GD Loses in CMass Div. 2 Finals; Despite Loss, an Outstanding Season for Lady Cs
Led by Payton Ouimette (20 pts.18 rebs.) and Margaret McCarthy (20 pts.5 rebs.), No.4 Medfield defeated No. 6 Groton-Dunstable, 64-33 in the MIAA Central Division 2 Championship game played at Worcester Polytech on Saturday.
The underdog Crusaders (16-7) defeated No 3. Auburn in the MIAA quarterfinals, followed by a come-from- behind win against No. 2 Notre Dame (Worcester) last Wednesday, setting the stage for the C-Mass final against the Warriors. When Medfield (18-5) trounced top seed Nashoba in the semis, you knew GD had its work cut out. "They're for real," said GD coach Mark Hennelly
Both teams were tentative early, missing shots and turning the ball over, what you would expect with so much at stake.
The Crusaders got it going, jumping out to a7-2 lead compliments of a Melyssa Langell's three and baskets from Jenna Plausse (4 pts.), Lyndsay Werner (14 pts.) and aggressive rebounding by Hannah Van Pelt and Eli Eisenklam.
Medfield coach Mark Nickerson called time. The Warriors came out of the T-O, went on a 9-2 run and took a11-9 lead at the end of the quarter on Lauren Casieri's (12 pts., 9 rebs.) layup.
Medfield was just getting started. In the second stanza, seventeen unanswered points fueled by senior Payton Ouimette's 14 and freshman Margaret McCarthy's 10 first half points propelled the Warriors into a 28-9 advantage with 3:09 remaining in the half. GD's Lindsay Werner's three-pointer momentarily stopped the assault but the damage had been done and GD went to the break trailing 32-17.
"You don't often overcome a run like that," Coach Hennelly said. "The reality is that if we wanted to get that game down to the wire, we would've had to play close to flawless. We just couldn't get our shots going, and we had trouble penetrating their zone (defense) early."
The third quarter saw Medfield methodically outscore GD 14-7.
Despite being down 57-27 in the fourth, the Crusaders battled, competing for every rebound, going to the floor for a loose ball and doing what they have done throughout what has been a successful season. They continued to work.
Coach Hennelly emptied his bench with 3:00 minutes remaining. Seniors Nicole Georges, Arianna Lacombe, Alex Pray, Meylssa Langell and Werner were on the floor together for the last time. Valerie Lutkevich, Abigail Hoey and Nicole Moody all saw playing time.
Medfield is very talented and with one senior graduating, they will be around for a few more years.
"We didn't have enough," said coach Hennelly after the game. "That was a buzz-saw. We would have had to play a near perfect game to beat them and we didn't. But our effort was outstanding and we never quit. Langell and Werner were great leaders for us. I couldn't be more proud of this team!"
If I recall correctly, the last Central Mass. girls' basketball championship that GD won was in 1998 when the Crusaders, led by Becky Dowd, Rachel Vanderlinden, Shelly Olds defeated Bromfield 35-25 (Div. 3). Several trips to the finals followed, including 2007 Millbury 55, Groton-Dunstable 36; 2008 Millbury 70, Groton-Dunstable 61; 2009 Millbury 41, Groton-Dunstable 18; 2010 Millbury 56, Groton-Dunstable 32.
The Crusaders graduate some talented seniors but my guess is that they will be in the mix again next year.
