TAUNTON – Thanks to a late push and sufficient offense, Norwell is again within the Div. 3 closing for the primary time since 1989.
The No. 2 Clippers used a clutch run within the third to place away No. 3 Medway 52-39 within the Div. 3 state semifinals at Taunton High Monday night.
“It honestly feels fantastic,” stated Norwell coach Matthew Marani. “The girls put in so much effort and it’s not just the winter. They put (the work) in all year round and I’m just so happy for them to get the reward of that hard work they’ve been doing.”
In the third, Norwell (23-1) missed their first six photographs from the sphere as Medway (19-5) put collectively a 10-2 run to chop the deficit to 32-31. The Clippers responded with an 8-0 run to push the lead again out to 40-31 as freshman Alex Cassidy hit a jumper within the closing seconds of the body.
“That’s the mental toughness of this group,” Narani stated about that late run. “It’s fantastic. Teams go on runs. Especially in the tournament. It’s a game of runs and so we knew that they (Medway) was too good not to (go on a run). It was just a matter of weathering it and then coming back at them.”
The run continued within the fourth to make it a 42-31 contest on a pair of free throws for Cassidy, who scored seven of her 12 within the second half with 4 of these coming within the fourth.
From there, the Clippers held on and didn’t let the Mustangs get nearer than 9.
In the primary half, it was junior captain Reagan Dowd who stored the crew afloat by pulling down 4 triples with two in every of the primary two frames, together with one proper earlier than the half to make it 30-21.
Junior captain Maddie Oliver collected all 16 of her factors after the primary and netted eight factors within the second to push the lead out after 16 minutes.
“I mean coming into it, it’s like a feeling of nostalgia,” Oliver stated about getting the win after dropping in the identical spherical final season 40-38 to Bishop Fenwick. “Coming into this year, I didn’t want that to happen again. When they went on their run, we had to keep our heads leveled and just keep pushing.”
For Medway, sophomore Anna Freeman completed with 12 factors and junior captain Olivia Melanson added 11.
Next up, the Clippers will play Tuesday’s Foxboro/St. Mary’s of Lynn matchup this weekend at Tsongas Center in Lowell
Source: www.bostonherald.com