Girls’ hoop beats North Reading; meets Wilmington on Wednesday
THE WARRIORS took a second to celebrate their win over North Reading on Saturday. Wakefield quickly shifted their focus to the next round as they prepare for a semifinal matchup against Wilmington on Wednesday, 7 p.m. at Tewksbury High. (Donna Larsson Photo)
Published in the March 5, 2018 edition.
By DAN BYRNE
WAKEFIELD — The 2018 Division 2 North Girls’ Basketball MIAA State Tournament is well underway and the #4 seeded Wakefield Warriors are headed back to the semifinal round after a 43-37 victory over #5 seeded North Reading in the quarterfinals.
It’ll be a return trip to the semifinals as the Warriors’ season met its end last year when Hamilton-Wenham knocked off Wakefield with some late free throws to seal the upset.
On Saturday, the Warriors played host to the Hornets, and the Charbonneau Field House was packed with spectators to watch and see who would advance.
In the first quarter, both teams came out a bit tight and scoring was at a premium, with the Hornets outscoring the Warriors 10-5 in the frame. Ally Coggswell had 4 of the 5 Warrior points, as she was the only player to make a field goal in the first quarter for the home team. Allee Purcell added a free-throw, but was just 1/4 from the line in the quarter.
“A lot of it was just redirecting our energy to just focusing on the execution. I think these girls were really hyped up to play and sometimes your emotions get the better of you and you don’t play with discipline,” first year head coach Jason Pavey said of his teams’ start following the game.
“We really emphasized going into the second quarter, we had to move the ball inside-out, and when we did, we started to get looks that we wanted,” Pavey added.
In the second quarter, Wakefield turned the tables on North Reading and outscored the Hornets 14-5 before halftime. Hannah Dziadyk exploded for 9 points in the quarter after being held out of the scoring column in the first quarter, giving the Warriors a 19-15 halftime lead.
The Hornets and Warriors were evenly matched and only 4 points separated them halfway through the game. Wakefield came out strong to start the third quarter, but the Hornets fought back and ended up outscoring the Warriors 15-12 in the frame. The lead was cut down to just 1 point heading into the fourth quarter, with Wakefield ahead 31-30.
“They went on a 5-0 run in about 20 seconds,” Pavey recalled. “They’re a really good team. They’re well-coached, they have tough kids and some great shooters, and if you give them open looks and don’t close out they’re going to hit them.”
“Good players make good plays and that’s what they did,” the coach added. “To their credit, we had an opportunity to put them away in the third quarter and they made a run.”
Scoring was at a premium, with the two teams separated by just a point.
In the fourth, the Warriors cranked up the defensive effort and clamped down on the North Reading ball handlers, forcing the Hornets to turn the ball over on three straight possessions.
The Warriors got some outstanding defensive effort throughout the game, but especially in the fourth quarter. Hannah Dziadyk was on another level as she was all over the floor on both ends. Hannah Butler came in off the bench and was a force in the defensive low post.
North Reading had an advantage on the block all game, until Butler ratcheted up the defense and forced the Hornets into becoming a jump shooting team in the final quarter.
With their team in desperate need of some offense, the Warriors had only 2 shots from the field go down in the quarter, but Hannah Butler came through with a huge basket from in close to put the Warriors in front and Hailey Lovell connected on a three-pointer, as the Warriors gained a little separation.
The Hornets played tough, and never gave in as they fought back time and time again. As it went, time became their enemy and the free-throw line became Hannah Dziadyk’s best friend. Down the stretch, Dziadyk stepped to the line and knocked down four clutch free-throws to close out the win for the Warriors.
“We really dug down on the defensive end, especially rebounding,” Pavey noted, as he saw the likes of Hannah and Olivia Dziadyk, Butler, Purcell, and Lovell all come down with huge boards at clutch times.
“We definitely were trying to dial it up,” Pavey said of his team’s fourth quarter defense.
“We gave them a different look, and just the defensive intensity from the top starting with Hailey Lovell all the way to the back of our defense. I thought we did a much better job defensively in the fourth quarter as a unit,” the coach said.
On Hannah Dziadyk’s performance in crunch-time Pavey said, “Hannah coming down here to the line at the end, there’s a reason she can hit those; she’s just the most relaxed person, and she works like 12 months of the year on free-throws. She didn’t hit those by accident; she’s the one we want at the line in that situation and she delivered.”
As the Warriors celebrated their win, somewhat shocking news came in from the top of the bracket, as number one seeded Lynn Classical was knocked off by Middlesex League rival Wilmington to set up a third meeting this season between the two teams in the Semifinals.
“We split the first two games,” Pavey said of his team’s history with the Wildcats. “This is the rubber match,” he said.
The coach ended by saying, “We talked in the summer that we wanted to be back where we were last year, which is to have another crack at Division 2 North, we have that. This whole season hasn’t always been pretty, but we got here, and these kids are determined. You only get so many opportunities at this, so we’re lucky to have this opportunity. We’re going to work hard and hopefully get a better result.”
The semifinal game between Wakefield and Wilmington will be held at Tewksbury High School on Wednesday, March 7 at 7 p.m.
