By Jim Clark
LEOMINSTER - Leominster boys' basketball coach Ron Mazzaferro called Fitchburg High "probably the best team in the state" following Friday night's meeting between the traditional rivals.
Teams that qualify for such praise often have one standout player, like Red Raiders junior Ricky Morales, but usually need others who will pick up the slack and push the team over the top if needed.
In this case, senior Ray Gonzales stepped up with a hot-shooting first half, and 6-foot-7 sophomore Jon Gauvin keyed a huge second half run that allowed FHS to finish off an 83-45 dismantling of Leominster.
Gonzales finished with a game-high 22 points, 19 coming in the first half, while Gauvin had 10 of his 13 points after intermission. For his part, Morales also had 21 points as the Red Raiders stayed unbeaten at 7-0.
"We've been working hard in practice, and our main goal is to work hard in games," said Morales. "Ray shot very well. We knew he could do it, because he has been shooting well in practice all week."
"The last game I wasn't hitting any shots, so I figured I'd come out in this game and the intensity was going to be high," Gonzales said.
The Raiders had some trouble getting going early, with the game being stopped twice because of wet spots on the floor. But Gonzales started the game with a nifty three-point play off a long pass from Kevin Keenan, and the Raiders never trailed.
"We knew we'd have to come in here, score that first basket, and play hard from there," Gonzales said. " When I hit that first basket, I felt I had it going."
"We have a lot of weapons. If somebody is down, there's always somebody to pick up the slack," Morales said.
Gonzales would drain three three-pointers in the half as Fitchburg jumped out to a 33-17 lead. Leominster stayed in it for a while as Nick Smith had 10 of his 15 points in the first half, including a tip-in that made it 43-27 at the break.
But Morales, who had nine points in the first half, came out on fire after intermission. He hit three from downtown in the first four minutes to push the lead to 54-32 before the Raiders really took off. A 22-2 run, including eight straight points by Gauvin with a pair of slick low post moves, turned it into a 76-34 rout with six minutes to play.
"How about Gauvin?" marveled Fitchburg coach Doug Grutchfield. "If we could ever get his confidence up and establish that inside game, (Gonzales) was terrific, and Ricky did a nice job in the second half."
"We didn't react to their changing defenses. We didn't move the ball," Mazzaferro said. "But Morales has that shooting touch, and Gonzales is a hell of a ballplayer, too."
Leominster has a tough stretch next week with road games at Worcester South (Monday) and Wachusett (Tuesday). "We were prepared to give them one hell of a game," Mazzaferro said. "The test is not in losing this game; the test is in how we bounce back."
Meanwhile, Fitchburg returns home tonight to face an Acton-Boxboro team that has been struggling (1-8 overall) in a tough Dual County League.
"We've played four leagues game, all on the road, and now we have all of those teams at home," Grutchfield said.