Dixon, Braintree shoot past Andover
GIRLS BASKETBALL
WORCESTER — Braintree is back in familiar territory.
Keelah Dixon scored a game-high 18 points, while Mackenzie Moore added 11 as the Wamps (21-4) earned their third trip to the state championship game in four years with a 60-48 victory over Andover in a Division 1 state semifinal last night at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Braintree will face Springfield Central for the Div. 1 state title at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
“All year long, this has been a pretty gritty team,” Braintree coach Kristen McDonnell said. “They just go out there, play hard for 32 minutes and see what happens.”
The key to the game was rebounding. Despite giving away size at most of the positions, the Wamps outrebounded the Golden Warriors by a 32-19 margin. Jenna Roche led the way as she pulled down 10 rebounds.
“We knew we had to try and limit them to one shot,” McDonnell said. “We don’t have anyone taller than 5-(foot)-9, so I was very proud of the way they battled.”
Braintree led 30-22 at the half and stretched it to double digits in the second half as Adriana Timberlake (nine points, five rebounds, five assists) was a thorn in Andover’s side. The Wamps extended the lead to as many as 17, before Andover cut it to 56-46.
Jillian Webber had a double-double for the Golden Warriors (22-2) with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Alyssa Casey had 15, while Gia Bramanti added 11.
Springfield Central 61, Westford 45 — Springfield Central unveiled a defense Westford Academy had never seen before.
And it proved more than problematic for the Grey Ghosts.
The Golden Eagles’ fullcourt trapping press overwhelmed Westford, sparking a 61-45 Division 1 state semifinal win at the DCU Center.
“I’ve never coached against anybody who plays pressure defense like that for 32 minutes,” Westford Academy coach Russ Coward said. “There’s no cracks.”
Along with the suffocating defense, Central (21-3) hit 8-of-16 3-pointers in the first half en route to a 36-16 halftime lead.
With the deficit still at 20 early in the fourth quarter, Westford (20-3) went on an 11-1 run sparked by Emily Bramanti (15 points) and Angela Alibrandi (13 points, 10 rebounds) to make it 5242, but didn’t get any closer.
Jaliena Sanchez (14 points) and Ishanna Brown Jones (13 points) led the way for Central.
Quaboag 61, Millis 36 — Millis’ trapping press stymied Quaboag for three consecutive years in the Div. 4 state semifinals.
But given another try to crack the code, the Cougars delivered.
Behind senior Alexia Paquette’s double-double of 16 points and 14 rebounds, Quaboag exacted revenge with a 61-36 semifinal victory at the DCU Center, advancing to face Cathedral in the state final at Springfield College Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
“I was really tired of losing to them,” Quaboag coach Clifford Lanier said. “Dave (Fallon, the Millis coach) does a great job. My kids were sick of losing to them. When you have five seniors the press isn’t quite as overwhelming. That was the key. We broke the press.”
Millis (16-9) trailed for the majority of play, but cut the deficit to single digits, 34-25, on a basket from Meaghan Hourigan (13 points) entering the fourth quarter.
Quaboag (18-6) wouldn’t be denied this time, pulling away with an 18-3 run to start the final frame. Paquette got the tear going with back-to-back buckets and Kiarra Dorman aided the run with six of her 14 points.
“Certainly not the way we wanted the season to end,” Fallon said. “I’m proud of the way the kids competed. We just didn’t play our best game today and credit to Quaboag, they played a good game.”