Carter critical for Panthers’ revenge
Fenway girls basketball coach John Rice insisted there was no revenge factor involved, but his players felt otherwise.
Me’Ara Carter scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as Fenway (16-1) jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead and never looked back in rolling to a 59-34 victory over New Mission to capture the 2018 Boston City League girls championship last night at Madison Park.
The victory was sweet vindication for last year’s city final in which New Mission upset Fenway, 55-50.
“There was crazy incentive, 100 percent,” said senior guard Shania Tarver, who had five points, six rebounds and four assists. “We just came out and played hard, especially on defense.”
New Mission (13-3) had no answer for the 6-foot-3 Carter, who displayed a variety of nifty moves in the paint. She made 10-of-15 shots from the floor and her length at the defensive end of the floor played a large part in the Titans’ 11for-40 shooting.
“We felt like we had come out quick,” Carter said. “New Mission sometimes starts out slow, then gets faster in the second half. We knew we could score inside and we were able to do the whole game.”
Fenway (16-1) was able to pick apart New Mission’s defense with some unselfish play. The Panthers had 16 assists on their 22 baskets from the field as Colby Upchurch and Janyah Gulley led the way with four assists apiece.
“We did a great job of passing up good shots to get great shots,” said Rice, who has an amazing 18 city league titles under his belt (five at Fenway and 13 at Burke). “We’re capable of playing like that, so it was nice to see.”
Fenway kept New Mission off the scoreboard for the first three minutes then responded to Jasharee Greene’s runner by scoring the next six points to take a commanding 15-2 lead. Greene was one of the few bright spots for New Mission with 16 points.
The Panthers maintained a comfortable lead throughout the rest of the first half, leaving the floor with a 31-14 lead at the break. Any hopes of a New Mission comeback in the second half were quickly negated as Fenway pounded the ball inside to Carter and she responded with 10 points as the lead swelled to 43-16 midway through the third quarter.
“I don’t think there was much of a revenge thing, it’s just a game between the two best programs in the city,” Rice said. “We just went out and played our best game of the year.”