Tag Archives: Olivia McDonald

April 25, 2022 · 9:38 pm

Newburyport in control with 18-4 win over Ipswich

(Newburyport) They knew what to expect.

They prepared for it and executed against it.

The result was a convincing 18-4 win by Newburyport over Ipswich on Monday afternoon.

“We worked on moving the ball quicker and keeping our eyes open for off-ball cutters,” explained Clippers’ sophomore Rita Cahalane afterwards.

“They played a backer zone,” said NHS coach Catherine Batchelder post-game. “That defense presented man-up opportunities for us. We worked on it in practice and the girls saw it really well. They were able to get some wide-open shots.”

The Clippers (5-1) controlled the draws in the early going and locked the Tigers (2-3) into their defensive end. In fact, Ipswich didn’t get into the Newburyport end with possession for the first 9 ½ minutes.

However, by the time Ipswich penetrated Newburyport territory they were already down, 5-0.

Three Newburyport goals later the Tigers called a timeout.

The score was 12-0 at halftime.

The Clippers showed patience on offense opting for high-percentage shots.

“We spaced wide and got a lot of cutters open,” said Olivia McDonald afterwards.

Nothing selfish about an attack that gets eighteen goals and has ten different players contributing scores.

Anna Affolter and Lilly Pons led Newburyport with three goals each.

Avery Tahnk, Emily Fuller, Reese Bromby, and Olivia McDonald each scored twice.

Rita Cahalane, Maddie Heath, Sydney Turner, and McKenna Ward had solo goals.

The key contributor was probably Izzy Rosa who didn’t even score a goal but assisted on six of them.

The game went into running time with six minutes remaining in the first half and Newburyport ahead, 10-0.

The lead was stretched to 15-0 in the second half with eighteen minutes remaining.

Ipswich showed some scoring life thereafter with four goals including two from Halle Greenleaf. Julia Moseley and Kayden Flather had single goals.

The most celebrated Newburyport goal was probably in the last minute when defender McKenna Ward moved up into the offensive end and scored.

Weather was pleasant with sunshine and temperatures in the upper 50’s.

Newburyport 12 6 = 18

Ipswich 0 4 = 4

(The pictures will enlarge.)

Emily Fuller (2 goals) covered by Maddy Duffy

Anna Affolter (3 goals) heads for the net

Ipswich goalie Ashton Flather reaches for the ball

Maeve Sullivan, Azariah Leslage, Izzy Rosa

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Filed under Ipswich, Newburyport

Tagged as Anna Affolter, Coach Catherine Batchelder, Halle Greenleaf, Lilly Pons, Olivia McDonald, Rita Cahalane

March 5, 2022 · 9:13 pm

Newburyport moves on after 57-43 win over Shepherd Hill

(Newburyport MA) The Clippers (19-2) advance after defeating Shepherd Hill, 57-43, in the Round of 32 on Saturday afternoon.

The #21 Rams (15-7) trailed the entire game but impressed Newburyport coach Karen Grutchfield.

“We had seen them on film,” she said, “but they were much better than we thought.”

The Rams handled the ball well and knew where to concentrate their defense. The issue was scoring.

“We’ve had an issue scoring all year,” said Shepherd Hill coach Maura Hackenson afterwards.

Neither team shot very well although there were plenty of attempts. There was only one three made the entire game. The Clippers scored only five points in the final quarter, yet the Rams were only able to take three points off their deficit at the start of the quarter.

“If we don’t play good defense in the backcourt, it’s a close game at the end,” said Coach Grutchfield.

But the good non-stop pressure sent the Rams into several scoring droughts that opened opportunities for the Clippers to establish separation.

SH went through a two-point, three-minute segment in the second period. Newburyport took advantage. The Clippers recorded twelve points and turned a 19-18 one-possession game into, 31-20, with two minutes left in the quarter.

Makenna Ward (15 pts) and Deirdre McElhinney each had four points during this successful segment. Olivia McDonald and Emma Foley had a basket each.

The Rams did not go away. They made the first two baskets of the second half (Emery Mullen and Heidi Jarosz), and the visitors were quickly within seven (33-26) as things got interesting.

But then the Newburyport defense kicked in again and shut down the Rams completely for the next three minutes.

While the visitors struggled, the Clippers went on a 9-0 run and their lead rose to, 42-26, and back into something of a comfort zone.

Emma Foley defended by Heidi Jarosz (11 points)

The highlight makers for Newburyport in this good section were Olivia McDonald, Makenna Ward, and Emma Foley. Olivia hit a jump shot and the only three of the game. Makenna broke full-court for a layup while Emma spun into the lane for two points.

Emma (21 points) ended up with a ten-point quarter dashing Shepherd Hill’s hopes for getting closer to Newburyport. The Clippers had a seventeen-point lead after three quarters.

“Emma (Foley) has great moves down there,” said SH coach Maura Hackenson. “She keeps the ball really high, and we didn’t have the height to match up. We tried to front her.”

Emma often had 2-3 defenders whenever she had the ball but still found ways to supply badly needed scoring.

“Emma thrives on offense,” said Coach Grutchfield. “She needs a lot of touches. She also did a good job of rebounding.”

The Rams from the Mid-Wach League were tough on the glass scoring on six offensive rebounds.

Newburyport’s next game will be on the road against Whitman-Hanson.

Quiet crowd at Newburyport this afternoon.

Newburyport 15 19 18 5 = 57

Shepherd Hill 12 10 13 8 = 43

(The pictures will enlarge.)

The MIAA this year has arranged the tournament based on power rankings. The North, South, Central, and West are history. And with the new arrangement, regional games are gone. Who around here even knew where Shepherd Hill was located? But they were seeded #21 and the matchup was against #12 Newburyport.

What has been interesting (to me) has been that so far the higher seeds almost always win. This suggests that the rankings have been accurate.

I do, however, wonder about the excessive travel the new arrangement necessitates. The Amesbury boys had to travel to western Massachusetts to play South Hadley this week on a school night. The Frontier girls’ team (Deerfield) will be traveling to Amesbury for a 5:30PM game on a school night.

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Tagged as Coach Maura Hackenson, Emma Foley, Heidi Jarosz, MaKenna Ward, Olivia McDonald

February 24, 2022 · 12:43 am

Newburyport wins Gieras Tourney 68-48 over North Andover

Newburyport Clippers win Gieras Tournament

(Danvers MA) North Andover had a five-point lead in the first half and was tied with Newburyport early in the second half.

That was the good news for the (10-9) Knights.

The Clippers (18-2) overwhelmed NA the rest of the way.

The win, at Danvers High School, gained the tournament title for Newburyport in the Ed Gieras Memorial Tournament on Wednesday night.

“This was a really satisfying win,” said Clippers coach Karen Grutchfield afterwards. “We showed up to play against a good team.”

The Knights were able to hang around thanks to long-range accuracy. Katie Robie (12 points) and freshman Sydney Rogers each had a pair of 3-pointers to keep the game close in the early going.

In the second half, the Knights lost the outside touch and couldn’t contend with a Clippers’ team that had four players in double figures.

Junior Emma Foley was the tourney MVP. Emma thrived against single coverage around the basket. When NA opted to send extra defensive help it opened opportunities for other Clippers. On this night, those “other” players; Makenna Ward (17 points), Olivia McDonald (14 points), and Deirdre McElhinney, (12 points) all needed individual attention.

“We distributed the scoring pretty well,” said Coach Grutchfield.

“There are no excuses for the way we played in the second half,” said NA coach Jess Deveny post-game.

“When you don’t play well in the defensive end, it translates into not doing well in the offensive end,” she added.

The Clippers put up forty-four points in the second half. They had consecutive point-runs of ten and eight in the third quarter and fourteen in the final quarter.

The 26-26 tie turned into 36-26 in the third quarter and 54-34 in the last quarter.

Most of the Newburyport baskets had assists attached to them. Their passing was good, and they also converted several offensive rebounds.

“Newburyport got hot,” said Coach Deveny. “They were making all their shots. They’re a great squad. They’re in the top twenty in D2.”

North Andover is in the Merrimack Valley Conference and is used to a regular dose of tough competition.

“Every night is a battle in the MVC,” said Coach Deveny. “If you’re not ready, this is what happens.”

“Sydney Turner was special for us tonight,” said Coach Grutchfield. “She does all the little things and tonight she guarded their best player.”

Hannah Martin paced North Andover with fourteen points and was named to the all-tourney team. Olivia McDonald did a pretty good job of defending her. Olivia also had fourteen points including nine in the last quarter.

Makenna Ward finished with seventeen points and that earned her a spot on the all-tourney team. Makenna had a fast-break layup (assisted by Olivia McDonald) and a three-pointer when the Clippers gained the ten-point separation in the third quarter.

North Andover defeated Reading (58-44) to reach tonight’s final. Newburyport had a win over Danvers (59-34) to get to the championship game.

Katie Robie had four three-pointers for the Knights.

Newburyport 9 15 21 23 = 68

North Andover 10 13 7 18 = 48

(The pictures will enlarge.)

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Tagged as Coach Jess Deveny, Deirdre McElhinney, Emma Foley, Hannah Martin, Jackie Rogers, Katie Robie, MaKenna Ward, Olivia McDonald

January 25, 2022 · 12:13 am

Undefeated Newburyport defeats Masco 58-40

Olivia McDonald (9 points) provided a spark for the Clippers

(Boxford MA) “You have to come to their level and compete,” said Masconomet coach Shannon Kirwan Monday night, “or you lose by eighteen.”

The Lady Chieftains did lose by eighteen (58-40) to Newburyport but for a quarter plus they more than held their own.

But the undefeated Clippers (10-0) were game-long persistent on defense. They forced twenty-six turnovers that led to twenty-seven points.

“I thought we played them tough,” said NHS coach Karen Grutchfield post-game. “I’m proud of them.”

The Lady Chieftains did a nice job defensively on Newburyport high-scorer Emma Foley in the early going. Emma faced two defenders as she positioned herself in close. For a time, her teammates forced passes inside (some led to turnovers) and struggled to score without Emma getting involved.

Kylie Dumont, Taylor Bovardi, and Kaleigh Monagle keyed Masco’s 15-12 first quarter advantage.

Things turned Newburyport’s way in the second quarter sparked by the appearance of reserve sophomore Olivia McDonald.

“Coach (Grutchfield) encouraged me to take the shot if I have it,” said Olivia afterwards.

Olivia started the second quarter with a layup and then hit a three to tie the score at 17-17.

With Masco keen on protecting the inside, Olivia found yet another long-range opening and nailed it to put the Clippers in front to stay, 22-19, with 4 ½ minutes left.

Newburyport was able to add eight more points before half-time. The Lady Chieftains, meanwhile, were held scoreless for nearly four minutes. Krystal Zepaj ended the scoring drought with a 3-pointer in the last minute.

Another three by Krystal, in the third quarter, had the home team within nine points (36-27) but the rest of the quarter saw Newburyport put a 12-3 run together.

Makenna Ward had eight of her twelve points in the third quarter while teammate Sydney Turner had six of her eight points in that same quarter. The Clippers led by eighteen (48-30) after three periods and would finish the game with the same margin.

“We kept our composure,” added Coach Grutchfield. “They came at us pretty hard.”

When Masco was forced to play man-to-man, Emma Foley (14 points) had clearer opportunities in close and took advantage.

“Masco is definitely a good team,” explained Deirdre McElhinney (10 points) afterwards. “They forced us to set up our offense a little more than we have had to in the past.”

The closest game the Clippers have had this season was a ten-point win over Pentucket.

“We keep pushing,” added Deirdre talking about the winning streak. “We’re trying to keep the momentum going.”

Coach Kirwan: “Newburyport is a very good team. Every part of their game they do well. They play basketball the way it is supposed to be played; tough, hard-nosed, and aggressive.”

Coach Grutchfield: “Olivia (McDonald) was a really good spark off the bench. She also did a nice job defending their best player.”

Masco made six 3’s including three by Krystal Zepaj.

The Clippers are now on a stretch of seven straight away games. They’ve won the first two including tonight’s game.

Thanks to Andy Tapparo for several of the stats I used. Andy produces stats for every Masco game and runs a terrific online site featuring the Lady Chieftains. It’s the best I’ve seen.

Newburyport 12 18 18 10 = 58

Masconomet 15 7 8 10 = 40

(The pictures will enlarge.)

Kylie Dumont guarded by Deirdre McElhinney

Olivia McDonald and Ava Caron chase a loose ball

Deirdre McElhinney guarded by Kaleigh Monagle

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Tagged as Deirdre McElhinney, Emma Foley, Kaleigh Monagle, Krystal Zepaj, MaKenna Ward, Olivia McDonald, Sydney Turner, Taylor Bovardi

December 29, 2021 · 12:59 am

Strong second half separates Newburyport from Triton 54-31

(Pictures enlarge when you click on them.)

Emma Foley (19 points) had a strong second half for Newburyport

Olivia McDonald (4) and Reese Renda (45)

(Newburyport MA) Key player Deirdre McElhinney was missing (Covid).

Inside presence Abigail Gillingham had graduated.

But neither of those things kept Newburyport from defeating Triton, 54-31, on Tuesday night.

The win advances the undefeated Clippers (4-0) to the title game of the Institution for Savings Girls Holiday Basketball Tournament tomorrow night against Hamilton-Wenham.

Sophomore Olivia McDonald filled in nicely for Deirdre while Emma Foley feasted on the inside of the Triton zone defense.

However, don’t be fooled by the final score. The Vikings (3-2) were very much in this one (25-23) with only three minutes left in the third quarter.

However, the two-point deficit at that time was a distant memory by the time the game ended.

“We just ran out of steam,” surmised Triton coach Bryan Shields afterwards. “Newburyport is a great team.”

The Clippers man-to-man pressure and foul trouble for high scoring Kendall Liebert (16 points) combined to limit Triton points severely.

The Vikings suddenly couldn’t match baskets with the Clippers.

Newburyport ran six straight points before Caitlin Frary (8 points) put in a layup.

The Clippers followed with ten unanswered points before a free throw from Lia Hatheway.

Then came eight straight Newburyport points and this game was out-of-hand, 49-26, with five minutes left.

Key performer for the Clippers during their productive second-half possessions was junior Emma Foley. Emma had ten points during the breakaway segments and finished with nineteen points.

“We lost a lot of forwards from last year,” explained Emma post-game. “I realized that I had to step up. I’m working hard to do that this season. It’s really fun to play inside.”

Emma went out with an injury in the second quarter but returned to have a sixteen-point second half.

Emma Foley was injured in the second quarter on this play

“I have been playing on a sprained ankle for a couple of weeks now,” she said. “A girl landed on it tonight.”

The Vikings used a zone defense for most of the night.

“We wanted to slow them down and keep them out of the paint,” said Coach Shields. “We were keying on “10” (Makenna Ward). She’s a great player for sure. We wanted to focus on her and make the rest of the team beat us.”

Makenna was limited to six points, but the rest of the team caught fire in the second half led by Emma Foley to get the victory.

The Newburyport defense created twenty-four Triton turnovers. Most of the Vikings’ miscues were in the halfcourt and didn’t lead to many breakaway layups.

Triton put its best basketball on display in the second quarter. Trailing 17-9, the Vikings doubled their score while shutting out the Clippers during a three-minute segment. Kendall Liebert had a fullcourt layup and two assists to spark the visitors to an 18-17 lead.

One thing that both teams had in common was poor foul shooting. The Clippers missed ten while the Vikings missed eight. Several were the front ends of one-and-one’s.

Triton’s Molly Kimball was the only player to make a 3-point shot.

Free throw shooting was a problem for both teams

The Clippers came up with five rebound baskets. “We pride ourselves in our rebounding, but we didn’t do quite enough of that tonight,” said Coach Shields.

Asked about the Institution for Savings tournament, Emma said, “We love this tournament. It’s fun. They have T-shirts and trophies.”

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

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Tagged as Coach Bryan Shields, Emma Foley, Kendall Liebert, Olivia McDonald

June 6, 2013 · 10:21 pm

St. Mary’s reaches the D3 North finals with 5-2 win over Matignon

Mia Nowicki closes out the win

Pitcher Brooke LAbbe cheers as the fourth inning ends with a double play

(Lowell) The St. Mary’s Spartans got back to a familiar spot (D3 North finals) with a, 5-2, win over Matignon on a cloudy Thursday afternoon at Martin Field.

The Spartans will face Whittier on Sunday at noon in a battle for the D3 North title.

St. Mary’s (18-5) has won the D3 North championship in four of the last five years. The lone miss was last year to Matignon (3-1 on June 10th).

Both teams are from the Central Catholic Large division. They had faced each other twice this season and the Spartans registered a 2-1 win in April and a 2-0 win in May.

Obviously runs were scarce during the regular season which was why St. Mary’s 3-run fourth inning in this game was the difference maker.

In that crucial inning the team from Lynn turned little things into something big. They started with a walk and a well-placed bunt to get the first two runners on. A bloop single (Alex Fisher) to center brought home a run (pinch runner Alexis Mango) to give St. Mary’s a 2-1 edge.

Alison Butler – big double in the fourth inning

If the inning had ended there the final outcome might have been different. However, with two on and two out Alison Butler did a wonderful impersonation of Johnny Damon and Ichiro Suzuki before launching a 2-run double over Nat McAllister’s head in left.

Damon & Ichiro? In their primes, those two were notorious for fouling off pitch after pitch to keep an at-bat going. Alison did the same thing. I’m guessing the left-handed batter fouled off at least five pitches before stoking the biggest hit of the game (in my opinion).

Matignon (16-7) cut a run off the Spartans’ 4-1 lead in the fifth but St. Mary’s got the run back in their half of the sixth.

Brooke L’Abbe and Jordan D’Orsi limited the Warriors to four hits over five inning. Mia Nowicki pitched a hitless sixth and seventh for the save.

Sophomore Sydnee Bessler went six for Matignon yielding seven hits. Three of those hits were in the game-deciding fourth inning. Sydnee had eight of her ten strikeouts in the first three innings.

Two-base throwing error allows Julia Graf to score

Julia Graf had two of Matignon’s four hits.

Allison Butler and Tatiana Doucette each had two hits for St. Mary’s.

St. Mary’s (#4 seed) tallied its first run in the second inning. A double by Cassi LaFauci drove in teammate Molly Doyle who had started the inning with a double.

The team from Cambridge tied the game with an unearned run in the third. A two-base, two-out throwing error by Spartans shortstop Molly Doyle allowed Julia Graf to score.

Matignon (#8 seed) picked up a run with some clever base running in the fifth inning. The Warriors had runners on first and third with one out. The runner on first (Julia Graf) broke for second drawing a throw from catcher Tatiana Doucette. Once the throw was made, the runner on third (Nat McAllister) headed for home without drawing a throw.

St. Mary’s final run came in the sixth. Tatiana Doucette led off with a triple and scored on Mia Nowicki’s grounder to second. The second baseman (Julia Graf) tried to get Tatiana at the plate but the throw was high.

Alex Fisher is sent home in the fourth

So, it was that fourth inning that extends the Spartans season at least into Sunday.

The mid-afternoon, weekday 3:15 PM start had forty folks in the stands when the game began. Quite a few more arrived as the game progressed.

There were enough clouds in the sky to make me think that there would be rain before the game ended. Thankfully, that didn‘t happen.

Nice to hear the National Anthem played before softball games. I know that retiring Ipswich head coach Doug Woodworth had the Anthem played before his home games but I don’t know of anyone else who does it.

Spartan closer Mia Nowicki is an eighth grader. She throws hard and has a very nice changeup.

Olivia McDonald

Two of Matignon’s starters (Shawna McGaffigan and Olivia McDonald) are seniors.

St. Mary’s has won nine of their last ten games.

I have seen shifts but the one that St. Mary’s put on against freshman Sam McKean was unique. With Sam’s reputation as a bunter in place, the Spartans had eight players in the infield dirt and one player a step out in the outfield grass. It worked. I kept thinking that any sort of hit into the outfield would be for extra bases if not a home run.

Matignon squandered a nice chance in the fourth inning. Nicole Sylvester reached third after a double and a sacrifice bunt (Joe Tagher) with one out. Kayla McKinnon then hit a hard grounder to third. Spartans 3B Kaleigh Finigan made the stop, tagged Kayla and threw to first for an inning-ending double play.

Matignon had runners in scoring position in four different innings without cashing in.

St. Mary’s boxscore

Matignon boxscore

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