Masi, Northmen roll past Lions
Senior point guard scores game-high 24 points to lead way
NORTH SMITHFIELD — The wounds from painful back-to-back Division III playoff defeats have healed for the North Smithfield girls basketball team, but the scars are still visible and motivate a talented group of seniors who want their final moments in a Northmen jersey spent celebrating a title.
The Northmen took their first step toward their ultimate goal Monday night against No. 7 Lincoln. While Sadie Crozier and Laura Matchett stymied every Lion not named Lauren Cipriano, senior point guard Meg Masi exorcised some playoff demons and knocked down four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 24 points.
After leading by just four points after the first quarter, the Northmen blew the game open and never looked back. No. 2 North Smithfield advanced to the D-III semifinals with a 61-31 victory over the Lions at Lovett Gymnasium.
“I really wanted to shoot today because I feel like I’ve struggled in a lot of playoff games – historically that’s been true,” Masi said. “I tend to get too nervous in playoff games and my approach today was to be locked and loaded. It’s now or never because I want to win with the group of girls I’ve been playing with since middle school.”
“The switch in my head just turned on and I realized its the playoffs and we needed to get a win,” Matchett said after controlling the paint and scoring 13 points. “I was pushing and pushing and grabbing as many rebounds as I could to help my team. This is the strongest bond we’ve had in my four years and nothing would be better than getting that dub [win] to end it.”
North Smithfield (16-2 Division III) returns to Lovett Gymnasium Wednesday night at 6:30 to play No. 3 Toll Gate for a spot in Saturday’s final. The Titans, who received 33 points in a quarterfinal win over No. 6 Burrillville Monday night, suffered a 45-23 defeat to the Northmen in January.
“We’re not new to situations like this,” North Smithfield coach Arianna Dipaola said. “Toll Gate is a very good team that is talented and well coached. We can’t look past them because they’re a good team. We’re going to regroup, prepare a plan tomorrow and go into the game zero-zero because it’s a door-die time for everyone.”
Lincoln (12-7 Division I) made it to the quarterfinals by playing good defense and finding a way to score enough points to win. That approach helped the Lions hang tough in the first quarter, but once Masi, freshman Mya Silveira, Matchett and the Northmen found their rhythm, the Lions didn’t have enough weapons to respond.
Cipriano knocked down three 3-pointers in the second quarter as part of 14-point night, but no other Lions scored more than six, which is what senior forward Andrayah Williams scored. Guard Elliana Wu added five points.
“This game came down to turnovers and we just had way too many of them,” Lincoln coach Lindsay Lacey said. “They weren’t missing shots, so those turnovers equaled points – a lot of points. Lauren hit a couple of 3s to make it kind of interesting for a little while, but we kept making the same type of mistakes.
“We threw everything we had at them. We knew they had good shooters and Megan went off for 24. She didn’t miss, plus they had some putbacks and easy baskets on the weak side.”
The Lions only trailed by four points at the end of the first quarter, but Sam Ledger, Calla Puccetti and Silveira sparked a 6-0 run to blow the game wide open. That’s when Cipriano kept her team in the game by herself with three 3-pointers. The Northmen still led by 14 at halftime after six NS players scored in the quarter.
Masi and Matchett produced more offense in the third quarter, but the lead expanded because Crozier and the defense held Cipriano to just a pair of free throws over the final 16 minutes. The Northen built a 44-25 lead before coasting to a 30-point win to return to the semifinals for the second consecutive season.
“We play really well as a group,” said Masi, who indicated the Northmen were sending songs from “High School Musical” to each other in their group chat to keep their mind off the game on a day off from school. “If I’m not scoring then Calla is scoring or Laura is grabbing the ball off the backboard and putting it back. Maddie [Reilly] and Sadie are also great and we just work well together.”