MEDFIELD – In a wire-to-wire victory, it was the Medfield protection that overshadowed the return of star senior captain Kate Olenik in a Division 2 second-round matchup towards Billerica.
The second-seeded Warriors pressured 16 turnovers and allowed simply 12 factors by the primary three quarters en path to a convincing 50-31 victory over the No. 15 Indians at residence.
“Defensively, we played outstanding in the first half,” mentioned Medfield coach Mark Nickerson. “We limited their opportunities. They had some opportunities that they probably could have cashed in on, but for the most part we did a good job limiting them. The girls were hustling in the half court more than the full court. The fullcourt pressure was OK, but the halfcourt defense was very good.”
Medfield (21-1) will host No. 7 Newburyport on Friday at 6 p.m. within the Div. 2 quarterfinals.
The Warriors performed up on protection by the primary 24 minutes of sport motion with 12 of the 16 turnovers coming within the second and third quarters. They allowed simply 6-of-41 capturing from the sphere with Billerica (11-11) lacking all 10 makes an attempt from distance earlier than draining a pair within the fourth.
“Truthfully, we are always concerned about the three,” mentioned Nickerson concerning the capacity to defend past the arc. “Look at the fact we play a lot of 2-3 zone, but we do a great job defending the three out of our zone. Our real focus was on (senior captain Sofia Mazzotta). She is pretty dynamic.”
Mazzotta confirmed off that talent with 10 of her team-high 14 within the fourth quarter after trailing 36-12 after three.
In the primary half, the protection led to offense after a sluggish begin as Medfield went on a 10-2 run to finish the primary to go up 14-4 after one.
Olenik then took over with 10 of her game-high 17 factors after lacking the final week and a half with a proper ankle harm as Medfield led 28-8 on the half.
“The thing is she is a great scorer, but she also is creating for everyone else out there,” Nickerson mentioned concerning the senior captain. “She is creating space and they are doubling down on her. They are focusing on stopping her and she is looking to get the other players the ball.”
The senior captain added six steals and 6 boards as properly. Freshman Izzy Kittredge added eight factors, eight rebounds and 4 blocks to assist out within the publish. Junior captain Annie Stanton completed with 5 factors and 10 boards.
Source: www.bostonherald.com