North Andover Comes up Short Against Wilmington 62-56

In front of a roaring crowd, the lost a heartbreaker to the Wilmington Wildcats Friday night.

In a game that pitted two teams with great records against each other and saw the biggest attendance of the year, the Knights' usually quick-scoring offense had trouble getting any good runs going. The team not only missed a lot of shots but also collected less of their own rebounds.

Coach Mike McVeigh admitted his team didn’t have the best shooting night, but added that he intentionally sent fewer men to the boards.

“We were in catch-22 there, because they do run,” said McVeigh about Wilmington, “and the more people you put out on the offensive boards, the less that can get back.”

The game drew the biggest crowd of the year, including the entire for Thomson Tiger Night.

Play-By-Play

The first quarter saw the Knights and Wildcats playing an even game. At the four-minute mark, a three-pointer by junior captain Zach Karalis put the Knights ahead 10-7. Both defenses would take over for the rest of the quarter and hold the score to a 12-7 Knights’ lead. Karalis had seven of those 12 points for North Andover.

The second quarter looked much like the first, with the two defenses going back and forth at each other. North Andover’s lead would get as high as seven points with just around five minutes left. Knights’ junior Mike Moroney kept the team ahead by driving to the basket and scoring four times for eight points. 

However, the Wildcats never gave up. Wildcats’ junior Vinny Scifo scored 10 points of his own in the second. Scifo would tie Zach Karalis as the top scorer in the game with 22 points.

“Scifo can get in the lane any time he wants,” said Wilmington coach Joseph Maiella, “He’s a kid that just has that ability, that quickness, that first step to get in the lane.”

The Knights continued to miss shots and failed to create distance between a Wildcats team that slowly creeped up the scoreboard in the second quarter. At the end of the half, the Knights led by only four, 29-25.

At the beginning of the third quarter, the Wildcats attacked the net and took the lead for the first time in the game within the first two minutes, 30-29.

Coach McVeigh said he felt the third quarter was the game, adding “The first half we were going down hill, and then they took that momentum away in the third quarter.”

The Knights continued to miss shots and allowed the Wildcats to keep inching ahead. With two minutes left in the third, Wilmington had stretched their lead to five, 42-37.

“Space was everything, when we created a little more space to stop the drive, they shot it pretty well,” said McVeigh, “and when we got up on them, they penetrated pretty well. It hurt us going to the hoop.”

In the fourth quarter, Wilmington stayed ahead by knocking lay up after lay up and keeping second shots for North Andover to a minimum.

“Defense has been our achilles heel,” said Maiella, who added that his team had the best defensive night of the year. “If we hold teams in the mid fifties, we’re gonna win every game.”

The Knights kept it close with key three pointers from Zach Karalis and senior Derek Collins, they even managed to tie the game 48-48 with five minutes left. But the Knights never retook the lead.

The Wildcats stayed ahead by two to four points for the rest of the quarter. The Knights stayed close by making key free throws, but they couldn’t stop Wilmington from running the ball back and scoring.

Moving Forward

Coach McVeigh said his team needs to brush the loss off and focus on the task ahead.

“Our road is very tough,” said Coach McVeigh, “We got a tourney infront of us, we got to take what happened here tonight and get better. It’s not complicated.”

The game had added significance as this will be the last regular season match-up for the two teams. The Wildcats will be moving to the Middlesex league next year. 

“We love playing North Andover.  They are a class class program,” said Coach Maiella, “We’re gonna miss playing North Andover, we had great games with them.”

The Scarlet Knights’ record is now 14-3. The team moves on to play league rival Andover on Monday night in Andover’s Dunn gym. The Knights tip the ball off at 7 p.m.