Cathedral cruises into D4 state final
The march for back-to-back MIAA Division 4 state titles continues for the Cathedral girls’ basketball team. The top-seeded Panthers rolled over No. 4 Millis, 68-37, Tuesday night at Bridgewater-Raynham.
Cathedral has won its four postseason games by 36.3 points and will face No. 3 South Hadley, a winner over No. 2 Tyngsborough, in the state final this weekend at the Tsongas Center in Lowell. The Panthers will be seeking their sixth state crown since 2016, including a co-championship in 2020.
“We try to wear teams down,” Cathedral coach Clinton Lassiter said.
“If we come out aggressive and intense earlier, both teams will wear down by the second half, and hopefully in the second half there’s a good enough lead that we can feel comfortable enough. But at the end of the day, we’ve just got to win by 1. The goal is always to win by 1, if more than 1, even greater.”
The Panthers (18-5) had four players finish in double figures in scoring, led by Jasmine DayCox (16 points). Hijjah AllenPaisley and Keyona Raines each added 11 points, and Tamia Darling chipped in with 10.
Cathedral scored the game’s first 14 points and led 16-3 after the first quarter and opened the lead to as many as 24 in the first half.
Cathedral held Millis to 1-for13 shooting from the floor in the opening quarter, making it difficult for Mohawk guards to get the ball over midcourt.
Millis’s chances were dealt a significant blow before the game even started — Hailey Bassett was unavailable suffering an injury in Friday’s quarterfinal win over Littleton. She watched the game from the bench with crutches stowed nearby.
“With Hailey, it would have helped us to compete a little bit, but they are so talented,” said Millis coach Dave Fallon, whose team finished 18-8.
Lindsey Grattan was the only Millis player in double digits with 12 points and Kyra Rice added 9.
South Hadley 53, Tyngsborough 43 — Despite a game-high 24 points from senior Gianna Donato, the second-seeded Tigers (23-2) were unable to hold off a second-half surge by No. 3 South Hadley in a semifinal at Worcester State University.
After trailing 23-19 at the half, South Hadley (21-3) exploded for 20 points in the third quarter to open up up a 7-point lead, 39-32, on the way to earning its first state final appearance. Next up: No. 1 Cathedral.
“I thought we played fantastic in the third quarter,” South Hadley coach Paul Dubuc said. “We are a second-half team and have been all year.”
Division 1 State
Wachusett 57, Springfield Central 50 — In their third straight semifinals trip, the second-seeded Mountaineers (24-0) finally broke through, taking a wire-towire win over third-seeded Central (20-4) at Worcester State.
Wachusetts will face top-seeded Bishop Feehan in the state final Friday at 7:45 p.m. at Lowell’s Tsongas Arena.
“My sophomore year, we played Springfield Central here and we lost and I was crushed,” said Wachusett senior Mary Gibbons who scored a game-high 22 points. “My junior year, we lost to Andover in Woburn and I knew that I didn’t want to have that feeling again. We knew that we wanted to get over that hump and get to the state championship and we’re not done yet.”
Division 2 State
Worcester South 59, Northampton 45 — Senior Naima Bleou poured in a game-high 22 points for the No. 6 Colonels (23-1) en route to a semifinal victory at Chicopee Comprehensive.
Worcester South will face topseeded Medfield in the final.
Division 5 State
Hoosac Valley 57, Renaissance
49 — The top-seeded Hurricanes (22-3) used a decisive 24-point third quarter to score a semifinal win at West Springfield High.
Hoosac Valley faces No. 2 West Boylston in the final.