RallyNorth.net

As we still sit in limbo waiting for the high school spring sports season to begin, now is as good a time as any to clean out the old inbox and take a  look at how a few of our local athletes are performing at their respective colleges.

Last night the Gloucester girls basketball team was reminded that basketball is indeed a tall person's sport.

The young and relatively inexperienced 12th-seeded Fishermen, with Jill Lukegord as the team's lone senior, met No. 5 Belmont in the opening round of the Division 2 North state tournament. However, experience was not so much the issue in this contest. Height was.

Last night can be treated as a measuring stick for how much the Gloucester girls basketball team has improved over the past few weeks.

On Feb. 1, the Fishermen suffered their worst loss of the season against Winthrop, a 26-point defeat to the mighty Vikings. However, in last night's rematch, Gloucester proved once again that it can indeed play with a premier team, as the Fishermen took host Winthrop to overtime before falling 58-51.

It was Senior Night at Danvers High School. It proved to be an excellent motivator for the Falcons girls basketball team.

"I'm glad we got to have it at home," Coach Pat Veilleux said. "We had a good crowd come out for it and it really got the girls going."

All it takes for Olivia Lufkin to succeed in a pressure-packed situation is a few words of encouragement.

At least that's all it took last night.

With Lufkin and her Gloucester girls basketball team trailing Northeastern Conference front-runner Swampscott 51-50 with 12.7 seconds left on the clock, the sophomore guard stepped up to the free-throw line with a chance give the Fishermen the lead.

A total team effort on both ends of the floor put the Gloucester girls basketball team back in the postseason after an absence of a year.

Nine different players scored as Gloucester also recorded 18 steals en route to a 61-30 win over visiting Saugus (2-14). With the win, the Fishermen (10-5, 8-4) clinched a tournament berth with four games still remaining in the regular season.

Riding a five-game winning streak coming into last night, the Gloucester girls basketball team had a chance to see how they stacked up against one of the premier teams in Eastern Mass.

By the end of the night the Fishermen found out that Winthrop is every bit as good as their 12-1 record would suggest, as Gloucester fell to the Vikings, 73-47, on its home court.

There would be no looking ahead for the Gloucester girls basketball team. The Fishermen (9-4) won their fifth in a row, 64-50 over visiting Revere. Next, Winthrop comes to Gloucester on Friday in a huge NEC showdown. If Gloucester can knock off the Vikings, they'll clinch a tournament berth and score its biggest win of the season.

When you ask Jon Flanagan if he believes his Gloucester girls basketball team is playing their best ball of the season, the Fishermen head coach channels his inner Bill Belichick.

"I think we're improving, but there's a long way to go," said Flanagan, answering the aforementioned question in true Belichickian form, which always looks ahead and never behind.

The Fishermen (7-4) picked up a nice win led by senior Jill Lukegord's game-high 15 points. Freshman guard Hannah Cain notched 12 points in the win and sophomore center Mary Unis added nine.

"It was an excellent team effort, they shared the basketball," said Gloucester head coach Jon Flanagan. "They were much more focused defensively and rebounded better in the second half." Gloucester is off until next Friday when it goes to Lynn English.