Girls’ hoop falls 59-45 in semis; league champs finish 19-4
Published in the March 16, 2018 edition
By JENNIFER GENTILE
DANVERS—The Melrose Lady Raider basketball team’s incredible post season run ended on Thursday, March 8 when they fell to #2 seed Pentucket (21-2) by a score of 59-45 in the Div. 2 North semifinals at St. John’s Prep in Danvers. The Middlesex League champs sees their season end at 19-4, their best record in a decade.
The Pentucket Sachems proved a tough, defensive team with a press that stumped Melrose most of the day. Despite taking a brief lead of 24-22, and seeing game-high scoring from freshman Sam Dewey (19 pts), Melrose ran out of steam against the Sachems, who moved on to clinch the Div. 2 North win over Wakefield on Saturday.
“It was the start that we had,” said Melrose head coach Bill Hirschfeld after the game. “You go down quickly, and it’s a big uphill climb. But you have to give Pentucket credit. They hustled from start to finish. We never got into a rhythm. We never got into any offense that we could run. I think that hurt us in the long run.”
LIV CROSS attempts a deflect on Melrose junior Sam Smith during Melrose’s 59-45 loss to Pentucket in Div. 2 North semifinals. (Donna Larsson photo)
Melrose was up against a Pentucket team who allowed an average of 29.9 points per game all winter and a balanced roster with clutch shooters. Pentucket’s Casey Hunt led the Sachems with 15-points and joined teammates Liv Cross and Jess Galvin in playing fast in the opening minutes, which put Melrose in a bucket, 10-0, after a three-pointer just minutes in the game. Melrose got points on board thanks to a jump shot by Sam Dewey and two fouls shots by Peri MacDonald, but were down 15-6 after the first.
Lily Cunningham (13 points) wowed in the second quarter with a steal for a layup that had Melrose fans on their feet. And she performed strong the rest of the game—as halftime approached, Cunningham and Dewey proved perfect on the foul line. Then Sam Smith nailed a three at the buzzer to make it a game, 22-19, Melrose down just three.
The Lady Raiders came out of halftime super charged. Lily Cunningham had a shot that made it a 22-21 game while a Dewey three pointer gave Melrose their first lead of the game, 24-22. The Lady Raiders sent the Sachems to the line often, and paid the price as the Sachems went 11-14 on it. Sam Dewey and Lily Cunningham kept it a 29-28 with a series of layups. But a three-pointer by Liv Cross gave Pentucket an edge they wouldn’t lose, as they slowly pulled away from Melrose in the fourth, hitting a series of foul shots and a trey by Hunt that made made it 42-36.
Alexis Doherty hit back-to-back baskets and Cunningham a three pointer to pull as close as 46-43 with three minutes to go, but Melrose stalled from the Sachem’s blanket coverage and saw Pentucket go on an offensive run that ended in a final score of 59-45.
It wasn’t the result Melrose was anticipating, but a lot of things had to go right in order to beat a talented Sachem squad.
“Some of our shots didn’t fall,” Hirschfeld said. “But that’s what happens. You get that chance, you miss out, and you’re done. We didn’t execute well.”
Melrose says good bye to lone senior, captain Alexis Doherty, who was recently named league M.V.P. Doherty’s command of the floor will be missed. “She was the motor that ran the car,” says her coach. “When she was running well, they picked it up.”
Melrose returns four of its five starters, and is expected to be just as much a threat next season, possibly the pick of the league. But on Thursday, it was too early to think about 2019 for Hirschfeld and his team.
“No. We have to get over this (loss) first before we can look towards next year,” he said. “We’ll let this one take its toll and move on from there.”
