Tag Archives: Coley Viselli

March 10, 2012 · 7:30 pm

Pentucket scoring runs get them past Ipswich (49-30) for the Division 3 North title

Pentucket Regional High School – Division 3 North champs

Pentucket seniors (Sarah Higgins, Tori Lane, Molly McDonough, and Leigh McNamara) head for the D3 North trophy.

(Lowell)  Pentucket did in Ipswich with two lengthy scoring runs and defeated the Tigers, 49-30, on Saturday morning at the Tsongas Center.

The Sachems’ (#3 seed) win gives them the Division 3 North title and a trip to the TD North Garden on Tuesday (4:15 PM) to face D3 South champs, Fairhaven, in the state D3 semi-finals.

Pentucket (21-4) rolled to 9-0 lead in Run #1 before Tiger senior Shannon McFayden hit a long one over four minutes into the first period.

A Julia Davis free throw midway through the second quarter had Ipswich (18-5) still in contention, 14-10.

There was no recovery, however, for the Tigers from Run #2.  This one lasted 4 ½ minutes, stretching into the third quarter, and totaled twenty unanswered points.  That’s right, twenty!  It put Pentucket ahead, 34-10, with plenty of second half left but certainly not enough time for Ipswich to make things interesting trailing by that much.

Coley Viselli sees an open lane

In the big run, Pentucket’s organized offense turned up five layups (Tess Nogueira two, one each from Coley Viselli, Alex Moore, and Sarah Higgins).  Coley had two free throws, and Sarah had a steal and a score.  The real dagger shots in this run were two Alex Moore three’s in the last thirty seconds of the first half.  Her last one was a prayer from in front of the Ipswich bench that was arc-less but went in on a line.

All this talk of Pentucket offense tells only half the story.  Their trapping defense was equally impressive during this segment forcing four Tiger turnovers and limiting open looks.

Julia Davis, Tiger’s top scorer, was injured just before halftime and didn’t play in the second half.  Julia slid off the playing surface chasing a missed shot to got a knee injury for her efforts.

Julia Davis – did not play in the second half

Minus their best rebounder and top scorer, the Tigers were severely handicapped in the second half.  However, the Tigers did put a couple of 4th quarter runs together.  One went for nine points and the other eight.

In the nine straight, there was a layup by Bridget Curran, two freebies from Shannon McFayden, and a long one from Natalie Soliozy.

The eight straight were all from freshman Masey Zegarowski.  She hit from all the scoring spots (triple, jumper, layup, free throw) putting on quite a show.

One of the best matchups late was the two team’s freshman starters (Kelsi McNamara and Masey Zegarowski) defending each other.  Those two should see a lot of each other over the next three years, I suspect.

The leading scorers for Pentucket were; Sarah Higgins (12), Alex Moore (10), Coley Viselli (9), and Tess Nogueira (8).

Masey Zegarowski paced Ipswich with eight.

Pentucket has now won thirteen straight.  Their opponent on Monday (Fairhaven) has won ten of their last eleven.  Fairhaven was the #2 seed in the D3 South.  They are 21-2 and from the South Coast Conference.

Credit the Ipswich student section for continuing to support their team long after the outcome was in doubt.  (I do not condone obscene chanting and never have.  Positive team support always sounds good to me.)

Pentucket boxscore

Ipswich boxscore

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

Natalie Soliozy shoots a three

Freshmen Masey Zegarowski and Kelsi McNamara

Brigid OFlynn defends

Bridget Curran gets two

loose ball

Julia Davis defends Tess Nogueira

Ipswich student section

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March 9, 2012 · 12:37 am

Pentucket gets by Swampscott easily (53-27) in Division 3 North semi-finals

Coley Viselli (19 points) shoots a three. She made five long ones.

Tess Nogueira (12 points) finds a way to the basket.

(Beverly)  No one expected a game like this.

Swampscott (18-4) was embarrassed by Pentucket, 53-27, on Thursday night at Beverly High School and now the Sachems move on to the Division 3 North finals on Saturday (10:30AM) at the Tsongas Center in Lowell against familiar Cape Ann League foe Ipswich.

The Big Blue (#2 seed) had won eight straight, won the Northeast Conference Small, and buried Stoneham in their previous tournament game.  None of that carried an ounce of weight versus the Sachems.  Swampscott shots were not falling and their zone defense could best be described as “porous.”

The game was certainly a lot easier for Pentucket (#3 seed) because Coley Viselli (19 points) was honed in from long range.  Who cares if one went in off the backboard (end of first quarter) and another took a high bounce off the rim and dropped in (start of the 4th quarter)?  All five that the talent junior made, counted.  Kelsi McNamara (8 points) hit two other triples.

Pentucket’s outside accuracy forced the Big Blue zone to stretch toward the perimeter and opened the inside for Tess Nogueira (12 points) and Sarah Higgins (9 points).

It took Pentucket a while to get going but Coley’s backboarded triple gave them a 7-6 first quarter lead.  They would never trail again.

Coley Viselli heads for the basket.

Coley hit her second three to start the second quarter.  Then she took a Big Blue turnover in for a layup.  She followed that with another triple assisted by Kelsi McNamara.  That was all in the first 1 ½ minutes of the second quarter and was part of an eleven-point run that extended the Sachems lead to, 15-6.

By the time the second quarter ended Kelsi had added her two long ones, Swampscott had eight turnovers, and they were in trouble at halftime, 25-12.

I was sure that the #2 seed was much better than what I had seen in the first half.  The local papers had stories about how big the rivalry was and also Niki Laskaris, who had twenty-six points against Stoneham, had only two points in the first half.

The Big Blue did make a response.  Niki had six points in the third quarter and her layup with 4 ½ minutes left cut the Sachem lead to 29-21.

Ara Talkov (11 points) gets to the rim.

But that was as close as it got.  Over the next six minutes of playing time, extending into the final quarter, Pentucket put a 14-2 run together and turned this game into a 43-23 rout.  Almost all the damage in this winning segment came on the inside.  Sarah Higgins (9 points) got three layups and Tess Nogueira one.  Tess also had two free throws.  And Coley drained her fourth triple.

The last 6 ½ minutes of the game were played by a fatigued and frustrated Swampscott team that on this day did not have the energy to make any sort of late challenge.

Junior Ara Talkov (11 points) and Senior Niki Laskaris (9 points) led the Swampscott scorers.

Pentucket (20-4) defeated Ipswich (Saturday’s D3 final opponent) 42-27 on January 24th at Pentucket.

The entire Ipswich team was on hand for the Pentucket/Swampscott game.  Late in the game, the Pentucket student section started chanting, “We want Ipswich, We want Ipswich.”  I’m not sure if they knew that the team they wanted was sitting to the left of them in the same section of seats under the basket.

Alex Moore, Tess Nogueira, and Sarah Higgins were all given medical attention during the game.  Alex was limited to two points.  With Coley on fire, Alex’s usual point production wasn’t needed by the Sachems.

Pentucket has now won twelve straight.

I’m not too keen on seating under the basket on both ends.  Okay, I’m selfish because that’s where I like to stand to take pictures. In this game I was forced off to the side.

Credit the Swampscott student section for hanging around for the entire game and enduring the “Scoreboard, scoreboard,” chant from the Pentucket kids.  Tougher still was the variation of “It’s all over,” that came out, “It’s a blowout,” as the Big Blue deficit reached twenty points.

Pentucket boxscore

Swampscott boxscore

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

Swampscott student section

Liza Brackbill in Swampscott traffic

Alex Moore defends

Niki Laskaris (9 points) floats in

Caroline Murphy looks for pass

tight defense

Sarah Higgins (9 points) steals

Kelsi McNamara (8 points) puts up a runner.

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February 26, 2012 · 4:41 pm

2012 MIAA Basketball Tournament……some of the qualifying North boy/girl teams and pictures of their key players

This is a collection of pictures I’ve taken during the 2011-12 Massachusetts High School basketball (girls/boys) regular season of players who will be active in the MIAA North Division of the post-season tournament.

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

Brigid OFlynn (Ipswich)

Aly Leahy (Newburyport)

Beth Castantini (Newburyport)

Tess Nogueira (Pentucket)

Coley Viselli (Pentucket)

Alex Moore (Pentucket)

Masey Zegarowski (Ipswich)

Natalie Soliozy (Ipswich)

Emily Freedland (Marblehead)

Lindsey Cohen (Marblehead)

Leah Chittick (North Andover)

Morgan Lumb (North Andover)

Steve Carangelo (Lynnfield)

Kevin Gamble (Lynnfield)

Lucas Hammel (Central Catholic)

Joel Berroa (Central Catholic)

Kyle Fox (East Boston)

Will March (East Boston)

Freddy Shove (St. Johns Prep)

Steve Haladyna (St. Johns Prep)

Mike Carbone (St.Johns Prep)

Justin Reyes (Whittier)

Ryan Grant (Whittier)

Brett Fontaine (Newburyport)

Ian Michaels (Newburyport)

Will Angelini (Pentucket)

Corey McNamara (Pentucket)

Stephen Tam (Hamilton-Wenham)

Ryan Beckett (Hamilton-Wenham)

Nicole Boudreau (Andover)

Ally Fazio (Andover)

Chelsea Nason (Masconomet)

Brooke Stewart (Masconomet)

Shannon Hayes (Billerica)

Joslyn King (Billerica)

Michaela Maguire (Revere)

Any Rotger (Revere)

Maya Heath (Manchester-Essex)

Morgan Fraley (Manchester-Essex)

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February 19, 2012 · 8:23 pm

Pentucket defense crucial in win over Revere (50-27) in the opening round of the Girls Division of the IAABO Board 130 Basketball Classic

Tess Nogueira (10 points) breaks away with second half steal.

Kelsi McNamara (14 points) gets an open look along the baseline.

(Lawrence)  What can you say about the Pentucket Sachems girls basketball team?

On an afternoon when key defender Sarah Higgins is on the sidelines (illness), high scoring Coley Viselli struggles to get four points, and the Sachems make just 4-of-25 3-point attempts, they still have enough to defeat Division 1 Revere, 50-27.

This was the opener of the IAABO Board 130 Basketball Classic on Sunday afternoon at Central Catholic.  Pentucket will return tomorrow afternoon to face the winner of the Archbishop Williams/Central Catholic game at 5:30PM.

The Revere Patriots (10-7) came in having won six of their last seven in the Northeastern Conference North.  They are probably happy that in the state tourney they’ll be in Division 1 and Pentucket will be in Division 3.

Pentucket (17-4) had their staple full-court pressure working from the outset.  By game’s end they had forced the Lady Patriots into twenty-seven miscues.

But in the first half of this game, the Revere turnovers didn’t lead directly to points while the Sachem long-range shooting was scary bad (2-for-19).  Those two factors kept this game close (20-13 at the half).  In fact, 1 ½ minutes into the second half, two Amy Rotger free throws had Revere still in this one, 22-17.

The rest of that third quarter everything came together in a nice package for the Sachems and they went on a decisive 14-3 run.

Pentucket’s first three scores in this surge were directly off of steals by Kelsi McNamara, Tess Nogueira, and Alex Moore.  Next, Tess found room in close for a layup.

Caitlyn Caramello (9 points) battles Tess Nogueira

Revere stopped the bleeding (8-point run) temporarily with a Caitlyn Caramello layin but back came Pentucket with two of their four 3’s (Kelsi McNamara and Sydney Snow).  The Sachems were clearly in command 36-20 after three quarters.

Revere was held scoreless for the first 3 ½ minutes of the final quarter partly because of four more turnovers.  Meanwhile Pentucket was putting up ten unanswered points to get away even further, 46-20.  Reserves dominated the rest of the game. The final score was 50-27.

In a game where Coley Viselli struggled for points, Kelsi McNamara (14), Alex Moore (12) and Tess Nogueira (10) picked up the slack nicely.  Freshman Kelsi had eleven of her points in the breakaway second half.

Caitlyn Caramello paced Revere with nine points.  Michaela Maguire added five including a put-back just before the halftime buzzer.

Pentucket is now on a nine-game winning streak.  They have won fourteen of their last fifteen.

The last time I saw them lose was in a state tournament game last year at Wilmington High School against St. Mary’s of Lynn the eventual D3 champ.

Can Pentucket be in the D3 state championship game at the Worcester Centrum in mid-March?  Their multiple ways of hurting an opponent suggest to me that they can do it.  We’ll see.

Pentucket box score

Revere box score

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

Coley Viselli gets to the rim

Michaela Maguire and Emily Dresser

battle under the basket

Liza Brackbill

Kelsi McNamara defends

Amy Rotger and Sydney Snow

Alex Moore (12 points) floater in lane

tie up

McKenna Kilian

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February 13, 2012 · 11:58 pm

Pentucket wins 7th straight defeating Newburyport 49-30 in girls basketball

Coley Viselli (15 points) applies backcourt pressure to Molly Rowe.

Sarah Higgins (13 points) breaks away after steal

(West Newbury)  Pentucket defeated Newburyport, 49-30, on Monday night in a game that was settled in the third quarter.

The Sachems (15-4) scored the first fourteen points in that decisive quarter, helped by six Clipper turnovers, and Pentucket’s 24-17 halftime lead burst into a 38-17 rout with 2 ½ minutes left in that quarter.

The Clippers (11-7) put together a 10-2 run in the final quarter but had given up way too much ground in the previous quarter to pose any sort of challenge late.

Pentucket has now won seven straight and twelve of their last thirteen.  To say that they’re on a roll, is an understatement.  Their pressure defense forces opponents to be uncomfortable anywhere on the court.  Against the Clippers, their half-court offense looked very smooth.

Beth Castantini (10 points) shoots over Tori Lane

The Clippers/Sachems matched up in the season opener on December 12th in Newburyport. Pentucket won, 44-37.  In that one, Newburyport trailed by just two (35-32) with five minutes left.  The Sachems pressure defense worked but their poor long-range shooting kept the game close.

This time the Sachems kept the pressure defense (forced twenty turnovers) but took fewer long ones and instead took more drives to the basket.  Pentucket made fifteen baskets (other than free throws) and twelve of them were layups, another basket was a converted rebound, and the other two were three’s.

The Pentucket pressure gave Newburyport a lot of problems as expected but the killer for the Clippers was the early foul trouble of Lilly Donovan and Mary Pettigrew.  Both of them had four fouls, two minutes into the second half.

Coley Viselli breaks loose

It was no coincidence that with Lilly and Mary on the bench Pentucket’s five-point run, that started the third quarter, turned into a fourteen-point run.

The Pentucket points in The Run were; Leigh McNamara -free throw,  Sarah Higgins – two layups (assisted on one of them by Alex Moore), and Coley Viselli – layup, two free throws and a three assisted by Sarah Higgins.

The home team started fast jumping in front 14-5 after three minutes.  But credit the Clippers, they rallied back into contention (16-13) midway into the second quarter with a three by Beth Castantini from Lilly Donovan within the rally.

A jump shot by Meri Adsit (from Molly Rowe) with ten seconds left had the Clippers within range (24-17) at the half.

Last year the Clippers upset Pentucket (53-52) at Pentucket so the seven-point halftime deficit didn‘t appear insurmountable.  But six minutes of playing time later, that wasn’t the case.

Coley Viselli (15 points) led all scorers while teammates Sarah Higgins and Tess Nogueira had 13 points apiece.  The trio was solid on defense as well.

Aly Leahy defended by Alex Moore

Beth Castantini paced Newburyport with ten points while teammate Aly Leahy had nine points.

Pentucket has their last home game on Wednesday against Triton.

Newburyport will look to end their four-game losing streak at Amesbury on Thursday.  AHS coach Chris Perry just “happened” to be at the game tonight.

There was a rumor at the game that the gymnasium would soon be named after Al Gore.  Most of the folks there were hot under the collar by game’s end.

One of the referees gave NHS coach Gregg Dollas a warning (for friendly advice?) with two minutes left in the first half.  From long range, it sounded to me as if the referee told the scorekeeper, “Two minute warning on the Newburyport coach.”  That somehow sounded like football terminology to me.

The young lady singing the national anthem without a microphone gets an emphatic, “Wow!”

Pentucket boxscore

Newburyport boxscore

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

national anthem

Tess Nogueira fronts Beth Castantini

Sarah Higgins passes to Liza Brackbill

Molly Rowe drives baseline

Lilly Donovan tries to get by Sydney Snow

Meri Adsit shoots

Alex Moore

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January 29, 2012 · 10:46 pm

Solid ending gets Pentucket past Masconomet (57-54) in girls basketball

Coley Viselli (16 points) made three free throws in the last fourteen seconds to seal the Pentucket win.

Chelsea Nason (17 points) connected on five triples.

(Topsfield)  Before a sizable Sunday afternoon crowd, Pentucket turned a strong final two minutes into a, 57-54, win over Masconomet in a matchup between two of the best girls teams in the state.

Evenly matched?  How about eleven ties over the course of the game with five of them in the frantic last quarter?

After the last tie (47-47) with 2:54 left, Masco broke out with a triple by Chelsea Nason (17 points) and two Danielle Davis (9 points) free throws to get up by five (52-47) with 2:13 left.

Pentucket’s response won the game for them.  Two freebies by Sarah Higgins (she was an amazing 9-for-9 from the line), a driving layup by Alex Moore, and gutsy triple by Alex (from Kelsi McNamara) went unanswered by the Chieftains.  This consecutive action put the Sachems on top, 54-52, with thirty seconds left.

Masco’s Katie Hutchinson missed the front end of a one-and-one with fifteen seconds left.  Coley Viselli (16 points) took the rebound and was immediately fouled.  She made both free throws to stretch the Pentucket advantage to 56-52.

Coley Viselli shoots a three as Chelsea Nason defends

Brooke Stewart (8 points) drove the length of the court to close her team’s deficit to two (56-54) with six seconds left.  Coley Viselli received the inbounds pass and Chelsea Nason (5th foul) sent her to the foul line with five seconds left.

Coley missed the first and made the second.  Danielle Davis dribbled to midcourt before attempting a tying long one that went wide as time ran out.

If Chelsea Nason hadn’t fouled out she probably would have been the one taking the last shot.  She had connected on five 3’s during the game.

The foul shooting was excellent for both teams.  Pentucket made 21-of-25 while Masco hit 10-of-13.

The Chieftains started the second period with six unanswered points (21-15) before the Sachems strung thirteen unanswered back (28-21) over the next eight minutes of playing time stretching into the third quarter.

Chelsea Nason’s triple midway through the third quarter finished Masco’s rally back to a 32-32 tie. Seven ties followed the rest of the way.  Pentucket closed with a 10-2 game-decider.

Alex Moore chases Brooke Stewart

Pentucket (7-0 in Cape Ann League D1 / 11-4 overall) lost Tess Nogueira (groin injury) with a minute left in the third quarter and the score tied at 37-37.  I thought at the time that Pentucket might be in serious trouble because Tess had shadowed Brooke Stewart into a non-factor status.  But Alex Moore took over and, although at least six inches shorter than Brooke, was able to limit the talented senior to just four points the rest of the way.

Besides the good fill-in defense, Alex (13 points) put up seven in the final quarter including the go-ahead triple with thirty seconds left.

Masco (5-1 in CAL / 9-2 overall) had won seven of their last eight games before today’s loss.  I saw them defeat a highly regarded Central Catholic team in Lawrence last Sunday.

Both Masco and Pentucket are in Division 1 of the Cape Ann League.  When it comes to the MIAA tournament, however, Pentucket slides down to Division 3. Could that have been why St. Mary’s Jeff Newman was in the house??  I saw Jeff’s Spartans oust Pentucket from the tournament last year at Wilmington.

Two of the most sideline-active coaches were in action today and it was hard not to watch them even as the game was going on.

Bob Romeo (Masco) is at least 6’5” with a loud voice.  Dressed in a pink shirt for the Coaches vs. Cancer event he was pretty hard to miss.

Pentucket coach John McNamara gets a technical in the 4th quarter.

Meanwhile, down the other end was Pentucket’s John McNamara.  He spent more time on the court than most of his players.  I did see him kick the bench – I have a coaching friend who broke a toe doing that.  John had a legitimate complain late in the game when someone in the Masco band used their trumpet (?) as a noisemaker while Coley Viselli was shooting free throws.  Earlier, with 4:16 left John got hit with a technical foul.  Brooke Stewart made both technical foul shots.

I guess it begs the question, why are coaches allowed on the floor when the game is going on?  At the least, it is very dangerous.  What do the rules say??

Both coaches have tremendous records and produce competitive teams year after year.  Graduation never seems to slow them down.

Brooke Stewart (8 points) was overheard saying at halftime that she “had a blister the size of Mexico.”  That’s big and surely a distraction.

Pentucket has won eight of their last nine.  They are at Manchester-Essex on February 3rd.

Masco hosts Hamilton-Wenham on January 31st.

Driving bare roads with snow nowhere in sight on January 29th?  Delightful!

Pentucket box score

Masconomet box score

(The pictures above and below all enlarge if you click on them.)

Danielle Davis on her way to last shot

Kelsi McNamara

Alex Moore

Sarah Higgins looks for an opening

Tess Nogueira drives – Katie Hutchinson defends

Brooke Stewart and Sarah Higgins eye rebound

Claudia Marsh

Masco student section

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December 12, 2011 · 11:43 pm

Strong Finish Gives Pentucket Girls 2011 Provident Bank Tip Off Classic 44-37 Over Newburyport

Beth Castantini surrounded by three Pentucket players.

Game MVP Coley Viselli puts up layup in traffic.

(Newburyport)  Two of the best girls’ teams in the area opened the 2011-12 basketball season against each other in the Provident Bank Tip Off Classic on Monday night.

A strong final quarter gave the visiting Pentucket Sachems a 44-37 win over the Newburyport Clippers.

Pentucket (20-5 in 2010-11) predictably came at the Clippers in defensive waves all over the court and let the long ones fly with abandon on offense.  Sometimes it worked……….sometimes it didn’t.

After a fast start (3-for-5) Pentucket’s long ball accuracy vanished, as 2-for-16 the rest of the way would suggest.  But three minutes into the final quarter junior Alex Moore hit one and was fouled by Meri Adsit.  Alex completed the 4-point play to give the Sachems a 39-33 advantage.

Newburyport rallied nearly all the way back after trailing, 18-4, early in the second quarter.  Pitiful Pentucket shooting in the 3rd quarter (1-for-13) opened the door for the Clippers (5-for-9 shooting) to erase a 27-14 halftime deficit.  A Lea Tomasz three with two seconds left put this one in the “very interesting” category (31-29) with a quarter left.

Leigh McNamara (25) sails in for a first half layup.

As I said, Alex Moore hit a huge three in the final quarter but it was the Pentucket pressure over the final 5+ minutes that really did in the Clippers.  The pressure seemed to work best in the half-court as there were no turn-2’s (steal and get a layup) in the decisive final minutes.

Newburyport got within one (32-31) on a Lea Tomasz converted rebound and two (35-33) on a Beth Castantini jump shot with 5:40 left.

Plenty of time left and certainly close enough score-wise for the home team to pull the upset.

However, the Pentucket defense gave up only one point (Beth Castantini free throw) over the next 5 ½ minutes!  Molly Rowe hit a three with a few seconds left but by then, as they say in farm country, the cows had left the barn.

The shocking numbers for the Clippers during those game-deciding 5 ½ minutes were: one point in eleven possessions, eight turnovers, three shots in one possession and only one shot in the other ten.  Those are dream/nightmare numbers depending on which bench you were sitting on.

Speaking of nightmares, Clipper coach Gregg Dollas will probably remember this game for a while as one where he learned something about the numbers on his players’ uniforms.

Cady Bennett

As the game was about to start the Clippers were assessed a technical foul because Cady Bennett was in the scorebook as #14 but was wearing #21.  Coley Viselli sank both technical foul shots.

Later in the first quarter, Lilly Donovan was put in the game wearing #9.  Players can’t wear single digit numbers above 5.…….probably because officials can’t finger signal 6-9 without possibly confusing the scorekeepers.  Coley made one of the technical foul shots.

That’s three points, and in a close game like this one, they were a tough giveaway.

Coley Viselli was chosen MVP of the game.  Good thing they didn’t ask me.  I’d have given it either to teammate Sarah Higgins and her 16 points or to Alex Moore for her 4th quarter heroics.  Alex had the 4-point play and less than a minute before that had an old-fashioned 3-point play.  Those seven points were huge in this low scoring game.

Molly McDonough and Molly Rowe were given student/athlete scholarships afterwards thanks to Provident Bank.

A good crowd of Sachem support was on hand.

We saw the debut of a couple of Pentucket freshman – McKenna Kilian & Kelsi McNamara.

The Clippers will be able to count on points from seniors Beth Castantini (15) and Molly Rowe (11).  Bettering last year’s 13-7 record could well depend on steady scoring from other players.

Molly Rowe gets student-athlete scholarship from Coach Gregg Dollas.

Tess Nogueira and Leigh McNamara both spent time defending Beth Castantini.  Both players picked up their fourth foul in the final period.

The quickness and all-out approach of junior Meri Adsit was impressive.

Newburyport box score

Pentucket box score

(The pictures will enlarge to normal size if you click on them.)

Beth Castantini (10) & Leigh McNamara (25)

Coley Viselli – Lilly Donovan – Sarah Higgins

Tess Nogueira (32) & Mary Pettigrew (33)

Pentucket coach John McNamara

Beth Castantini

Meri Adsit (5) & Sydney Snow (3)

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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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February 28, 2011 · 11:42 pm

Pentucket Defense Overwhelms Watertown Girls 52-22 in D3 North First Round

Gabby Coppala (#10) defended by Vicky Castiglione (#20)

Vanessa Cahill blocks Casey Halle’s shot.

(West Newbury) We’ve seen it before in the early rounds of the MIAA girls basketball tournament.  A team from another conference gets to play Pentucket.  They know that the Sachems press but don’t have the time to get fully prepared.

Watertown (7-14) from the Middlesex League was Pentucket’s first round opponent this year and predictably found out the hard way what end-to-end defense looks like, losing, 52-22, on Monday night.

Pentucket will host Weston (14-7) on Thursday night at Pentucket in the quarter finals of Division 3 North play.

The visiting Red Raiders struggled to get the ball up the court and only the dribbling skills of freshman Gabby Coppala minimized the backcourt turnovers.

Sarah Higgins forces one of Watertown’s twenty-eight turnovers.

Even in the frontcourt, running an offense was difficult and Pentucket’s size discouraged layups and second chances.

It took Watertown 3 ½ minutes to score (Gabby Coppala layup) their first basket and another four minutes to score their second (Casey Halle) layup.

Meanwhile, Pentucket rang up twenty points.  They made six-of-seven free throws and had two 3’s from Coley Viselli.

Off to a 20-4 first quarter, Pentucket used the same formula (relentless defense) to put together a 15-4 second quarter.  Besides shutting down Watertown, the Sachems dominated the boards and turned up free throws (thirteen) by going to the basket and rebounding missed shots.

Sarah Higgins picked up seven points in the second quarter.

Pentucket led, 35-8, at the half.  This was a game begging for the Mercy Rule (softball) instead of a second half.  I overheard one couple from Watertown discussing whether they should stay for the second half!

Freshmen Sydney Snow (#3) and Liza Brackbill (#22) see some late-game action for Pentucket.

But they did play the second half and Pentucket played everyone.  The scoring highlight from the second half was an eleven-point run by the Sachems during the first 4 ½ minutes of the final quarter.  The scoring in this streak was provided by Alex Moore (layup), Coley Viselli (3-pointer), Sarah Higgins (layup & 2 free throws), and Tess Nogueira (2 free throws).

Sarah, Tess, and Coley all finished with eleven points.

Freshman Gabby Coppala (11 points) of Watertown was impressive.  The young guard was an excellent dribbler and passer in the midst of never-ending pressure.  Pentucket double-teamed her and tried hard to keep the ball away from her.

The statistics reveal the extent of the success of the Pentucket defense.  They forced twenty-eight turnovers, including seventeen in the first half when this game was decided.  The Raiders were 0-for-11 from long range and just 18% (9-for-50) overall from the floor.

Plenty of positives to take away from this one regarding Pentucket’s defense.

Their offense?  The stats from this game tell me that they’re going to have to get a lot better with the ball if they are going to go very far in the tournament.

Yes, they collected 52 points.  And yes, they played everybody.  But twenty-four turnovers!  That’s a lot of empty possessions against an undersized team that didn‘t trap.

Pentucket shot 20% (3-for-15) from long range and 30% (15-for-50) overall from the floor.  Plenty of high-percentage attempts didn’t fall.

Tess Nogueira free throw attempt

Free throw shooting was another problem area – 61.2% (19-for-31).  Tess missed six including one that didn‘t hit anything.

An area of strength was the offensive rebounding.  Vanessa Cahill and Tess Nogueira were terrific in this area.

Weston (14-7) is the next opponent and judging by their record I would expect a tougher game.  However, if Pentucket keeps bringing that terrific defense and sharpens their ball management and shooting they’ll be fine, I suspect.

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

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