A double-double by junior Derek DiPietrantonio (22 points, 19 rebounds) led the Raiders to a 51-43 comeback victory over Burlington Tuesday night Feb. 3.

The Red Devils led by sophomore Fernando Lanin (17 points) gave Watertown all it could handle, running out to a 12-point halftime lead, but just couldn’t pull out the win.

Watertown struggled big time early, scoring only 6 points in the first quarter. The Red Devils dominated the boards with 14 rebounds in the quarter. Mike (11 points) and Chris DeMartinis (5 points, 5 rebounds) combined to score 11 first-quarter points for the Red Devils.

The Raiders’ struggles continued in the second quarter as they only scored 8 more points, giving them 14 for the half. DiPietrantonio dominated the boards with 7 rebounds alone, but Lanin was on fire from the field, scoring 10 points on his own and helping extend Burlington’s lead to 26-14.

DiPietrantonio took over in the third with 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals.  And the Raiders kept the tempo up with their ferocious defense.  The comeback was on with a very low score of 30-26 at the end of three.

Watertown senior Mike Hagopian (14 points) scored 9 points in the fourth to help the comeback, along with major help on the boards from DiPietrantonio, senior Nate  Munson-Palomba (8 points, 6 rebounds), and freshman John Korte (7 rebounds, 3 assists).

Lanin and the DeMartinis brothers attempted to get the lead back from the Raiders, but the Red Devils came up short.

Watertown’s victory brings its record to 10-6, and kept its lead in the Middlesex Freedom. The Raiders next play Stoneham on Friday at 7 p.m.

–Feb. 6, 2015–