Tag Archives: Colleen Jameson

December 20, 2016 · 11:13 pm

Strong second half gets Pentucket girls past North Reading 50-35

Pentucket trap

(West Newbury MA) Pentucket had a rousing second half and defeated North Reading, 50-35, in Cape Ann League action on Tuesday night.

These teams shared the league title last year and split their games with each other during the season.

Graduation had put a serious dent into both teams and I was curious to see what they would be like this season.

The defenses on both sides were impressive. There were very few direct routes to the basket.

One of the glaring stats in this game was the high number of turnovers. By my count, each team committed twenty-five of them. The traveling violations by both squads almost reached the epidemic level. But that is what happens when defenses play well.

Taylor Moore (33) and Emily Riley (31) eye one of the many rebounds off of free throws.

The other glaring stat was the free throw shooting. It was atrocious. The Sachems (3-0) missed twenty-three times while the Hornets (2-1) missed ten.

The visitors broke away from a 6-6 tie (2:41 of the first) and had a ten-point lead (22-12) with 2:12 to go in the second quarter. The key to the NR breakaway was made 3’s by Taylor Moore, Victoria Grasso, and Ali Grasso.

Meanwhile, Pentucket struggled to make any kind of shot.

The second half was an entirely different story. Pentucket put in two freshmen (Angelina Yacubacci and Casey Hunt) to start and off the Sachems went. The home team made shots and that allowed their press to get set up. NR did not react well and had eleven of their TO’s in the third quarter alone.

Angelina Yacubacci had nine points in Pentucket’s third quarter

Angelina Yacubacci led the Sachems with nine points and all of them came in the terrific Pentucket third quarter.

Pentucket put a 15-1 run together to get ahead for good, 27-23 with an Alyssa Demeule layup assisted by Bella Doyle at 2:30 of the 3^rd quarter being the final points.

By the end of the 3^rd, the Sachems led, 34-27, and looked to be pulling away for good. Suddenly, however, in two straight possessions in the final quarter, the Hornets (Casey McAuliffe, Lauren Sullivan) drained 3-pointers. Now within a point (34-33) with 6 ½ minutes left, it was once again anyone’s game.

That Pentucket defense that had been good turned to very good over the final 6 ½ minutes. NR was limited to two points by a defense that would not allow penetration. There was plenty of side-to-side stuff going on but getting to the basket ended for North Reading.

In the same final minutes, Pentucket started with nine unanswered points. They had two layups (Liv Cross, Emily Riley) on assists by freshman Casey Hunt. An NR turnover led to a layup (Emily Riley) and then senior Colleen Jameson added a dagger-three to drive the Pentucket lead to ten (43-33) and this game was history.

Sophomore Casey McAuliffe led all scorers with ten points.

Casey Hunt (20) and Ali Grasso (3)

Key matchup, with plenty of future potential, was between freshman point guards Casey Hunt and Ali Grasso.

NR’s 6-5 Jess Lezon is now at Yale. Jess had seventeen points and twenty rebounds in the Hornets win last February at Pentucket.

NR’s Kat Hassapis will be playing soccer at Bentley in the fall of 2017.

John McNamara’s coaching record at Pentucket is now at 217-35. This year’s team is young but the defense is very good. The offense? They have size but taking advantage of it versus NR led to many turnovers. I’m guessing that the foul shooting will become less “foul” as the season goes on.

The biggest surprise for me was the temperature in the gym. What happened to the heat? Anyone who has been there in the past knows how tropical it was. Maybe a window was open?

North Reading was 20-3 last year and reached the D3 North finals. Pentucket was 16-6 and lost in the first round to Triton.

Pentucket box

North Reading box

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

Casey Hunt breaks away

Bella Doyle (14) dribbles in traffic

Colleen Jameson made two 3’s for Pentucket

Second half starters for Pentucket

loose ball

Lauren Sullivan drives

Liv Cross (32) makes a layup

Kat Hassapis fouls out

Lauren Sullivan sets to shoot with Alyssa Demeule defending

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Filed under North Reading, Pentucket

Tagged as Ali Grasso, Angelina Yacubacci, Casey Hunt, Casey McAuliffe, Colleen Jameson, Kat Hassapis

January 29, 2016 · 11:45 pm

Pentucket pulls away in the last minute to defeat Newburyport 43-40

Colleen Jameson hits a huge three in the last minute to give Pentucket breathing room

Bella Doyle tightly covered by Krysta Padellaro

(Newburyport MA) Tantalizingly close to getting it done…….but not quite.

Instead Newburyport saw its losing streak to Pentucket reach thirteen as the Clippers fell to the Sachems, 43-40, on Friday night before a full house at Newburyport.

Pentucket (12-2) started the game with five straight points and in the final minute put five more points together to escape with the win.

Plenty of quality man-to-man defense played by both squads. Most of the action was on the perimeter.

The Sachems were intent on keeping high-scoring Emily Pettigrew from doing too much damage. Every time Emily did get the ball inside there was an instant gathering of multiple defenders. Emily did get 14 points but three of them came in the last second when the game had been decided.

Biggest shot of the game? No question it was a three from in front of the Pentucket bench by junior Colleen Jameson. Colleen took a pass from Boo Torrisi and turned a one-point Sachem lead (38-37) into a much more comfortable 41-37 advantage.

The Clippers would get two shots (Anna Hickman and Krysta Padellaro) to cut into their 4-point deficit but neither connected. Carolyn Modlish (14 points) followed with two free throws with nine seconds left to seal the deal.

Boo Torrisi (11 points) gets into the lane

Senior Boo Torrisi (11 points) had ten of those points in the second half. Her defense was noticeable as well as her willingness to take the ball to the basket.

Pentucket did register sixteen turnovers, by my count, but after seeing them commit thirty-two miscues in a loss to Masco the improvement was significant.

After trailing early, Newburyport (10-3) put nine straight together in the first period to get ahead, 11-7. A three by Meghan Winn, a jump shot by Krysta Padellaro, and two inside scores by Emily Pettigrew provided the points.

The Clippers carried a lead into the second quarter before it was Pentucket’s turn to run nine points of their own. Three’s did the trick. One each by Jess Galvin, Colleen Jameson, and Taylor Moore. Taylor’s was the old-fashioned kind. Taylor ended up with an extra free throw attempt after Newburyport committed a lane violation.

Emily Pettigrew (#10) gets inside for two of her fourteen points

The run of points gave the Sachem’s the lead, 20-17. The visitors would still be in front, 26-22, in the third before the Clippers put another nine-spot together. This time the damage was done with layups (Anna Hickman, Katie Hadden, and Krysta Padellaro) and a three from straight away by Krysta.

That flurry gave Newburyport a 31-26 advantage with 1 ½ minutes left in the third period.

Pentucket followed with an 8-2 sequence, including two 3’s from Boo Torrisi, and now they were ahead (34-33) with 5:44 remaining.

Two lead changes and a tie followed before Carolyn Modlish took a pass from Colleen Jameson in the lane and nailed a jumper to put Pentucket on top, 38-36, with 1:40 left.

Freshman Anna Hickman had two free throws to tie the score ten second later but missed the second one.

So Pentucket still had that slim one-point advantage going into the final minute. This was when Colleen hit the dagger-three the Clippers never recovered from.

Impressed with the passing of Newburyport. They took very good care of the ball (14 turnovers) against a team known for forcing mistakes. Both teams were very good with the ball in their backcourts.

Boo Torrisi defends Krysta Padellaro

Sophomore Krysta Padellaro (14 points) showed terrific skills on both ends of the court.

The Clippers certainly didn’t help themselves at the foul line. They missed nine-of-eighteen including the front end of two one-and-one’s.

Newburyport lost their first two games of the season before going on a ten-game win streak and qualifying for the state tournament.

Next for the Clippers with be an away tilt on Tuesday against North Reading. The Hornets were the other team to defeat the Clippers.

Senior Riley Holden was unavailable for Pentucket because of back issues similar to the ones that kept her off the court last season.

Pentucket will face Lynnfield next, also on Tuesday. The Sachems mauled the Pioneers, 68-26, in their first meeting.

Pentucket box

Newburyport box

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

Newburyport huddle

Game on!

Carolyn Modlish (13 points), Katie Hadden, and Olivia Olson

Boo Torrisi finds an opening

Taylor Moore fires a long shot

Olivia Olson and Krysta Padellaro (14 points) set up a trap

Battle for a rebound

End of the game

Little room for Emily Pettigrew to operate in

Pentucket huddle

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Filed under Newburyport, Pentucket

Tagged as Boo Torrisi, Colleen Jameson, Emily Pettigrew, Krysta Padellaro

March 2, 2015 · 11:17 pm

Colleen Jameson and Kelsi McNamara come up big in Pentucket’s 34-25 win over Arlington Catholic in D2 North semifinals

Colleen Jameson killed Arlington Catholic with five 3-pointers

Kelsi McNamara (15 points) became the top all-time scorer at Pentucket

Pentucket celebrates

(Danvers MA) Colleen Jameson provided separation and Kelsi McNamara added the finishing touch as #2 Pentucket defeated #3 Arlington Catholic, 34-25, in the North D2 semifinals on Monday night at St. John’s Prep.

Arlington Catholic had trouble taking care of the ball in the first half (sixteen turnovers) and made only three-of-ten free throws in the second half. But despite that unsavory combination, the Cougars trailed by only four (29-25) with 2:19 left. A three by Marie Gaffney (11 points) keyed AC’s late run.

This was where Kelsi McNamara (15 points) took over the scoring load for the Sachems. She put up five unanswered points (two jump shots and a free throw) to seal the deal for Pentucket (23-1) and became, in the process, the Sachems’ all-time top scorer with over 1200 points.

Kelsi McNamara puts up a three

Pentucket coach John McNamara was forced to play Kelsi sparingly after she picked up her 4th foul with plenty of time left in the final quarter. But when Kelsi came back for the final 2+ minutes you knew that she would try to find shots no matter what the defense did. In both baskets Kelsi went left in heavy traffic, including 6-2 Demi Fogarty, and still made the shots. A third try in the same area earned her free throws. The active Pentucket student section then saluted her with, “MVP, MVP.”

If anyone was giving out an MVP award I suspect that sophomore Colleen Jameson (15 points) would also deserve plenty of consideration. Colleen drained five three’s including four in the decisive third quarter.

Colleen’s second three gave Pentucket the lead (16-13) for good. The next three was assisted by Kelsi and then came the backbreaker (for AC) when Colleen had the ball with time running out on the shot clock and rushed a long three that swished as the shot clock went off. That prompted an AC timeout and some significant defense on Colleen the rest of the way. But before the quarter ended there was Colleen behind the arc in front of the Sachems’ student section and one more time she clicked from long range. Thanks to Colleen’s accuracy the Sachems were in front, 26-16, after three quarters.

Boo Torrisi shadows Melissa Rogers

There was plenty of time for the defending D2 champions to respond and they did getting within four before Kelsi McNamara took over.

I am confident that when the AC faithful try to figure out where this game was lost they will say that the second quarter did them in. And who can argue! The Cougars (18-6) did not score a single point in the second quarter. Zip. Nada. All they had to show for that quarter were nine turnovers all of which were in the frontcourt. Credit the Pentucket defense. They were relentless and their double-teams kept Arlington Catholic from running organized offense and capitalizing on 6-2 Demi Fogarty in close.

Colleen Jameson had three 3’s in Pentucket’s quarterfinal win over Wakefield. Earlier in February she had five long one’s versus North Reading.

The team from West Newbury moves on to the D2 North finals on Saturday at the Tsongas Center against either Belmont or Watertown.

Alex Ball makes a save

The Cougars had two 3’s (sophomore Alex Ball and senior Melissa Rogers) in the first quarter.

AC is from the Catholic Central League while Pentucket plays in the Cape Ann League.

Pentucket box

Arlington Catholic box

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

Pentucket double team

Demi Fogarty blocks Taylor Moore

Fast break

McKenna Killian goes for the block

Kelsi McNamara

Marie Gaffney (11 points) defends

Colleen Jameson

Pentucket student section (active and appropriate)

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Filed under Arlington, Pentucket

Tagged as Alex Ball, Arlington Catholic, Colleen Jameson, Demi Fogarty, Kelsi McNamara, Marie Gaffney

January 7, 2014 · 12:34 am

Kelsi McNamara (22 points) leads Pentucket past Newburyport 45-43

Kelsi McNamara (22 points) on the break

Jaycie Triandafilou pressures Kelsi McNamara

(West Newbury MA) Maybe they’re not dead after all.

But trust me, the Pentucket girls looked close to dead when they went down by ten (36-26) with 3:18 left in the third quarter against undefeated Newburyport.

However, the rest of the way the Sachems (4-3) made shots, forced eight turnovers, and defeated the Clippers, 45-43, on Monday night at steamy Pentucket.

Kelsi McNamara (22 points) had a remarkable game for Pentucket. The junior guard notched four 3’s, and set up teammate Carolyn Modlish for four layups including the game winner with 1:19 left. In the last minute Kelsi had a block, a free throw, and a steal.

I was there for Kelsi’s three’s in the tournament but I’m wondering if she has had a better all-around, regular-season game than this one.

Aly Leahy (12 points) heads for the basket as McKenna Kilian defends

This Cape Ann League game was especially intense in the final five minutes after Emily Pettigrew (12 points) tied the score at 40-40 on an inbounds play.

Pentucket got the next two baskets (McKenna Kilian jumper and Carolyn Modlish layup) before Aly Leahy (12 points) nailed a three with 1:04 left.

After freshman Colleen Jameson had a near-miss on a three, Newburyport took over trailing only by one (44-43). Senior Aly Leahy twice tried to drive down the lane but was blocked both times (McKenna Kilian and Kelsi McNamara). Without a shot hitting the rim, the Clippers were called for a 30-second shot clock violation with six seconds left.

Kelsi took the inbounds pass, was fouled, and made the front end of a one-and-one to put the Sachems ahead, 45-43.

Kelsi McNamara dribbles out the clock

Still time for Newburyport to get off a shot but Emily Pettigrew’s pass, intended for Aly Leahy, sailed over her head. Kelsi retrieved the overthrow and Pentucket had the win.

Pentucket used a zone for quite a while in this game and Newburyport took full advantage of it. Aly Leahy hit three longs ones while the Pettigrew sisters (Mary & Emily) chewed up the Sachems on the inside. When Pentucket played man-to-man in the second half the Clippers were a lot less comfortable. Carolyn Modlish and McKenna Kilian did a terrific job keeping the ball away from Mary or Emily in the late stages of the final quarter.

Amy Sullivan, Jaycie Triandafilou, and Aly Leahy all took turns closely guarding Kelsi McNamara. There were no easy shots for Kelsi. She did make several tough ones inside in traffic.

With Kelsi certain to be closely guarded, even double-teamed, openings turned up for teammates. Finding sophomore Carolyn Modlish for four layups was a key to the Pentucket victory.

Freshman Colleen Jameson

Another key was the play of freshman Colleen Jameson. Colleen was not even on the program so I assume that she played in the JV game. I think she played the entire second half in the varsity game. Her contribution? She could get the ball up the court freeing Kelsi from having to do it. She passed well and played good defense. Colleen should be on the varsity program for the Sachems’ home game on Wednesday with Hamilton-Wenham.

There were ten lead changes.

Senior Mary Pettigrew (14 points) is a returning Cape Ann League All-Leaguer. She made seven of eight free throws.

What a difference a year makes. Last year Pentucket defeated Newburyport 61-33 and 60-29.

The teams are scheduled to spend Valentine’s Day together in a rematch at Newburyport.

Next game for the Clippers (5-1) is Wednesday (6:30PM) at Amesbury.

I learned at the concessions stand that Alex Moore is at Rhode Island College playing for the Anchorwomen. The former Sachem had twenty-two points in a recent win over undefeated Bowdoin.

Pentucket box

Newburyport box

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