ANDOVER – Tzar Powell-Aparicio didn’t get mad. He got even.
After being held to just five points in the first half, the Lowell High junior tri-captain triggered a stellar second half surge by netting a team-high 26 points, as the No. 9 Red Raiders boys basketball team defeated No. 8 Andover, 54-45, in the Division 1 second round.
Lowell (16-6) advances to play top seed North High (21-0) on Friday at 6:30 p.m. The Golden Warriors end their season at 16-6.
“It feels great especially being here,” said Lowell coach Bob Michalczyk. “This is a brutal place to play. We had a really nice third quarter and that got us going.”
It was the rubber match between both schools, after splitting during the regular season. Lowell grabbed the 75-56 win on their initial encounter. Andover took the rematch, 74-62, while also clinching the MVC championship, giving the Red Raiders plenty of motivation.
“We really should have the MVC championship right now,” said Powell-Aparicio, who also grabbed six rebounds, dished five assists and had six steals. “They took that from us, so we wanted to come different.”
The Red Raiders had to overcome some first-quarter jitters, surrendering a pair of turnovers to give the Golden Warriors the 7-2 edge to start the contest. They spent the remainder of the quarter playing catchup. Lowell managed to pull within a point off a three-pointer off bench by senior forward Eric Mukibi (eight points), entering the second quarter down 15-10.
Andover’s attack was spearheaded by junior Owen Foley, whose six first-quarter points led the squad.
The Golden Warriors extended the lead to 20-13 off a clutch trey by senior Danny Resendiz (nine points), but the Lowell defense did an admirable job stemming the attack, holding its opponent to just six points in the quarter.
Trailing 21-20 at halftime, Lowell was looking for some second half redemption and found it in Powell-Aparicio. The 6-foot-1 junior guard buried a three-pointer, while netting the next three field goals, triggering an 11-point swing in the third quarter.
“I just let the game come to me,” said Powell-Aparicio. “I was getting to the basket early, but just missing easy shots I should have made. I got going after I hit that three-pointer and it just kept me going.”
Meanwhile, the Lowell defense did an amazing job on Andover’s top guns, backed by a pair of stellar blocks by Xavier Rivera (13 rebounds). And when John Soucy (six points) denied Sam Concemi on another block, Lowell maintained its momentum with 5:18 left to play.
“We just started to get out in transition just a little more, pushing the ball a little bit,” said Michalczyk. “Not allowing them to get established in their half court defense. They held us to 20 at haftime, but they only had 21. It was pretty legitimate defense.”
For Michalczyk, the key was tying up Andover’s top guys, including star sophomore Luca Palermo, holding him to just 11 points.
“I think it was just trying to be physical with Luca, making him work for everything,” said Michalczyk. “Last time we lost to them here I think he had 30 and the freshman had 25. He had his points, but he had to work for them.”
Overall, it was a great team effort for the Red Raiders, with everyone playing a role.
“I’m pretty happy with all my guys,” said Michalczyk. “Everyone came in and contributed. It’s not always scoring. Juan Beltres Diaz was guarding Josh Roux the whole night and held him to three points. He sacrificed the points just to play defense and locked him down. He’s just the ultimate team guy.”
Christopher Hurley
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