Monthly Archives: January 2011

January 31, 2011 · 11:04 pm

Pentucket Holds Joe Mussachia to Twelve Points but Loses to Manchester-Essex 69-63

Sean Nally (#5) paced Manchester-Essex with 21 points. His defender (Corey McNamara) put up 20 points for Pentucket.

Joe Mussachia (#22) and John Modlish scramble for a loose ball in the last minute of play.

(West Newbury) Highly touted Joe Mussachia looked like just your average Joe from where I was sitting until late in the game when he hustled after a bad pass, got fouled, and nailed both free throws.   Those free throws gave Manchester-Essex (10-4) the cushion they needed to defeat Pentucket (8-5), 69-63, on Monday night in entertaining Cape Ann League play.

Joe (12 points) came in with a 25 points per game average but the combination of John Modlish and Will Angelini either denied him the ball or forced him into turnovers for most of the night.  Joe had only six points through three quarters.

The Hornets got off to a horrible start trailing 9-0 while having more turnovers (7) than shot attempts (4).  They also got a steady earful of tough love from Coach Duane Sigsbury.

Sean Nally – led all scorers with 21 points

Turns out that ME has plenty of other scorers – Sean Nally (21 points), Chris Bishop (15 points), and Jason Stasiak (11 points).  They sure needed them against the Sachems.

Pentucket was led by Corey McNamara (20 points) and Will Angelini (16 points).

The special coverage on Joe Mussachia left openings for the Hornets’ other shooters. That nine-point deficit had shrunk to, 31-29, by halftime.

Will Angelini – 16 points and solid defense

Pentucket showed solid offense throughout the game because: (1) they ran organized offense and used their size advantages to lose their defenders on screens and cuts to get open looks and (2) Will Angelini (16 points) has a turnaround shot that even a tall defender like Joe Mussachia never came close to blocking.

Will would later foul out with 1:45 left and trust me that hurt the Sachems on both ends of the court thereafter.

The Hornets finally took the lead early in the third quarter on a head-scratching sequence all involving Sean Nally (5-10 junior).  On the first possession he missed two free throws.  The next possession he hits a 3 from the left hand corner.  The next possession he nails a 3 from the right hand corner and gets fouled and makes that free throw.  Who can predict shooting??

Anyhow, that little collection of offense put Manchester ahead 38-35 with six minutes left in the 3rd quarter.  The lead would expand to 53-43 as Adam Jackson, Chris Bishop, and Jason Stasiak strung together seven straight points.

Credit the Sachems, led by Corey McNamara they went on a 12-2 run into the final quarter and evened things at 55-55.  Corey hit a couple of 3’s during the rally.

Parker Kelly’s two free throws tied the game again at 57 with 6:15 to go.  The next points registered were a three by Chris Bishop with 5 ½ left.  The Hornets would never trail again although Pentucket came painfully close.

A rebound conversion by Parker shortened the Sachem deficit to 65-63 with fifty-six seconds left.  Sean Nally got called for an offensive foul but, with a chance to tie, John Modlish’s jumper rimmed out.

ME tried to hold onto the ball but a dangerous pass bounced around near midcourt.  Both John Modlish and Joe Mussachia went after it hard but the foul was called on John with twenty-one seconds left.  If the foul goes the other way, John is shooting free throws for a tie. A steal there and Pentucket was off to the races for a tying basket or free throws.  Needless to say, the Pentucket partisans weren’t thrilled with the call.

Joe Mussachia hits clutch free throws in last minute.

Joe made the two free throws and ME had the win.

Alex Porter (8 points) was back with Manchester-Essex after missing a number of games with an injury.

One of the neat matchups to watch was Chris Bishop covering Corey McNamara.  Pentucket’s motion offense had Chris fighting over and under screens to stay with Corey.

Joe has signed to attend Division 3 powerhouse Amherst.

Pentucket was 8-for-8 from the foul line.

ME shot over 50% (25-for-49) from the floor.  Included in that shooting was 6-for-11 from 3-point territory.

There are numerous lefties in the Hornet starting lineup.

Both these teams should make the MIAA tournament.  Manchester-Essex should do very well in Division 4 especially if Joe becomes not your average Joe.

(I keep my own stats.  I take my own pictures and create my own captions.  I also draw my own conclusions.  Any mistakes are unintentional.)

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January 30, 2011 · 8:51 pm

Central Catholic Boys Overwhelm Bishop Hendricken 69-44

DaJuan Ives (#11) feels the defensive heat of Jaycob Morales (#10) and Luis Puello (#21)

Jimmy Zenevitch (6’7″) dominated the glass and collected 21 points in limited playing time.

(Lawrence)  Central Catholic blitzed Bishop Hendricken at the start of each half and cruised to a 69-44 victory on Sunday afternoon.

The Raiders last loss was February 8, 2010 against these Hawks.  Maybe that had something to do with the very noticeable defensive intensity the home team displayed.

CC (14-1) had a tough win over Lowell (66-60) on Friday night but had more than enough weapons and energy to handle the visitors from Warwick, Rhode Island.  They’ve now won ten straight.

The Hawks (9-6) have been state champs in Rhode Island for six straight seasons.  From what I saw today, getting the seventh straight will be a struggle.

The Raiders ran perpetual defense at BH and dominated the boards completely.

Jimmy Zenevitch (21 points) led all scorers and had an easy time of it with limited minutes getting seventeen of those points in the first half.

Luis Puello, Jimmy Zenevitch and Joel Berroa

BH was in trouble quickly in this one.  In the first three minutes the Raider defense forced four turnovers and turned up high percentage opportunities down the other end.  Luis Puello, Evan Sheehan, Jaycob Morales, and Jimmy Zenevich were scoring parts to a fast, 13-2, breakout.

BH trailed 18-6 after a quarter still struggling to get any sort of high percentage shot off.  However, they did find some long-range accuracy in the second quarter with two 3’s from Lee Messier and another one from Rory Temkin.  The long-distance offense narrowed the Hawk deficit to 23-15 three minutes into the second quarter.

Teams live and die long-range.  While BH missed their next three 3’s, Catholic Central ran eight straight on three’s by Tyler Nelson and Evan Sheehan and a Jimmy layup.  Back the lead went to 31-15.  CC led 36-20 at halftime.

The Raiders went off on another both-ends blitz in the second half.  In the first 2:45 the home team, led by Luis Puello’s seven points, dumped eleven straight on BH.  That surge put BH down 47-20 and out.

BH outscored CC, 24-20, the rest of the way as both teams gave reserves playing time.

Luis Puello (13 points) had eleven in the second half.

Sophomore Lee Messier (13 points) was the lone bright spot for BH.

Sophomore Lee Messier (13 points) led Bishop Hendricken.

I came away very impressed with the defense of Central Catholic.  They just wouldn’t allow any straight paths toward the basket.  They were all over dribblers and pass receivers.  They forced twenty-nine turnovers.

BH used zones with an eye on Jimmy.  When he moved to the corner there were all sorts of opportunities for teammates in close.

The rebounding was impressive.  By the time CC had the 47-20 lead early in the second half, the Hawks had gotten only one second shot!  That’s covering the boards.

I was impressed with the routines of the CC cheerleaders.  They were excellent gymnasts.  Their tosses were spectacular in my non-schooled opinion.

Jimmy Zenevitch will play for Division 2 Assumption next season.

I visited CC last year when they hosted Lawrence.  Much thinner crowd this time.  Some folks probably knew that the Celtic/Laker game had the same start time today as the game with Bishop Hendricken.  Where’s the school loyalty?

(I collect my own stats, take my own pictures, and draw my own conclusions.  Mistakes are unintentional.)

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January 28, 2011 · 10:49 pm

Matt Talbot (22 points) and Tyler Lay (20 points) Shoot Amesbury to a Win Over Ipswich 53-46

Tyler Lay (#20) and Matt Talbot (#5) shot Amesbury to their first win.

Amesbury team celebrates first win.

(Amesbury) Matt Talbot (22 points) and Tyler Lay (20 points) carried the Amesbury Indians (1-12) to their first win of the 2010-11 season against winless Ipswich (0-10) on Friday night by the score of 53-46.

This battle for Win #1 was tight through three quarters with eight lead changes.

Ipswich took the lead for the last time (35-34) on a pair of Dan O’Flynn (7 points) free throws with 34 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Indians followed with a run of nine unanswered points that elevated them to a 43-35 advantage with five minutes left and put them in control the rest of the way.

Tyler tries to deny Doug Shaughnessy a pass.

Both Matt and Tyler were big in the winning surge.  Matt (5-10) scored on a Rajon Rondo looking runner in the lane over 6-6 Doug Shaughnessy. Next he assisted on Sean Ward’s jumper.  Tyler started the consecutive offense with an old-fashioned 3-point play to end the third quarter.  Later he stripped Doug (they were matched up throughout the game) and went the length of the court for a two-handed jam.  That dunk really fired up the Amesbury crowd as well as his teammates.

Thereafter, the Tigers cut the lead a couple of times to five points on the shooting of Brenden Gallagher (19 points) but could never get to the point of taking a shot that would tie the game.

Ipswich did themselves no favors in the final quarter by committing nine turnovers.  Bad passes seemed to be the primary culprit. They had only eight turnovers over the previous three quarters.

Tyler did an excellent job in the middle of the Amesbury defense denying Doug (9 points) the ball and making every shot by the normally high scoring Ipswich captain a heavily contested one.

Brenden Gallagher (#10), here with Stephan Deas, led Ipswich with nineteen points.

Ipswich was an excellent 6-for-11 long range but made only one in the second half.

Both Matt and Brenden connected on four 3-point shots.

The shot-blocking interior of the Ipswich defense kept 5-4 Stephan Deas’ darts to the basket to a minimum.

Active Dan O’Flynn had numerous deflections in the first half.

Both teams missed eight free throws.  My theory is that high school players practice more 3-point shots away from coach-directed practices than they do free throws.  A stationary shot is different from all of the other shots attempted.

Amesbury   16     8   13   16  =  53
Ipswich        13   12   10   11  =  46

(I collect my own stats, take my own pictures, and draw my own conclusions.  Errors are unintentional and unavoidable.)

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January 26, 2011 · 9:50 pm

Town Common Photo

This picture appeared on the front page of the January 26-February 1 issue of The Town Common with the caption: “Coley Viselli (#14), and Brooke Stewart (#32), and Masco coach Bob Romeo follow the action in Pentucket’s, 50-33, win at West Newbury on January 16th.”

The picture was taken during the late afternoon in the Pentucket gymnasium.  Without curtains, the light was pouring in and helped brighten up this shot.

The two girls in the picture are their team’s best players.  I am always looking for combinations of players together, especially top players.  Coach Romeo, with his size and usual bright red shirt, is always a good photo subject.

I used my Canon EOS Rebel T1i for this picture.  My settings were: 1/100 shutter speed, 4 F-stop, TV mode, and ISO 800.

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January 26, 2011 · 9:21 pm

Fabulous Third Quarter Sends Pentucket Boys Past Whittier Tech 63-52

Corey McNamara (18 points) on the left is defended by Mills Carrasco (8 points) while Ryan Grant (28 points) looks on.

(Haverhill) Play two road games in two days and something is going to give on that second day.

What gave for Pentucket (7-4) was their shooting……… but it only lasted for a half.

The third quarter was probably one of the best ones the Sachems have had this season.  They shot and defended their way from a 22-20 halftime deficit to a sixteen point lead and went on to defeat nonleague Whittier Tech (6-3), 63-52, at Haverhill on Wednesday afternoon.

A disorganized Wildcat offense ran into a rash of turnovers (five) in the first three minutes of the second half.  Those struggles carried over to the other end where Pentucket started to connect from the outside.  The Sachems went on a 9-2 run to gain the lead for good (29-24) and never trailed thereafter.

Corey McNamara – Had fourteen points in the crucial 3rd quarter.

The key shot maker was Corey McNamara.  The slender ball handler came up empty in the first half but dropped four long ones on his way to fourteen 3rd period points. Corey appears to have the green light that every shooter dreams of: anytime you’re within range and get an open look, take the shot.  In this game, the same shots Corey missed in the first half started falling. A good shooter always believes that the next shot will go in no matter how many before it have been missed.

Pentucket dominated that crucial quarter to the tune of 23-5.   With it came a 43-27 lead and a sense that garbage time loomed ahead.

Credit Whittier Tech.  Playing at home, they decided not to go quietly.  The Wildcats intentionally, or unintentionally,  turned their offense over to Ryan Grant and tried to stay out of his way.  The speedster put on quite a show from all the scoring stations collecting seventeen points.

Some on hand may not even have realized all the points Ryan was accumulating because Pentucket had answers themselves when they had the ball.  The scoring strategy of the Sachems was to get the ball inside where Parker Kelly and John Modlish could take/make high percentage shots.

The Sachems led 51-33 with 4:15 to go.  Ryan tallied eleven points thereafter but Pentucket’s free throw accuracy offset the bombs away Wildcat approach and the Sachems won the game.

Ryan Grant led all scorers with 28 points.  The Wildcats were so one-dimensional on offense that no one else reached double figures.

Will Angelini (11 points) looks for a pass in close.

Pentucket ran a noticeable offense and turned up good shots.  Coach Leo Parent was screaming to his team to “get it inside,” during the second quarter.  There was a costly love for the 3-point shot (4-for-18) by the visitors.

Corey McNamara (18), John Modlish (15), Will Angelini (11), and Mike Doud (10) all reached double figures for Pentucket.

Serge Smaila left with an injured knee in the 4th quarter.

The Pentucket girls’ team was on hand to provide encouragement.  I wonder how often that happens.

The game was shifted to 4PM to get it in before tonight’s latest edition of falling snow.

(I keep my own stats and take and caption my own pictures.  The conclusions reached are my own.  Mistakes are unintentional.)

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January 25, 2011 · 10:18 pm

Ipswich Shakes Off Rust to Defeat Triton 46-36

Jen Rock (#32) and Hannah O’Flynn both felt the effects of a long layoff and exams.

Jessica Canning (#30) led all scorers with twelve points. Shown here with Brigid O’Flynn.

(Byfield) Where was the “viewer discretion” note on the program?  Shouldn’t we have been warned?

One team (Triton) hadn’t played for eight days and had just finished exams.  The other team (Ipswich) hadn’t played for two weeks and is now taking exams.

Let’s just say that both Ipswich and Triton were rusty.

Ipswich (4-1 league games/ 8-2 overall) came away with the win, 46-36, on Tuesday night at Triton.  That’s five straight for the Tigers.

Triton (1-4 league games/ 5-6 overall) had won two straight before the loss.

Three minutes into this one you had to wonder if Ipswich realized that they should be tired and rusty.  They made four of their first five shots, including three 3’s, and bolted ahead 11-4.

Shannon McFayden, Nyra Constant, and Rae Davis hit the long ones and Brigid O’Flynn nailed a jumper for Ipswich.

Triton never completely recovered from the quick Tiger getaway.  The nearest they got after that was 24-20 on a Jen Rock layup in the first minute of the second half.  Ipswich responded with a game-winning eight point run to boost their lead to 32-20.

A couple of the Tiger baskets in the deciding run were on second-chance shots by Julia Davis and Nyra Constant.  Shannon McFayden contributed her second three and Brigit O’Flynn made a free throw.

Rae Davis (#22) makes a free throw for Ipswich.

Speaking of free throws, they were an adventure for Ipswich (6-for-18) all night.

The “adventure” for Triton was the 3-point shot as they connected just twice in seventeen attempts.  The Tigers made their first three and then cooled off to one-for-nine.

The Tigers had makeable shots most of the game but their frequent turnovers (21) limited scoring runs.  Triton, on the other hand, took better care of the ball (11 turnovers) but made only twelve of sixty shots (20%).

Jessica Canning led all scorers with twelve points including a late three off the backboard.

CAL All-Stars Jen Rock and Hannah O’Flynn each had eleven and were not nearly as effective as they usually are.  Hannah seemed most influenced by the layoff and exams.  How normal is it for the Dartmouth-bound senior to miss five of eight free throws and put up at least three air balls in other shooting attempts?

It looked to me as if more people were interested in the Wilmington/Triton wrestling match down the hall than in the basketball game.

Shannon McFayden (10 points) and Hannah O’Flynn (11 points) led Ipswich scorers.

Trying to keep track of any basketball game can be challenging.  Ipswich adds to the challenge when the two O’Flynn sisters wear “33” and “34.”  And then you have the three Davis sisters with “12,” “22,” and “32.”  I wonder if any scorekeepers have been victimized by the similarities of those numbers?

(I collect my own stats and take my own pictures.  I draw my own conclusions.  Any miscues are unintentional.)

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January 21, 2011 · 8:59 pm

Guilt By Association Covers Both Sides of the Aisle

Congressman John Tierney - Are we to believe that he had no knowledge of his wife's part in an illegal gambling operation run by her brothers?

I hope John Burciaga can swim.  Why?  He keeps going off the deep end.

“Arizona in the crosshairs,” in the January 14th issue of The Newburyport Current is yet another of his misguided, conclusion-jumping endeavors.

Wait until John reads the New York Times article entitled, “Looking Behind the Mug-Shot Grin,” in their January 15th issue.   The NY Times reporters reveal that, brace yourself John, Tucson shooter Jared Loughner was a Bush-hater. 

The theme of John’s article is to tie Arizona Governor Brewer, Arizona Senator Kyle, and Sarah Palin to what happened in Tucson.  But if the shooter was indeed a Bush hater then, using John Burciaga’s normal logic, we’d have to transfer the blame instead to those who have never stopped blaming Bush for everything. 

John regularly uses guilt-by-association in his articles.  Someone does something, and even without solid proof he’ll connect them to something else.  Sarah Palin puts crosshairs on a map and so because of it someone like Jared Loughner rushes off and shoots people.  Far fetched, don’t you think?

I also take issue with John describing Arizona Governor Jan Brewer as being, “homely.”  That’s an unfair call as well as a dubious way to make a point.  If I tell a reader that every time I see Barack Obama give a speech his ears seem to fill the room, am I being persuasive? 

I’m hoping that in a future article John will do a guilt-by-association story surrounding the recently sentenced Patrice Tierney.  Our US Congressman’s wife, according to published reports, has a father, son, and two brothers involved in illegal gambling. 

Their illegal gambling operation shifted to Antigua in 2003 after one of Patrice’s brothers was convicted in the US of tax evasion and money laundering. 

Patrice managed the US bank account used by her out-of-the-country brothers from 2003-09 before getting charged by the feds.  The feds said that she had lied to the IRS about the source of the nearly $7 million that flowed into that bank account.  Her excuse for her behavior was that she was just trying to help her brother’s family in the US and was, “willfully blind,” as to how the money sent her way was earned.

Meanwhile, anyone trying to connect Congressman John Tierney to his wife’s illegal activities has been confronted with the Sergeant Shultz trifecta – “I see nothing! I hear nothing! I know nothing!”  Remarkably, it would seem, the crooked background of Patrice’s family and the fact that she managed an account for them while they’re on the lam in Antigua, failed to get the Congressman’s attention, over a seven year period, about any possible improprieties.

Does it look like a stretch to you to use that guilt-by-association approach on John Tierney?  However, can anyone out there recall a Democrat ever being subjected to such scrutiny from Mr. Burciaga?

(This article appeared in the January 21st issue of The Newburyport Current.)

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January 19, 2011 · 3:42 pm

Town Common Photo

female cardinal and downy woodpecker

This picture appeared in the January 19-25 issue of The Town Common with this caption: “A male downy woodpecker and a female cardinal find suet during Wednesday’s blizzard in Newburyport.”

This picture was taken during the snowstorm on January 12th through a slider in our side yard in Newburyport.  We have a wide assortment of birds visiting our numerous feeding options.

I used my Canon EOS Rebel T1i for this picture.  My settings were: TV mode, ISO 1600, 1/160 shutter speed, F-stop 16, and exposure compensation +2/3.

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January 17, 2011 · 9:44 pm

Lawrence Academy Beats Governor’s Academy 71-47 With a Strong Second Half

Colin Smith (#30) feels some of the tight Lawrence Academy second half defense.

(Byfield) A rousing second half by the visiting Lawrence Academy Spartans sent them past Governor’s Academy, 71-47, on Monday evening.

LA (5-6) had an 18-2 run over six minutes late in the second half and turned a competitive game (53-41) into a blowout (71-43) with 2:15 left.  GA (3-4) scored the last four points of the game but this one, by then, was in the bag for the Spartans.

The last time I saw Lawrence Academy was on March 7th  at Endicott College when they, led by Shabazz Napier (now at Uconn), completed a 29-0 season with a win over St. Mark’s in the Class C New England championships. I learned before today’s game that the stars from that team had moved on.

In this game, the visitors from Groton allowed GA to hang around in the first half (38-32) by being long-range happy (fifteen 3-point attempts).  The Spartans had the slashers and inside presence to do better and they did in the second half.  Their inside game earned them a steady flow of high percentage shots or free throws.  On the other end, the Spartans forced GA into low percentage shots and dominated the boards.

GA had no more easy shots after halftime warm-ups.  They were defensed into a lot of one-and-done’s and were a dismal 6-for-35 on shots attempted (17%) in the second half.

In thirty-four second half possessions the home team had only five second chances.  LA was obviously great on the glass.

James Gomes of Governor’s Academy

Senior James Gomes paced the Govs, as he usually does, with eighteen points.  It is no mystery that he is their main scoring threat.  The 5-11 senior creates his own offense.  He appeared to have some sort of thigh problem in the second half.  He was the only Gov to reach double figures.

The Spartans were led by Johnnie Vassar and Clay Horne.  Both had fifteen points.  Johnnie was a fearless slasher despite his guard size.  Clay was a finisher near the basket.

Clay Horne – two straight dunks in the second half

Clay had consecutive highlight dunks late in the second half.  The first was a one-stepper when a teammate penetrating found him alone in close.  The second was a putback on a missed shot.  I had my camera.  If I’d only known!

The Spartans also had double digit scoring from Marcus Grant (12) and Dan Giovacchini (11).

This game was a far cry from the no-students, Hebron game I last saw at Governor‘s.  Plenty of students around this time.

On-the-scene tidbits: Before the game started a GA authority figure moved a collection of male students from behind the Lawrence bench probably to prevent some unkind verbal exchanges.  Later a collection of female GA students sat behind the Lawrence bench and, doing my eavesdropping best, I heard that one of the Gov players had lost his girlfriend!

(I keep my own stats and take my own pictures.  I avoid interviewing participants.  All conclusions and statistics are subject to unintentional error as a result on my part.)

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January 16, 2011 · 9:01 pm

Pentucket Rebounds From Squeaker First Meeting and Routs Masco 50-33

Masco’s Brooke Stewart (#32) calls for the ball against Pentucket’s tight defense.

(West Newbury) I didn’t see Pentucket’s 61-60 squeaker over Masconomet on December 29th at Masco.  In fact, I didn’t see all of this afternoon’s rematch in which Pentucket was a 50-33 winner.

Missing some of today’s girls’ game was my mistake – I believed what I read in the Newburyport Daily News.  (Masco at Pentucket 3PM)

Anyhow, I missed the first quarter and only scripted the second half.  I’ll rely on Mike Grenier’s game story from the Salem News for what I missed.

This is what the quarter totals looked like:
Pentucket  16  13   12    9   =   50
Masco           9    6     4   14   =   33

Masco (7-3) put up 10 points in the last 4 ½ minutes of the game but struggled mightily to make shots before that.  The tall, pesky Pentucket defense was part of their problem.  The rest was just an overall inability to make shots.  Credit the Sachem defense but what about Masco’s 5-for-17 from the foul line with a number of those being one-and-one’s.

The Sachems (7-1) hadn’t played in nine days (loss to North Andover) and appeared to have all sorts of defensive energy stored up.  Pentucket coach John McNamara had those practice days to bring his normally effective defense back to its normally effective self.  What could be tougher than facing a well-rested, heavily-drilled,  Pentucket pressure defense on their court?

Masco’s Brooke Stewart had 24 points during the last meeting but this time had few openings and no easy shots and ended up with thirteen points.

Brooke (6’ junior) had plenty of company everywhere she went.  Tess Nogueira gave her the same denial coverage I saw her effectively put on Newburyport’s Beth Castantini.  Brooke had nothing but low percentage shots available even when she actually got the ball.  In this game, she didn’t have teammates to share the scoring load and loosen up the defense she faced.

I looked at Masco playing man-to-man defense for the 3 quarters I watched.  I read that in the 61-60 game Pentucket struggled against the Masco zone defense.   That 16-9 start in this one may have forced Masco away from zone defenses.

The Sachems have many players capable of getting to the basket against man-to-man defenses.  In a game the home team won by seventeen points, you can only imagine what the separation might have been if Pentucket had shot better than 19% (7-for-36) in the second half.

A stat comparison shows Leigh McNamara, Vicky Cahill, and Sarah Higgins totally 35 points in the one-point, first game win.  Versus Masco a second time, those three total eleven points and Pentucket wins by seventeen.  Point?  Nicole Viselli will usually score the most points but after that the Sachem scoring weapons are varied and numerous.

Every team knows that Pentucket will attack defensively and tirelessly.  Court vision and accurate passes are the two solutions but the Sachems size and hustle make those two a tough task.

Masco coach Bob Romeo chats with Chelsea Nason in the second half.

Masco was clearly victimized by that defense in their fatal four-point third quarter.  First seven possessions; five turnovers and three missed shots.  A Brooke Stewart layup was followed by four more turnovers and two more missed shots.

Pentucket wasn’t a whole lot better with the ball either.  They did get six points but they too, during this same six minute segment, had six turnovers and missed nine shots.

Maybe the sun was in their eyes.  It poured in for the entire game, making one end difficult to defend on and the other one hard to see the basket or anything else.  I’m guessing that the folks who scheduled an afternoon game at Pentucket failed to consider the sun factor.

Brooke Stewart defends another of the area’s top scorers, sophomore Nicole Viselli.

Two of the top scorers in the area (Brooke Stewart and Nicole Viselli) were in the game.  Nicole led all scorers with seventeen points.

Junior Julia Simonetti (#14) defends Alex Moore of Pentucket

I once again met the gentleman who misunderstood what I do and embarrassed himself (and me) at Newburyport. He came over to talk to someone near me.  When I got a chance I asked him if he was “scouting.”  He looked a bit stunned and left.

(I collect my own stats and usually check them with newspaper coverage, take my own pictures, write my own captions and draw my own conclusions.  Any mistakes I make in doing so are unintentional.)

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