WOBURN – Barred from the Div. 2 state match as a result of the MIAA put a one-year postseason ban on your complete college, the Bishop Fenwick women basketball crew was set on utilizing the IAABO Board 27/Comcast Tournament ultimate on Monday as one other assertion that they’re the division’s high crew.
Mission achieved.
Cecilia Kay dominated the within with a 26-point, 16-rebound double-double and the Crusaders’ (16-3) stifling protection created havoc within the fourth quarter, holding off top-ranked Medfield, 49-45, within the Richard Antonelli bracket’s ultimate.
The Warriors (19-2) gave a little bit of a scare with a pair of late 3-pointers from Tess Baacke (17 factors) to drag inside one within the ultimate 20 seconds, however Isabella Lopez-Marin stole the ball on Medfield’s subsequent possession to seal it in Bishop Fenwick’s ultimate sport of the season.
Both of Medfield’s losses have come to the Crusaders.
“We came out here, we proved we’re the best team in Div. 2,” Kay stated. “That’s what our goal was to come here and do because (the MIAA) screwed us over, they screwed our whole school over for something that we had nothing to do with. … Medfield’s ranked No. 1 in the rankings right now, so we came out and we proved – we beat them, we’re better than them, we’re the best team in Div. 2.”
“This was our state championship,” added Bishop Fenwick sophomore Celia Neilson (11 factors). “We needed to prove that we’re the best team in Div. 2, so we did that.”
As the Crusaders managed the paint behind a number of unstoppable stretches from Kay, Medfield responded with high quality capturing to commerce momentum usually. Three triples helped the Warriors lead on the finish of the primary quarter, earlier than Kay’s 11 factors within the second anchored a 24-22 Bishop Fenwick benefit on the half.
Bishop Fenwick’s protection principally took away the perimeter within the second and the beginning of the third quarters, however a seven-point heater from Mary Palladino (11 factors) fueled Medfield in a 9-2 run to shut the third with a 36-35 lead.
Kay and Neilson stated the crew cranked up the vitality defensively within the fourth to finally draw back. Medfield had only one level with 5 turnovers within the first 4 minutes of the body, and didn’t convert a area aim till the ultimate two minutes.
Kay, Kate McPhail, Lopez-Marin and Neilson every scored in an 8-2 run to construct a late 45-39 lead within the meantime.
“Felt like (a state final),” stated Bishop Fenwick head coach Adam DeBaggis. “I thought our defensive effort (in the fourth quarter), we were playing like a team that wouldn’t allow ourselves to lose. All of them that were out there, so I’m very proud of them.”
Missed free throws from Bishop Fenwick opened the door for a Warriors comeback, with Baacke drilling consecutive 3-pointers to come back inside a 46-45 deficit. But Caitlin Boyle completed off a quick break layup out of the press to construct it to 48-45, and Lopez-Marin’s steal in the end closed it.
The match’s ensuing James Grady ultimate noticed the unbeaten Wachusett women make the same assertion, following up Saturday’s blowout win over Div. 1’s top-ranked Bishop Feehan with a 62-54 win over Div. 3’s top-ranked Foxboro (19-2).
Mountaineers (19-0) senior Mary Gibbons dazzled once more by scoring 11 of her game-high 30 factors within the third quarter to retake a lead, whereas sophomore Jaelynn Scott (17 factors, 10 rebounds), senior Hannah Best and senior Elizabeth Cain mixed to run away with it in an 18-13 fourth.
In the search to take this season to the following degree after consecutive losses within the Div. 1 state semifinals, this two-game stretch was significant.
“It’s just a great way to almost end the regular season,” Gibbons stated. “I’m glad we pulled together at the end.”
“You’ve got to play the best if you want to be the best,” added Wachusett head coach Jim Oxford. “They want that state title, to be able to say it’s theirs. That’s why this tournament’s so good for us.”
Much of the primary three quarters was a back-and-forth, led by Gibbons and Foxboro’s tandem of Camryn Collins (18 factors, 9 rebounds) and Kailey Sullivan (22 factors).
Down 31-29 on the break, Gibbons shortly surged to seven factors in a 9-0 run to start out the third, just for Collins and Sullivan to mix for a 10-2 run to construct a 41-40 lead late within the body. But after Gibbons transformed a layup and two free throws as a part of a 44-41 lead getting into the fourth, it was all Wachusett from there.
Scott, Best and Cain every completed within the paint, and Cain’s and-one layup pushed the lead as excessive as 54-43. Sullivan scored a fast 4 factors to hold round, however Best, Scott and Gibbons every hit photographs to by no means let the lead get below seven from there.
“I think that just speaks to their determination,” Oxford stated. “I start four seniors. You get four 18-year-old women on the floor, determined to do something, it’s hard to stop that. … Once they sense that they’re going to win it, they’re pretty resolute.”
“When I see my teammates getting these baskets, getting these looks, it’s just great when we keep up our lead,” Gibbons added.
Source: www.bostonherald.com