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February 26, 2014 · 9:57 pm

Governor’s Academy reaches NEPSAC Class B semifinals with 45-36 win over Lawrence Academy

Action during the GA/LA quarterfinals game

Courtney Cashman (17 points) tries to shoot over Gabrielle Reuter (16 points)

(Byfield MA) Twelve days ago, the Lawrence Academy girls hung on at Byfield for a, 37-36, win over Governor’s Academy. The rematch today figured to be a close game and it was.

Governor’s Academy controlled the beginning and the end this time around and that was enough to defeat Lawrence Academy, 45-36, in the NEPSAC girls’ quarterfinals on Wednesday afternoon.

The Govs (13-8) put ten straight points together to start this game but the Spartans recovered and even had the lead in the second half.

Lawrence Academy (12-9), however, did not recover from a 2 1/2 minute scoring drought at the end of the game. LA was within two points (38-36) but all seven points the rest of the way were GA free throws.

Governor’s Courtney Cashman paced her team with seventeen points. Courtney (sophomore) swished four straight free throws in the last two minutes.

Gabrielle Reuter drives

Sophomore Gabrielle Reuter led LA with sixteen points.

Governor’s advances to the Class B semi-finals at Tilton School. The #1 seed Rams are 19-3 and buried GA, 68-28, at Byfield on January 11th. Tilton won the Class B championship last year and has been in the championship game five straight times. They will be a formidable opponent for GA to say the least!

In my opinion, Lawrence Academy lost this game because of turnovers. They had twenty-seven miscues, by my figuring, and all of them were in the frontcourt. Way too many empty possessions because of dangerous passes by the visitors from Groton (MA).

The Spartans had five turnovers in the first 4+ minutes and no points. Meanwhile, GA junior Carli Citrano was cooking for the Govs. Carli started the scoring with a three and later had two inside baskets as the Govs raced off to a 10-0 start.

Carli Citrano looks to pass

The visitors were still down by ten (16-6) halfway through the half before a GA scoring drought and a run of nine straight LA points aligned themselves. Sophomore Gabrielle Reuter had a jump shot, layup, and free throw in the LA comeback segment. Lawrence Academy was within one (16-15) with 3 1/2 minutes to go in the first half.

GA led, 22-18, at the half.

Lawrence Academy pulled in front, 27-25, early in the second half on a run of six points featuring a fastbreak layup by Jalian Marquez and four free throws.

Carli Citrano reaches in against Elise Bojanowski

Two minutes later, Courtney Cashman converted her own miss and GA had the lead back (29-28) with eleven minutes left. The home team would stay ahead the rest of the game.

A layup by Gabrielle Reuter on a pass from Emily Pratt had LA behind just, 36-34, with 6 1/2 minutes remaining.

The GA lead was still only two (38-36) with 2 1/2 minutes left. I was anticipating another one-point game between these two teams. It never happened.

The Spartans couldn’t make a shot and were forced to foul to stop the clock. The Govs hit seven of ten pressure free throws to ice this one for the #4 seed.

Both teams had the same record and LA had defeated the Govs during the season yet Governor’s still got the home game. Why? They had defeated better opponents.

Some GA boys’ team arrived in a group to offer encouragement to the girls’ team.

Emily Pratt and Isa Berzansky

The unsung hero for the Govs was Isa Berzansky. At some point in the second half, Isa took over defending Emily Pratt and did a terrific job. Emily struggled to get shots off and had only two points in the second half.

The Govs ended up with twenty-one turnovers.

Both Gabrielle Reuter and Emily Pratt were chosen for the NEPSAC Class B East All-Star team.

Is there a faster combo than the look-alike Ham sisters? When seniors Jackie (#2) and Kendall (#3) are on the floor at the same time, mistaken identity becomes a strong likelihood. I’m reaching for excuses for messing up their stats!

Governor’s Academy box

Lawrence Academy box

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

Jackie Ham goes for the block against Tate Jordan

Jalian Marquez looks to shoot

Tate Jordan lines up a free throw

Kendall Ham dribbles

Fast start propels Governor’s Academy past St. George’s 53-36

Katie Barrand hits one of three early 3-point shots by the Govs

Courtney Cashman (14 points) led all scorers

(Byfield MA) Governor’s Academy overwhelmed St. George’s in the first six minutes and the visitors from Middletown (RI) never recovered losing, 53-36, on Thursday night in an Independent School League game.

The Gov’s (6-5) totaled five 3’s in the entire game but three of them, by Carli Citrano, Courtney Cashman, and Katie Barrand, were made in the first 3+ minutes.

So by the time the Dragons (6-6) put a point on the board (Meggie O’Connor free throw) the home team already had nine points.

GA’s Jackie Ham followed with an old-fashioned three-point play and Courtney Cashman added a layup. Those scores put the Gov’s ahead, 14-1, in the first six minutes.

The Dragons had five turnovers in the early going.

Carli Citrano (13 points) looks for an opening

Sophomore Courtney Cashman (14 points) drilled a halftime, buzzer-beating trey that started GA on another nine-point run. Courtney later started the second half with a layup and junior Carli Citrano (13 points) connected twice from in close. Out of that surge the Gov’s led, 39-18, two minutes into the second half.

I anticipated that things would get worse but instead, led by sophomore Logan Amaral (10 points), St. George’s chopped eleven points off the GA lead in the next eight minutes. A layup by junior captain Lane Davis had the Dragons within ten (43-33) with 5:46 to play.

However, the visitor’s hopes of getting closer were quickly squelched as Carli Citrano drained a very long three and Kendall Ham followed with two free throws. Back went the lead to fifteen points and St. George’s couldn’t recover the rest of the way.

Sophomore Logan Amaral (10 points) shoots a jump shot

Plenty of time for the reserves of both teams in the last 2+ minutes.

Neither team was particularly good at the free throw line. GA was 6-for-14 while SG was 10-for-23. Some of the misses were on the front end of one-and-one’s.

The Gov’s defeated St. George’s twice last season. The second time was in the quarterfinals of the New England Championships.

It seemed strange not to see Kat Fogarty on the floor for GA. Kat is now at Division 1 Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. Kat’s new team is now 13-5. Kat is averaging sixteen minutes per game for the Red Foxes. She averaged twenty points and twelve rebounds at Governor’s.

No doubt St. George’s wasn’t missing Kat Fogarty. Kat had thirty rebounds in the Gov’s 51-48 win exactly a year ago in Rhode Island.

The Gov’s were 19-6 last year while St. George’s was 10-9.

Both teams are in Class B of NEPSAC.

This game was originally scheduled for Wednesday but the snow in southern New England forced the postponement.

Governor’s Academy box

St. George’s box

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