Monthly Archives: March 2011

March 10, 2011 · 11:38 pm

#1 Seed Stoneham Ousts Ipswich 51-31 to Set Up D3 North Finals Match With #2 St. Mary’s

Stoneham point scorers gather from left to right as the game winds down: Vanessa Bramante (11), Jill Macura (2), Sam Trant (2), Ariana Tuccelli (9), Jen Geraghty (8), Alison Brennan (7), and Stephanie Bramante (12)

(Wilmington) #1 seed Stoneham played exactly that way and eliminated #4 seed Ipswich, 51-31, before a colorful crowd at Wilmington High School to reach the Division 3 North finals.

Stoneham (19-3) will face #2 seed St. Mary’s of Lynn (20-4) on Saturday afternoon (2PM) to determine the D3 North champ.  Both teams are nicknamed, “Spartans.”  What were the chances of that?

Stoneham broke open a tight (10-9) semi-final game with two minutes remaining in the first half by putting up nine unanswered points (six of them by Ariana Tuccelli) stretching into the start of the second period to take a 19-9 advantage.

The Spartans went on to end that decisive second quarter with six straight (Ariana layup, rebound conversion by Jen Geraghty, and Sam Trant layup) and left at the half comfortably ahead, 27-14.

Jen Geraghty and Ariana Tuccelli deny Hannah O’Flynn.

Teams that face Ipswich (15-8) all try to neutralize the Tigers’ top scorer, Hannah O’Flynn. Stoneham was no different.  Jen Geraghty fronted her and defensive help sagged in every time the Dartmouth-bound senior received a pass.

This defensive approach usually opens up some good looks for other less-guarded Tiger players.  Against Newburyport in the quarter finals, the supporting cast made significant scoring contributions.  Not so, against Stoneham.

With Hannah neutralized, and the rest of the team unable to pick up the scoring slack, the Tigers were in serious trouble after Stoneham took the lead.

The Tigers persisted in trying to get the ball inside to Hannah in the first half and ended up with five turnovers attempting it.

Tiger free throw shooting was a serious problem versus Stoneham.

To further speed the Tigers road to elimination was pitiful free throw shooting.  Ipswich was a shocking 6-for-23, including 3-for-15 in the second half, which destroyed any comeback plans.

Meanwhile, Stoneham was 12-for-14 from the line.

Rae Davis opened up the second half with a layup on a feed from Hannah O’Flynn that put some excitement into the Sea of Orange.

The Spartans responded with a frosting-on-the-cake, eleven straight points over the next four minutes to get an insurmountable, 38-16, margin.  This decisive streak featured an Alison Brennan three, a Vanessa Bramante layup, and a layup, a rebound conversion, and two free throws from Jen Geraghty.

More basketball was played but the outcome during the last 1 ½ quarters was no longer in doubt.

Senior Vanessa Bramante went down with a leg cramp in the third quarter and didn’t return to play but had fully recovered by game’s end.  She and St. Mary’s Tori Faieta should be seeing a lot of each other on Saturday afternoon.

Stoneham girls celebrate

Ipswich girls lament season’s end.

As tournament games wind down, the emotional highs and lows kick in.  The excitement of playing yet another game, and this time in a big arena, stirs the winners while the seniors on the losing side realize that their careers are over.

Ipswich will surely miss Hannah O’Flynn.  Some players carry a team for a quarter or a game, Hannah literally carried the Tigers for the entire season.  She was as strong a rebounder as she was a scorer.  In her final game, Hannah paced Ipswich with thirteen points.

Speaking of scorers, the Tigers all-time scorer (Amber Smith) was in the house.

St. Mary’s coach Jeff Newhall was also an interested spectator.

Ipswich team surrounded after loss.

I liked the way the four busloads of Ipswich students gathered around their team after the game was over despite the loss.  That’s what the best of fans do.

That St. Mary’s/Stoneham game should be a good one.  I think that despite defeating Ipswich decisively, Stoneham will have to play better to win.  The area needing the biggest upgrade will be 3-point shooting.  Stoneham made only one-of-eleven from long range.

(I collect my own stats.  I take my own pictures.  I also create my own commentary.  I guess you can blame me if something is inaccurate or misguided!)

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March 9, 2011 · 11:29 pm

St. Mary’s Holds On to Edge Pentucket Girls 62-60 in D3 North Semi-Finals

St. Mary’s celebrates their semi-final win over Pentucket.

(Wilmington)  The Pentucket girls took an excruciating exit in the Division 3 North semi-finals coming up just short in a 62-60 loss to St. Mary’s of Lynn on Wednesday night at Wilmington High School.

Kirsten Ferrari – 13 points

Cassi Amenta – key rebound and free throw in last minute

This was the third straight year that these two teams have met in the D3 North semis and the first time that the Spartans were successful.  They now move on to the Tsongas Center on Saturday where they will play the winner of the Stoneham/Ipswich game being played at Wilmington on Thursday night.

This game was tied (47-47) with five minutes left and you just knew it would be a close finish.  Actually St. Mary’s scored the next four points (layups by Cassi Amenta and Tori Faieta) and never trailed thereafter although the Sachems were a made shot away from overtime or a regulation win.

With the pressure mounting, Coley Viselli hit a three from the top of the key with forty seconds left and suddenly Pentucket was within one (57-56).

Tori Faieta (#32) hit two last-minute free throws

Tori Faieta followed with two free throws while Sarah Higgins made one and we had a two-point game (59-57) with twenty-nine seconds left.

Pentucket then gave the quick foul to freshman Sharell Sanders.  When Sharell missed, teammate Cassi Amenta got the rebound, got fouled and drained two free throws in what may have been the biggest sequence of this game, giving the Spartans a four-point cushion (61-57) with twenty-five seconds left.

Those free throws became real important when Coley Viselli hit yet another three, this time from the left corner to make it a one-point game again (61-60) with fourteen seconds left.

The Sachems followed with another quick foul and sent Kirsten Ferrari to the line.  Because Pentucket was over the limit she had two free throws.  She missed the first and made the second and so it was 62-60 with nine seconds left.

Coley Viselli (18 points) heads for the corner for this game’s last shot.

You knew the last shot would be Coley from somewhere.  She dribbled into the left-hand corner with Kirsten Ferrari guarding her and took what looked like a 2-pointer to me that wasn’t close to going in and the game ended in the scramble for the rebound.

The key for the Spartans was having experienced seniors (Kirsten Ferrari, Cassi Amenta, Tori Faieta) step up down the stretch.  Cassi’s offensive rebound of a missed free throw followed by two made free throws couldn’t have come at a better time for St. Mary’s.

Pentucket (20-5) now knows what St. Mary’s felt like the past two years when their season ended in the semi-finals.  With the nucleus Pentucket returns next season you’d like to believe that they could well be back in another D3 North semi-finals next season with more experienced players.

The Sachems had a classic good/bad first half.  In the first quarter they collected twenty-three points (23-16 lead) on ten-for-eighteen shooting with no turnovers.  In the second quarter, the same team scored only THREE points making just one-of-fourteen shots and turning the ball over seven times.

There is no way to explain how such a thing happens but I do know that it left Pentucket trailing, 29-26, at halftime.

St. Mary’s still had the three-point lead (41-38) after three quarters.

An early layup by Sarah Higgins (assist to Alex Moore) put Pentucket within one before consecutive three’s from Kirsten Ferrari and Sharell Sanders gave the edge to the Spartans, 47-40, 1 ½ minutes into the final quarter.

The Sachems rallied with seven straight (47-47) – Vanessa Cahill layup from Sarah Higgins, a 3-pointer by Coley Viselli off the backboard, and a Tess Noguiera layup.

This set the stage for the final five minutes which ended with the Spartans celebrating a trip to the D3 North finals.

The Spartans (21-4) had four players in double figures – Kirsten Ferrari (13), Tori Faieta (12), Sharell Sanders (11) and Brianna Rudolph (10).

sophomore Tess Nogueira (13 points) shoots over Cassi Amenta and Tori Faieta

Pentucket was led by Coley Viselli (18), including eleven in the final quarter, Sarah Higgins (14) and Tess Noguiera (13).

This makes two tough basketball losses in two days for Pentucket.  The boys bowed out to Newburyport on Tuesday night.  Ironically, in both games bad second quarters had a bearing on the losses.

( I collect my own stats and take my own pictures.  I draw my own conclusions.  Mistakes happen……..unintentionally.)

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March 8, 2011 · 11:08 pm

Newburyport Boys Defeat Pentucket 53-39 to Reach Division 3 North Finals

Brett Fontaine (21 points) sinks a free throw in the midst of an eighteen point run by Newburyport.

Newburyport players celebrate after defeating Pentucket at Triton to reach the D3 North finals.

(Byfield) Who knows what goes on in a timeout?  In a quiet gym you might catch a word or two but certainly not in an MIAA Division 3 North semi-final game held at Triton with an overflow crowd and two student cheering sections trying to outdo each other.

Newburyport called the timeout I’m referencing here after Pentucket had scored six straight points and taken a 17-13 lead with 5:04 left in the second quarter.

I don’t know what Clipper coach Tom L’Italien said, and maybe it wasn’t profound, but his team came out and totally dominated Pentucket for the rest of the half.  The domination (eighteen unanswered points) was so significant that it put the Sachems in a hole they could never get out of thereafter.

Newburyport (15-7) went on to win, 53-39, but this game was decided in the last five minutes of the second quarter as the Clippers went from down four (17-13) to up by fourteen (31-17) at the half.

The victory sends Newburyport to Division 3 North finals against Watertown on Saturday at the Tsongas Center in Lowell.

The secret to success for Newburyport against Pentucket was turning up layups all night long.  Whether it was on a fast break or on dribble penetration the Clippers traveled the inside, high-percentage road getting seventeen layups in the twenty-two baskets they accumulated.

In the game-winning, eighteen point run, Newburyport had six layups, and an in-the-lane floater and a three by Matt Leavitt.

What was Pentucket (13-10) doing while this was going on?  Missing nine shots, including five 3’s and committing two turnovers.

Brett Fontaine – 21 points and a willingness to drive to the basket

Junior Brett Fontaine was huge for Newburyport with 21 points and a willingness to take the ball to the basket in traffic.  He took a whack in the third quarter and missed three minutes but was back in the final quarter to score the Clippers first four points on drives to the hoop.

Chris Jayne chased Corey McNamara around for the entire game.  That meant fighting through the numerous screens the Sachems set for their long-range shooter.  Corey managed to get off seventeen shots but only made two of them.  He was a very surprising 1-for-14 from long range.

Without Corey’s normal 17+ points, the Sachems needed points from elsewhere and on this night no one filled that void.  Will Angelini and John Modlish led Pentucket’s scorers with just eight points apiece.

Drew Carter (10 points) and Chris Jayne (9 points) were the other leading scorers for Newburyport.

The Clippers led throughout the first quarter before two free throws by John Modlish, a jumper by Will Angelini, and a layup by Mike Doud in the second quarter gave Pentucket the lead (17-13) and necessitated the Clipper timeout which was followed by the eighteen point Newburyport run.

Cory McNamara comes off a Will Angelini screen on Chris Jayne looking for a pass.

Pentucket trailed 39-27 after three quarters.  In the 4th, a John Modlish layup and a Serge Smaila three put the Sachems within nine (41-32) with 6:40 to go but layups by Brett Fontaine and Eric Meyer restored the Clipper’s double-digit advantage and they held it the rest of the way.

Both schools had good student turnouts and Triton is set up nicely to accommodate student sections with space in between them.  I’m not sure why chanting obscenities is tolerated by schools.  I wonder if that sort of thing will be “fixed” by the time Saturday’s Tsongas Center game is held.

During halftime the adults gave the student sections lessons in how to cheer.

Pentucket team huddle and student section

Newburyport team huddle and student section

This will be Newburyport’s first divisional final game since 2000.  If Pentucket had won it would have been the first time they had ever been to the division finals.

The Clippers will have to deal with Marco Coppola and his 26.4 points per game average on Saturday when they face Watertown.  I saw Marco’s freshman sister Gabby play against Pentucket.

(I accumulate my own stats and take my own pictures.  I also draw my own conclusions.  The errors along the way are unintentional.)

(Note the error in adding up Brett Fontaine’s points. It should be 21 not 22.)

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March 7, 2011 · 11:44 pm

Whitinsville Christian Moves to Central D3 Finals After Routing Keefe Tech 87-38

Colin Richey (15 points)

Hans Miersma (15 points)

Taylor Bajema (24 points)

 

The Crusaders made twelve 3’s including this one by Colin Richey.

(Worcester) Whitinsville Christian took the buck out of the Keefe Tech Broncos in the first four minutes and advanced to the Central Division 3 finals with a, 87-38, rout on Monday night at WPI.

The Crusaders smothered Keefe Tech on defense and hit them from just about anywhere on offense.

#2 seed Whitinsville (20-2) now gets to play #1 seed Quaboag (22-2) for the Central D3 title on Saturday afternoon (3:30PM) at Fitchburg State.

From what I saw today, Quaboag better bring their A+ game to Fitchburg to be competitive.  If size means anything, Whitinsville has one player UNDER six feet while Quaboag has three players OVER six feet with the tallest listed at (6‘1“).

Keefe Tech (18-3) took a 3-2 lead on Jose Morales’ 3-pointer.  After that the Crusaders collected sixteen points in their next eight possessions while the Broncos had three turnovers and five one-and-done’s.  This put Whitinsville ahead, 18-3, four minutes into the game.

Whitinsville usual scorers showed early as Hans Miersma (15 points) converted an offensive rebound, Colin Richey (15 points) drove the length of the court, and Taylor Bajema (24 points) hit a couple of 3’s, a layup and two free throws.  The Broncos never could come up with defensive answers for this talented threesome.

Peter Koopman’s three at the very end of the first quarter started the Crusaders on a 15-3 segment.  This time the damage was done again by Hans (old-fashioned 3), Colin (coast-to-coast layup), and Taylor (jumper and a 3).  That put things at 37-13 with 3:25 left in the first half.

Taylor Bajema and Hans Miersma on defense.

And when you thought that things couldn’t get worse for the team from Framingham the Crusaders scored the last four points in the first half (led 45-19) and the first eighteen points in the second half.  That’s a 22-point run.

Highlighting that stretch were three 3’s by Colin and one by Taylor.  Up 63-19, the Whitinsville starters were benched for the last 1 ½ quarters.

The Crusader reserves held their own the rest of the way.  Big cheers went up from the sizable Whitinsville crowd on late-game three’s by Eric Monroe, Grant Brown, and Aaron Colonero.

Keefe Tech’s strategy appeared to be to zone to protect against 6-9 Hans down low and take their chances on the Crusaders’ outside shooting.  On this night that strategy was a disaster as Whitinsville was a blistering 12-for-18 from long range.

Brandon Morales led beleaguered Keefe Tech with nine points.

Taylor (6’4” senior) was deadly from the outside and was also able to slice his way through the Keefe Tech zone to the rim.

Colin (6’2” sophomore) had several full-court drives as well as three 3-pointers and was a very alert passer in the Crusaders’ half-court offense.

Hans (6’9″ senior) had little room to operate but still scored seven times from in close.  He opened the game with the only dunk of the contest taking a super feed from Colin Richey.

The Gordon College coaching staff was on hand to see the Crusaders in action.

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March 6, 2011 · 9:01 pm

Tilton Wins 4th Straight Class AA NEPSAC Championship 72-56 Defeating St. Mark’s

Wayne Selden (#4) and Georges Niang signal the number of consecutive Tilton Class AA championships.

(Beverly) That’s four straight NEPSAC Class AA championships for Tilton School.

The Rams (25-4) put consecutive points together at the end of both halves and defeated St. Mark’s, 72-56, at Endicott College on Sunday afternoon.

Tilton specialized in high-percentage shots all afternoon.  Of their thirty-one baskets, eight were dunks and sixteen were layups.  They came away shooting an incredible 63%!

Of course the dunk is the best of the high percentage shots and the Rams had four different players (Nerlens Noel, Wayne Selden, Goodluck Okonoboh, and Georges Niang) excite the crowd with jams of various styles.  Wayne got his 3rd in the last minute of play and it put an exclamation point on the victory.

6’11” sophomore Nerlens Noel (#3) defends 7-foot junior Kaleb Tarczewski (#30).

St. Mark’s (28-3) had won sixteen straight but couldn’t match the finishers Tilton had, although the Lions had four dunks as Kaleb Tarczewski got three and Nick Stauskas one.

Nick led the Lion scorers with seventeen points and Kaleb followed with twelve.

The why-did-they-lose stat for St. Mark’s was their 25 turnovers.  Not only was Tilton tough on the inside on the offensive end but also defending around the basket down the other end.

Tourney MVP (Georges Niang) collected 23 points while freshman Wayne Selden added 22 points.

I mentioned “consecutive points” earlier.  In the last 2 ½ minutes of the first half the Rams held St. Mark’s scoreless and ran seven straight (Georges’ 3, Nerlens dunk, and Tony Lester layup) to lead at the half, 36-24.

The Lions cut into that lead a couple of times (46-39, 56-49, and 59-53) in the second half but never got closer.

The Rams sealed this one with a terrific final 3 ½ minutes.  As St. Mark’s came up with seven straight empty possessions including three turnover, the winners ran eleven unanswered points ending on Wayne’s dunk to win the championship going away.

I was disappointed by what I saw of Duke-bound Alex Murphy.  He collected only eight points for St. Mark’s and probably had at least five turnovers around the basket.  His rebounding was solid.  He could stay away from Duke for a year, because he’s a junior, but there is talk of his going there after this season.  He’ll be making a big mistake if he does based on what I saw today.

Nick Stauskas (#21) led St. Mark’s scorers with seventeen points.

It was my good fortune to sit next to Nick Stauskas’ dad during the game.  He explained how Nick got to St. Mark’s (from Toronto, Canada) and told me of some of the colleges (Iowa, Michigan) showing interest in the 6’6” junior.  I asked him what his son does in the off-season and he laughed informing me that there is no off-season.

It interests me to see that more and more people attending the NEPSAC tournament each year.  It is an early chance to look at some terrific athletes. Some of them, like Andre Blatche, reach the pro level.

I had a chance to talk with Joe Mussachia from Manchester-Essex about the Hornets big win over Matignon in the Division 4 North quarter finals on Saturday night.

Aaron Law

Alex Murphy

Domonique Bull

Georges Niang

Jaymie Spears

Tony Lester

Wayne Selden in dunk mode

 

(I collect my own stats, take my own pictures, and draw my own conclusions.  Mistakes and false assumptions happen.)

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