SOPHOMORE GUARD Kat Hassapis drives the lane for two points in the Hornets’ final game against Medway. (John Friberg Photo)
By DAN NUNN
NORTH READING — The Lady Hornets advanced to the Division 3 North quarterfinals with their 56-41 home victory over the Ipswich Tigers in the first round of the state tournament Tuesday night.
Junior Jess Lezon had a monster game with 23 points and 8 rebounds.
North Reading will take on Winthrop in the quarterfinals at Saugus High School Friday, February 27 at 7 p.m. (Full story to appear in the March 5 issue of the Transcript.)
Fall at Burlington 60-42
BURLINGTON — The Lady Hornets were defeated by the host Burlington Red Devils 60-42 in their non-league basketball matchup on Feb. 16. Junior Jess Lezon was the only Hornet in double figures with 15 points.
Lezon opened the scoring and North Reading took an early 2-0 lead. But unfortunately the lead was short lived. The Red Devils closed the first quarter on a 16-3 run to take a 16-5 lead after one.
The Hornets cut the deficit down to seven at the 4:31 mark of the second quarter. That was the closest they would get in the first half and Burlington took a 28-20 halftime lead.
Burlington came out of the half on fire. They opened the second half on a 10-2 run to open up a 38-22 lead midway through the third.
The Red Devils never looked back. They went up by as much as 23 in the fourth quarter and sailed on to victory.
Sting Medway on Senior Night
The Hornets celebrated Senior Night by beating the visiting Medway Mustangs 57-42 on Feb. 18 Jess Lezon was superb with 20 points and 17 rebounds. Junior Carly Swartz and sophomore Katerina Hassapis both had solid performances adding 10 points each.
Before the game seniors Adrianna Flanagan and Frankie Elliott were honored in a ceremony for their contributions to the team. North Reading got off to a great start, jumping out to 10-2 lead. The Mustangs tried to battle back but found themselves down by five at the end of the first quarter.
Medway fought back to capture the lead in the second. They opened the quarter on a 10-2 run and took a 19-16 lead at the 4:18 mark. But the Hornets responded by outscoring the Mustangs 10-3 to close the first half and take a 26-22 halftime lead.
The Mustangs refused to go away in the third. They came back to tie the game at 28 midway through the quarter. But once again North Reading responded and took a 40-36 by the end of the quarter.
The Hornets blew the game open in the fourth. They opened the quarter on a 16-4 run and never looked back, cruising to the 15-point victory.
Crushed by Chieftains 63-22
The Masconomet Chieftains beat the Hornets soundly in the regular season finale for both teams on Thursday night. Katerina Hassapis led North Reading with 8 points.
The Hornets’ offense struggled the entire game. They were outscored 39-12 in the first half. Things didn’t improve in the second half and North Reading couldn’t climb out of their deep hole. Masco cruised to victory.
Seedings released
At 12-8 overall, North Reading was seeded seventh out of the 10 teams in the Div. 3 North bracket of the MIAA state sectional tournament.
Latin Academy earned the top seed at 13-2 followed by No. 2 Winthrop (17-3), No. 3 St. Mary’s of Lynn (17-5), No. 4 Bishop Fenwick (14-6), No. 5 Lynnfield (13-7), and No. 6 Excel (9-5).
Manchester-Essex was seeded eighth (12-8) while No. 9 Brighton (8-8) and No. 10 Ipswich (9-9) round out the field. Bracket updates in the tournament series are posted on www.miaa.net.
