BILLERICA — Austin Prep junior Lence Altenor doesn’t care if you call him a forward, center, or guard, as long as his team is winning.
In Monday night’s Division 4 North boys’ basketball semifinal at Billerica High, Altenor used his wide array of skills to drop a game-high 34 points, pacing his top-seeded Cougars to a 69-47 victory over No. 12 Georgetown.
Austin Prep (16-4) will face the winner of Tuesday’s semifinal between Snowden and Cristo Rey in the sectional final.
“It doesn’t really matter what position I play as long as I help everyone on the court play well,” said Altenor. “I can play the ‘4’, ‘5’, ‘2,’ it doesn’t really matter.”
The Revere resident may be built like a power forward, but Altenor showed off his ball skills with several jumpers off the dribble to help Prep take a 26-19 halftime lead.
With junior Adrian Quezada (9 points, 18 rebounds, three blocks) controlling the paint, Prep was able to pull away for a 48-30 lead after three quarters, ending a magical run from Georgetown (12-11), which pulled upsets in the first two rounds of the section.
“[Altenor’s] just an unbelievable player,” said Austin Prep coach Duane Sigsbury. “He’s gifted with the basketball, and I can’t say enough about how well he’s transformed his game into being a winning basketball player. He’s had some good [games] this year, but this was probably his best.”
Altenor finished with 11 rebounds and three assists as well. Andrew Croteau added 12 points off four 3-pointers, and Mike Gizzi chipped in 6 points.
“My coaches had more confidence in me than I had in myself,” said Altenor. “So they gave me the green light and I just took advantage of it tonight.”
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