in an eventual 61-48 win.All five Central starters made the all-Merrimack Valley Conference team. Unfortunately for coach Rick Nault, two of his best forwards are hurt and will not play. Nick Cambio, a 6-6 junior forward who averaged 13.9 points per game, is out with a hip injury; and senior 6-5 forward Doug Gemmell (13.2 ppg) is still suffering from concussion symptoms. Nault has ruled both of them out.But the Raiders still have junior guard Tyler Nelson, who is already looking at Division 2 scholarship offers. Nelson averages 14.9 points (and had 31 in the win over Andover).Central’s other starters aren’t any slouches either. Forward Joel Berroa, a senior, who is 6-5, has a 12.0 scoring average and point guard Lucas Hammel (whose father, Bert, is the Merrimack men’s basketball coach) is a heady ball handler and a fierce defender.Central’s problem, though, is that it went only seven deep all season, and without Cambio and Gemmell, Nault has had to get creative.He has gone with guard Jamahl Lopez, who has filled in nicely; and junior Aaron Hall, 6-6, who is starting at center. He has averaged five points. Also seeing time are senior forwards Mike Barry and Austin Perry.English, on the other hand, has peaked at the right time. Both the Bulldogs and the Raiders competed in the IAABO tournament, held just a week before the sectionals began, and the Bulldogs won it, defeating defending state champion Springfield Central in the first game and shocking the North’s top seed, St. John’s Prep, in the championship. For those seeking comparisons, The Prep defeated Central Catholic twice in February – once at home, on Super Bowl Sunday, and again in the opening game of the IAABO tournament. The Bulldogs poured it on both Somerville and Haverhill in the first two rounds of the sectional before putting up 94 points in a regulation game in beating Everett, 94-87.In that Everett game, English – with only one senior on the floor (Ben Bowden) – showed tremendous resilience in coming back from a pair of nine-point deficits (it was a game of runs). And while Nelson had 31 points against Andover, English’s Stevie Collins bettered him by three points. Collins is one of two sophomores who have played an increasingly vital role for the ‘Dogs as the season has progressed. The other is point guard Erick Rosario. Both can be slashers, although Rosario is more likely to stick in the outside shot while Collins goes to the hoop with abandon.English employs a three-guard offense, with Fred Hogan Jr., the most experienced member of the team, as a swing man. He is capable of both accurate long-range shooting and taking it to the hole.Danny Lukanda, a junior, is deceptively small in that he’s listed as 6-2 but has outjumped just about everyone in the tournament. His rebounding was a big reason why English’s lightning-quick offense jelled against Everett.Bowden, who will attend Vanderbilt on a baseball scholarship, is a 6-4 center who scored 12 points in Tuesday’s win over Everett.The last time English made the Division 1 North final, the Bulldogs defeated Central and then went on to beat Brockton in overtime before falling to St. John’s of Shrewsbury in the state final. Central came back the next year to win the state final.Steve Krause can be reached at [email protected].