February 1, 2010 · 10:45 pm
Amy Fahey (#22) paced Wilmington with 12 points
(Newburyport) The Wilmington Wildcats (6-4/9-6) scored the first seven points of the game and never trailed defeating cold-shooting Newburyport (5-5/8-9), 55-35, at NHS.
The Clippers shot 25% in the first half (8-for-32) and you expected things to improve with the possibility of erasing the 30-21 halftime deficit. Didn’t happen……..in fact the shooting got much worse. How does 10.2% sound – (4-for-39)?
Maybe the Wilmington shot blockers led by sophomore Maggie Brown had something to do with the bad numbers but there were plenty of good-look medium range shots that just weren’t falling. There actually were very few 3’s attempted.
Wilmington shot 33 ½% for the game while missing a ton of in close shots as well. They got many of those good shots via well-run two-player maneuvers.
Sophomore Emily Crannell and Amy Fahey (12 points) executed several backdoor cuts that turned up layups for Amy. The WHS co-captain tallied ten points in the second half.
Sam Baribeault (left) tallied eleven points in the first half
Junior Amanda Keane (daughter of the coach) and Maggie Brown displayed some fine moves to the basket but had trouble finishing, otherwise the final margin would have been even greater. They both play excellent defense. Amanda had Lindsey Tomasz early on but after senior Sam Baribeault (13 points) made some shots in the first half switched over to Sam.
Thanks go to the basketball rules committee for deciding that the only actual jump ball would be at the start of the game. By my account, there were ELEVEN jump ball situations thereafter. A night of inaccurate shooting is one thing……….
Both teams draw the short straw when it comes to their next opponent. Wilmington gets Pentucket on Wednesday and Newburyport tries the same team on Friday. Good luck to anyone against Pentucket because they’ll need it. Undefeated so far, it’s a safe bet to project the Sachems to still be standing when the Division 3 North MIAA tournament ends.
(All stats are unofficial.)
January 29, 2010 · 9:41 pm
(Newburyport) The Hamilton-Wenham girls had their second disastrous second quarter of the week and took another loss as a result. This time it was Newburyport taking advantage getting a 56-40 win on Friday night at Newburyport.
You have to wonder what has gotten into the Generals in second periods this week. Pentucket generated a 27-1 second quarter on their way to a 62-12 rout earlier this week on Tuesday. On this night, the Clippers pitched a 16-0 shutout to turn a competitive game (16-13 at the end of the first quarter) into a runaway 32-13 halftime spread.
The Clippers were extremely patient on offense throughout, despite twenty turnovers, and abandoned long-range shots for a significant number of high-percentage shots (24/59-40.6%) closer to the basket. Sophomore Beth Castantini (21) and senior Sam Baribeault (13) were on the scoring end of many of the interior passes. Both girls can get to the basket.
It is no understatement to describe HW as two-dimensional. Senior Simone Prioli (16) and freshman Cassie Fibbe (20) took almost all the shots for HW and scored all but four of the team’s points. When NHS coach Neil Reardon kept yelling, “Find the shooters,” you knew by game’s end who he was talking about, and HW for its part, did little to discourage the two-dimensional offense perception. I saw very few assists.
The gory details for the Generans in that nightmarish quarter were six turnovers, 0-for-11 from the floor, and 0-for-3 from the line. Delete that quarter from the totals and HW leads 40-39.
Both teams had lost three of their last four games coming in. Newburyport is now 5-4 in league play and 8-8 overall. HW drops to 1-6 in the league and 4-8 overall.
You never like to see players get hurt but HW had players hurt in both halves. Sophie Prince and Caitlyn Tobyne both had to be helped off the court after suffering painful leg injuries.
Lindsey Tomasz (#13) and Bailey Grinnell
Lindsey Tomasz tallied just one basket but had several assists as the point guard for Newburyport. Successful teams need distributors and Lindsey (full scholarship to D1 James Madison for softball) performed that role well. When I watched her last season, she was much more intent on scoring points.
When the half was ready to start, the only person on the HW bench was Coach Jim Burfoot. Someone nearby me suggested that maybe the team had decided, after their shutout second period, to forego the second half. That person was wrong and HW had a good second half.
(All stats are unofficial.)
McClelland Miscellanea 
