Tag Archives: Ipswich girl’s basketball

March 10, 2011 · 11:38 pm

#1 Seed Stoneham Ousts Ipswich 51-31 to Set Up D3 North Finals Match With #2 St. Mary’s

Stoneham point scorers gather from left to right as the game winds down: Vanessa Bramante (11), Jill Macura (2), Sam Trant (2), Ariana Tuccelli (9), Jen Geraghty (8), Alison Brennan (7), and Stephanie Bramante (12)

(Wilmington) #1 seed Stoneham played exactly that way and eliminated #4 seed Ipswich, 51-31, before a colorful crowd at Wilmington High School to reach the Division 3 North finals.

Stoneham (19-3) will face #2 seed St. Mary’s of Lynn (20-4) on Saturday afternoon (2PM) to determine the D3 North champ. Both teams are nicknamed, “Spartans.” What were the chances of that?

Stoneham broke open a tight (10-9) semi-final game with two minutes remaining in the first half by putting up nine unanswered points (six of them by Ariana Tuccelli) stretching into the start of the second period to take a 19-9 advantage.

The Spartans went on to end that decisive second quarter with six straight (Ariana layup, rebound conversion by Jen Geraghty, and Sam Trant layup) and left at the half comfortably ahead, 27-14.

Jen Geraghty and Ariana Tuccelli deny Hannah O’Flynn.

Teams that face Ipswich (15-8) all try to neutralize the Tigers’ top scorer, Hannah O’Flynn. Stoneham was no different. Jen Geraghty fronted her and defensive help sagged in every time the Dartmouth-bound senior received a pass.

This defensive approach usually opens up some good looks for other less-guarded Tiger players. Against Newburyport in the quarter finals, the supporting cast made significant scoring contributions. Not so, against Stoneham.

With Hannah neutralized, and the rest of the team unable to pick up the scoring slack, the Tigers were in serious trouble after Stoneham took the lead.

The Tigers persisted in trying to get the ball inside to Hannah in the first half and ended up with five turnovers attempting it.

Tiger free throw shooting was a serious problem versus Stoneham.

To further speed the Tigers road to elimination was pitiful free throw shooting. Ipswich was a shocking 6-for-23, including 3-for-15 in the second half, which destroyed any comeback plans.

Meanwhile, Stoneham was 12-for-14 from the line.

Rae Davis opened up the second half with a layup on a feed from Hannah O’Flynn that put some excitement into the Sea of Orange.

The Spartans responded with a frosting-on-the-cake, eleven straight points over the next four minutes to get an insurmountable, 38-16, margin. This decisive streak featured an Alison Brennan three, a Vanessa Bramante layup, and a layup, a rebound conversion, and two free throws from Jen Geraghty.

More basketball was played but the outcome during the last 1 ½ quarters was no longer in doubt.

Senior Vanessa Bramante went down with a leg cramp in the third quarter and didn’t return to play but had fully recovered by game’s end. She and St. Mary’s Tori Faieta should be seeing a lot of each other on Saturday afternoon.

Stoneham girls celebrate

Ipswich girls lament season’s end.

As tournament games wind down, the emotional highs and lows kick in. The excitement of playing yet another game, and this time in a big arena, stirs the winners while the seniors on the losing side realize that their careers are over.

Ipswich will surely miss Hannah O’Flynn. Some players carry a team for a quarter or a game, Hannah literally carried the Tigers for the entire season. She was as strong a rebounder as she was a scorer. In her final game, Hannah paced Ipswich with thirteen points.

Speaking of scorers, the Tigers all-time scorer (Amber Smith) was in the house.

St. Mary’s coach Jeff Newhall was also an interested spectator.

Ipswich team surrounded after loss.

I liked the way the four busloads of Ipswich students gathered around their team after the game was over despite the loss. That’s what the best of fans do.

That St. Mary’s/Stoneham game should be a good one. I think that despite defeating Ipswich decisively, Stoneham will have to play better to win. The area needing the biggest upgrade will be 3-point shooting. Stoneham made only one-of-eleven from long range.

(I collect my own stats. I take my own pictures. I also create my own commentary. I guess you can blame me if something is inaccurate or misguided!)

Newburyport Girls Defeat Ipswich Again 52-39

Hannah O’Flynn (#34) is defended by Haley Johnson (#11).

Molly Rowe (18 points) led all scorers and made 8-of-9 free throws.

(Newburyport) The Clippers got scoring from Molly Rowe (18) and Beth Castantini (15) and solid defense from Haley Johnson (on Hannah O’Flynn) and defeated Ipswich, 52-39, on Friday night.

The Clippers (7-7) earlier had beaten Ipswich (9-3) at Triton’s tournament in December. The Tigers had won six straight since then.

This was a game that Newburyport led from start (first seven points) to finish.

The Tigers made their run late in the 3rd quarter by making three straight long ones (two by Nyra Constant and one by Hannah O’Flynn) to close to, 30-28, with 1:50 left.

The rest of the quarter Ipswich didn’t score a point while Newburyport ran seven straight points. The killer basket was a last second three from sophomore Lea Tomasz which gave the Clippers a, 37-28, advantage at the end of the quarter. The Tigers were reduced to firing long range and fouling the rest of the game but on this night that strategy didn‘t work.

Turnovers were plentiful (43) as both teams played tight defense and denied passing lanes.

Despite the tight defense, Newburyport’s better organized offensive schemes turned up more high percentage shots. Eight of the Clipper’s sixteen baskets were from in close. On the other hand, Ipswich had only four layups out of their fifteen baskets.

Hannah O’Flynn recorded sixteen points for Ipswich but seven of them came in the final quarter after the outcome was decided. Credit Haley Johnson. She, with an occasional helping hand from a teammate or two, kept Hannah on the perimeter most of the time.

A Clipper strength this season has been their foul shooting. In this game they were 17-for-22 despite missing their last three attempts. Beth Castantini was five-for-six while Molly Rowe was eight-for-nine. Those numbers certainly explain why both players frequently take the ball to the basket hoping at least to draw foul shots.

Nyra Constant (#15) launches a long one over Molly Rowe.

Nyra Constant connected on three long ones for Ipswich.

Julia Davis hurt her wrist during a collision.

Plenty of action during inbound plays.

When Ipswich took the ball out under the basket they were shooting at, there was enough pushing and shoving by both teams to give almost every player a foul. The Tigers wanted to get Hannah the ball in close and Newburyport refused to allow it.

Hannah lines up a free throw.

Hannah was 4-for-9 from the foul line.

(I keep my own stats, take my own pictures, and draw my own conclusions. Any mistakes are unintentional.)

Amber Smith Works Hard to be the Best

Classic examples of how hard work can pay off would be two basketball players from Ipswich – Ryan O’Connell and Amber Smith.

At early morning hours when others were sleeping during the regular season, Ryan and Amber were at places where they could improve in basketball. In the off-season when others were playing other sports or relaxing, these two were training and traveling with AAU teams all over the East Coast.

One common training spot for both has been the Ipswich YMCA. “I used to work out with Ryan and others there,” recalled Amber. “We’d lift and shoot and do drills.”

Ryan left the Ipswich school system after 8th grade for the Division 1 competition available at St. John’s Prep in Danvers. He thrived among the best players in the state and became St. John’s all-time leading scorer near the end of the 2007-08 season. He is now a freshman in a very successful D3 basketball program at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.

UMaine-bound Amber Smith starts her senior season at Ipswich

Amber has chosen to remain in Ipswich and enters her senior year as the school’s 2nd highest career scorer with 1341 points. She is 301 points behind current leader (Justin Woodworth – senior at Salve Regina) and more than likely will claim the top spot before this season is over.

After Ipswich, Amber heads north to D1 UMaine in Orono thanks to a full, four-year scholarship to play basketball for the Black Bears. “I think that it is the perfect place for me,” she said.

Amber is currently trying to recover from a stress fracture (she had the cast off last week) that has slowed her down for the past four months. “There will be some pain but I’m used to it,” she reported after practice. “In a couple of weeks I should be at 100%.”

That will be bad news for Cape Ann League opponents. Amber was the CAL Small Player-of-the-Year last season, averaging a nice 22 point/12 rebounds double/double per game while surrounded by multiple defenders.

“I saw her in 7th grade and knew she was going to be a good one,” recalled IHS coach Mandy Zegarowski. “She was already 5-9 and strong. On top of her size, she could already shoot a jump shot. There are kids playing at the high school level that still can’t do that.”

Amber went the AAU route to improve her game during each off-season. “My intent in playing AAU was to match up against higher level competition,” she explained. “It you want to get better you have to play against better people.”

The AAU season generally runs from March-July. Amber’s most recent team (Mass Thundercats from Lynn) added 32 games to her 20-game CAL schedule. “We traveled to DC for the Nationals this past year and played a lot of games in New York City. I have seen and played against some of the best players on the East Coast.”

However, one of the best players she’s faced recently may be her younger brother, Colin. The 6-2, 8th grader would appear to have as bright a basketball future as his older sister. “I play against him all the time,” said Amber. “He’s already on an AAU team. He dunked for the first time the other day. Lately when we’re playing, I (at 5-10) am starting to have trouble getting shots off against him. I am stronger than him, though.”

Amber realizes that her defense needs improving. “I’m not as quick as I need to be right now but maybe if I got to the gym an hour earlier I could speed up fixing that problem,” she joked.

Don’t bet against her doing whatever it takes to be the best.