Archbishop Williams routs Lee 60-33 to win Division 3 state title

(Worcester) Archbishop Williams (23-5) will be switching from Division 3 to Division 1 next season.

Unfortunately, for the Lee Wildcats (19-6) they had to face the Bishops in this year’s state D3 finals and were routed, 60-33, on Saturday morning at the DCU Center in Worcester.

Both Lee and Pentucket (state semifinals) had few answers for the size and skill of the girls from Braintree.

In both of those games, the Archies were able to virtually shut down a top player on the other team.  It happened to Coley Viselli (3 points) of Pentucket and this morning Stephanie Young (3 points).

Both girls were 1000-point scorers for their respective teams but against ABW, and specifically 6-foot Alana Gilmer, the half-court openings were scarce.

MassLive reported that Stephanie Young was one-for-sixteen.  By the time the Western Massachusetts Player-of-the-Year made her only points Lee was behind, 52-27, in the final quarter.

This game got out of hand in the first four minutes.  During that segment all five ABW starters had scored and the Bishops were away on a, 13-0, advantage.

In the very first possession, the Archies had three offensive rebounds before Sara Ryan nailed a three.  The second, and even third, chance opportunities were frequent for the tall Bishops.

The Wildcats were able to get within eight (21-13) in the second quarter after a Courtney Picard jump shot but the Bishops closed 8-2 the rest of the half and led, 29-15.

Alana Gilmer (14 points) started the second half with a three after getting a rebound and then was on the scoring end of a fast break.

Lee answered with a three from Eileen Dooley (16 points).

Back came 6-3 Jaylen Williams (14 points) with a spin move for a layup and then a 10-foot jump shot.

The work of the two sophomores (Alana and Jaylen) boosted the Bishops margin to twenty (38-18) with fourteen minutes left to play.  The outcome mystery had been solved early.

Plenty of reserve action by both teams the rest of the way.

The Archies had nine different players score including senior (1000-point scorer) Sara Ryan.

Getting the biggest cheer was Julie Bloomer, put in by Coach Bancroft with just a few seconds left.  The Bishops junior was wearing a conspicuous knee brace.

Freshman Ednaija Lassiter (11 points) came off the bench to tally nine points in the third quarter for ABW.

The Bishops ended the season winning fourteen of their last fifteen.

Lee won nine of their last ten with the loss today.

This was Lee’s third time in the state finals in the last four years.  The Wildcats defeated Pentucket in 2010 to get the state title.

5-2 senior Eileen Dooley paced Lee with sixteen points.  Her quickness enabled her to get plenty of shots off.

Lee has won the Western title nineteen times in the last twenty-five years.

Stephanie Young is considering UMass, WPI, and RPI.

Jaylen Williams has verbally committed to Penn State.  Not bad for a sophomore!

Alana Gilmer has offers from UMass, Quinnipiac, and URI.  BC, Georgetown, and Villanova are also interested.

Archbishop Williams boxscore

Lee boxscore

(All of the pictures above and below enlarge considerably if you click on them.)