THE WAKEFIELD High girls’ basketball team won the North Reading Holiday Tournament title again last night, defeating North Reading 37-22 in the championship game after beating Beverly 63-19 in the first round earlier in the week. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)
By DAN PAWLOWSKI
NORTH READING — Not many basketball teams would be frustrated with an eight-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Of course, it said more about the Wakefield High girls’ basketball team in the championship game of the Holiday Tournament in North Reading against the Hornets last night that they knew they could play better up 28-20 after three quarters.
That mentality was due do the fact that the Warriors had been slightly outplayed in the 3rd, by just the thinnest of margins.
Their response?
A 9-0 run to start the 4th quarter and seal the team’s second straight North Reading Holiday Tournament title with a 37-22 championship game win.
JUNIOR CAPTAIN Emma Quinn tee’s up one of her four 3-pointers against North Reading last night. Quinn finished with 14 points and 4 rebounds and was named to the All-Tournament team. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)
Wakefield moved to 6-0 with the victory. It was their fourth straight game in which they’ve held their opponent to under 30 points (60-26 vs. Wilmington, 46-16 vs. Arlington, 63-19 vs. Beverly, 37-22 vs. NR).
“Our defense is what won that tournament,” said head coach Jason Pavey. “We talk all the time about setting the tone on defense and how no matter what is happening offensively, ‘defense travels’ wherever we go.
“We gave up 40 points total over two games. The kids were locked in. I thought Shea (Suntken) and Mia (Forti) were awesome for us on that end. Brooklyn (Calder) also goes under the radar but she always makes the right decision on defense for us.”
The biggest response from the Wakefield bench during their fourth quarter run came on a charge drawn by Calder (2 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl) just after she assisted on a Forti midrange jumper and got her own bucket from an offensive rebound.
Of course, Wakefield’s defense, which translates to their preferred style of up-tempo basketball, was led as always by senior captain Emma Shinney (15 pts, 4 reb, 4 ast, 5 stl) who was named MVP of the tournament.
“Emma Shinney was excellent,” said Pavey. “When North Reading went zone, she settled everyone down, remained patient and helped get us great looks all night. She was also the catalyst on defense, picking up full court and disrupting both Beverly and North Reading.
“It was great to see her all-around game on display over the two games. Against Beverly, we saw her really attack and score. Against North Reading, she took more of a floor general mentality…executing our stuff and getting everyone involved.”
SENIOR CAPTAIN Mia Forti did a great job defending North Reading’s best player, Faith Newton last night. Forti helped set the tone on defense and had 4 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)
The Warriors will always lean on their defense to win games but it was their offense and strong shooting that gave them an early lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Wakefield hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter, two from junior captain Emma Quinn who finished with 14 points and 4 rebounds, including four triples of her own.
Quinn was also named to the All-Tournament team.
“Emma Quinn shot it great for us over those two games and she was huge in the first half vs. North Reading,” said Pavey. “She works really hard on her shot and tonight it showed.”
After North Reading’s Faith Newton opened the scoring with a 3, Quinn responded with her first triple and Shinney picked a pocket for an easy layup forcing Hornet head coach Bob Romeo to call time, no doubt emphasizing his ball handlers to watch out for that full court pressure.
THE WARRIORS celebrate their second consecutive North Reading Holiday Tournament championship. Wakefield (6-0) will travel to 4-1 Woburn on Tuesday at 7 p.m. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)
Of course, the Warriors were already off and running. Another Quinn 3 from Calder, a Shinney 3 from Forti (4 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast) and 5 points from Shinney off Suntken steals and assists made it 16-5.
It was more of a defensive struggle in the second quarter with Wakefield adjusting to North Reading’s zone. Shinney had 3 assists in this frame, first to Quinn for her third 3, then to Forti off an in-bounds pass and finally to junior Savannah Cummings underneath.
Wakefield’s 23-12 lead at the half turned into 28-20 after three, leading to their pre-fourth quarter reset in which they challenged themselves to finish the game – and the tournament – the right way.
The Warriors will now shift their attention back to the Middlesex League with 11 straight league games, starting on Tuesday in Woburn at 7 p.m against a strong, 4-1 Tanner team.
