Category Archives: Lee

March 16, 2013 · 8:28 pm

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

Archbishop Williams – 2012-13 Division 3 state champs

Stephanie Young guarded by Alana Gilmer

(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.

6-3 Jaylen Williams (14 points) swings into the lane for two

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.

Eileen Dooley (16 points)

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.

sophomores Alana Gilmer and Jaylen Williams

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.)

Stephanie Young defended by Alana Gilmer

Olivia Conrad and Hadley Cook

Leah Spencer looks to drive

Bishops captains Kayla Free and Sara Ryan

Jaylen Williams lines up a free throw

Alana Gilmer (14 points) breaks in

loose ball

St. Mary’s Takes the Division 3 Girls Title Defeating Lee 64-54

St. Mary’s Spartans (2010-11 Division Three State Champions)

Kirsten Ferrari (16 points including four late free throws)

(Worcester) St. Mary’s of Lynn captured the Division 3 girls crown on Saturday morning over Lee, 64-54, at the DCU Center.

Anyone who watched this game were impressed with the Spartans (24-4) as they shot and defended their way to a huge lead (60-38) after 27+ minutes.

Good thing because over the last 4+ minutes of the game Lee (24-2) rattled off eighteen straight points to close to 60-54 with twenty-seven seconds left.

After a timeout, the Spartans finished with four Kirsten Ferrari (16 points) free throws and a blocked shot by Tori Faieta on Stephanie Young (14 points) to capture the crown.

Lee had lost in February to the Spartans in Lynn by a 71-60 score. In that one, Lee fell behind 27-4 after one quarter before rallying to make a game of it.

St. Mary’s had more than too much size for Lee. They also knew how to take advantage of it. Nineteen of St. Mary’s twenty-six baskets came on layups. Many of them involved interaction between Cassi Amenta (16 points) and Tori Faieta (16 points).

The Spartans had an alarming twenty-seven turnovers but it was Lee that was bitten by the miscue bug early. They committed four of their seven for the game in the first 4 ½ minutes and St. Mary’s jumped in front, 12-3. All six Spartan baskets were layups with two each by Cassi and Tori and one each by Brianna Rudolph (11 points) and Kirsten Ferrari.

Cassi Amenta (16 points)

Tori Faieta (12 points and numerous blocks)

St. Mary’s ran seven straight (layups Cassi and Tori, jumper and free throw Brianna) to move ahead, 26-16, halfway into the second quarter.

A three by Kirsten and another layup by Tori and the Spartans were in command, 33-20, at the half.

St. Mary’s built the lead to 45-28, five minutes into the third period with five straight points with the familiar; Tori layup, Cassi layup, and Brianna free throw.

Eileen Dooley (seven points in Lee’s late-game rush)

Later, in the final quarter it was more of the same for the Spartans. This time the segment was 10-2 as Ann Marie Idusuyi, Sharell Sanders, Cassi, and Brianna hit 2’s and Kirsten hit her second three of the game. Eileen Dooley had the lone response for Lee.

We’re talking commanding lead (60-38) with 4:15 remaining. But ten empty possessions with seven turnovers later, Lee was close but Kirsten’s four free throws prevented St. Mary’s from being on the wrong side of what might well have been the biggest collapse in state final history.

I saw Lee defeat Pentucket last year in the state final. I went in underestimating Lee because I didn’t know their history. I learned that their girls basketball program has won more state championships (seven) than any other school in the state in any sport, boys or girls. They aren’t used to losing and they play that way. That St. Mary’s could defeat them twice (in a season) is noteworthy.

Stephanie Young (14 points) defends Cassi Amenta (#5).

If Lee was looking for an excuse they could have referred to Alex Young being on the bench wearing one of those fearsome knee braces. She didn’t play, and apparently hasn’t played most of the season. Last year she had twenty points in the championship win over Pentucket. At 5’10” she might have offered some answers to Cassi and Tori.

Tori had at least five blocks (by my count) on Stephanie Young (14 points). She should shine at Stonehill next season.

The Spartans shot a sizzling 26-for-44 (59%). A great inside game will do that for you.

If Lee is searching for a stat that did them in here’s one: they were 0-for-14 on 3-pointers. Hit a couple of those and things would have been even more interesting in their late-game rush.

(I collect my own stats and take my own pictures. Any mistakes are unintentional.)

1 Comment

Filed under Lee, St. Mary's

Tagged as Alex Young, Brianna Rudolph, Cassi Amenta, Eileen Dooley, Kirsten Ferrari, Lee High School, Sharell Sanders, St. Mary's of Lynn, Stephanie Young, Tori Faieta

March 13, 2010 · 7:41 pm

Pentucket Falls in State D3 Finals to Lee 56-42

Lee girls pose with D3 state championship trophy after pulling away from cold-shooting Pentucket in the last quarter.

(Worcester) Defense can only take a team so far. They must light up the scoreboard to win.

Pentucket (26-1) went incredibly cold in the final quarter and it cost them as they lost the D3 state finals to Lee, 56-42, on Saturday morning at the DCU Center in Worcester.

Lee (24-1) neutralized Pentucket’s normal defensive advantages by using the same approach (pressure defense) nearly as effectively.

It was on offense that the Wildcats won the game. Although Lee was only 15-for-47 (31.9%), and most teams don’t usually win shooting 31.9%, those numbers were good enough on this day because the Sachems were just 12-for-67 (17.9%).

However, despite all the subpar shooting, Pentucket was in contention even as late as two minutes into the last quarter. Sarah Higgins nailed a jumper to bring the Sachems to within a point, 39-38, and left the outcome very much in doubt. Unfortunately, after that, Pentucket connected on just 1-of-17 shots with three air balls in the mix.

During the fatal last six minutes, Pentucket’s ability to put together consistent offense vanished and their ability to control Lee defensively took a similar route. While the Sachems struggled to score, the Wildcats put up points in ten of their last thirteen possessions (17-4 run) and had more than enough offense to win the state title.

Both teams played fullcourt defense and the exertion required executing it and reacting to it may have taken the shooting legs out from under the Sachems late. Lee, on the other hand, had foul trouble in the first half and some of their players were benched and got some extra rest because of it. That unwanted rest may have been given Lee the extra energy they played with in the late, game-deciding minutes.

Katie Eckert (15 points) chased by Emily Lane

Pentucket started the game slowly (trailed 11-4) despite forcing six turnovers in the first three minutes. Katie Eckert (15 points) tallied Lee’s first nine points with a couple of 3’s.

Behind 13-6, the Sachems rallied for seven straight into the start of the second period to tie the score with Ashley Viselli (19 points) getting the last points on a three assisted by Erin McNamara.

Pentucket’s best show of offense was late in the second quarter when they put up ten unanswered points to take a 27-21 advantage with two minutes left in the half. Ashley Viselli scored five while sister Nicole had two free throws and Sarah Higgins hit a trey.

The Sachems had a 28-24 halftime margin.

When a team (Pentucket) has won 26 straight and leads at halftime, you can’t help but expect that they are on their way to a state title. However, the Lee girls’ basketball program has more state championships (now seven) than any other athletic program in the state. They had also reached the state semifinals in seven of the last eight years. Point? This team knows something about winning.

This year’s Lee team is a team with multiple point guards and that became important in the second half. Lee ended up with only eight turnovers in the second half and, as a result, Pentucket had less success using their pressuring defense to limit an opponent’s opportunities on offense.

The Wildcats were able either to get to the basket or the foul line during the regrettable (for Pentucket) final period. Lee was 11-for-15 on free throws in the last quarter.

Tara Dooley (#22) defends Erin McNamara (#3)

Erin McNamara (4 points) faced a very good defender in Tara Dooley (9 points) but had shot attempts that we’ve seen her connect on as recently as the Archbishop Williams game (state semifinals – 28 points). Versus Lee, Erin was 0-for-6 on 3’s and 1-for-14 overall. To see how sad she was as the game slipped away had me hoping that someone got in her ear about the fact that no one player wins or loses a team game.

What a great run the Sachems had this season! A quick look at their roster would suggest that this might not be the last time I’m writing about them in an MIAA tournament connection.

( All stats are unofficial. )