RallyNorth.net

Tue, Mar 04, 2008 07:00 PM @ Neutral Location

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Playoff Game Division 4 North - Semi-Finals
Manchester Essex	24	14	16	15	69
Fenway	12	10	17	7	46

Hornets roll over Panthers and into North Final

Wednesday, March, 05 By Richard Slate
Staff writer

At just the right time, the Manchester Essex girls basketball team is playing its best basketball of the season.

After a 69-46 win over Fenway (16-6) at Malden High School in the Division 4 North semifinals last night, the Hornets (15-8) advanced to face No. 3 Mt. Alvernia (17-2) in the North Final at Salem State on Friday (6 p.m.).

It's the second straight trip to the North final for the Hornets.

"We had a little bit of nerves again I think at the start," observed Manchester Essex head coach Lauren Dubois. "We came out a little sluggish but we made a nice run to go ahead and then we maintained that. The starters came back in the fourth and did a really nice job of solidifying the win."

Manchester Essex has now won six games in a row (including the regular season) and nine of its last ten contests.

"Their size hurt us," admitted Fenway head coach Maurice Penn after the game. "They got easy stuff on the press, they're very well-coached. We wanted to collapse inside and make them hit outside shots which they did. They had a 1-2 punch, inside with Ciccone and outside with Biggar."

The Hornets couldn't hit a shot in the first few minutes against the Panthers but once they got rolling, the eventual outcome was obvious.

"We started out slow, we were a little tired from the past week," admitted senior center Dani Ciccone. "But we pulled together and won it as a team."

Manchester Essex jumped out to a 24-12 lead after the first as freshman guard Lizzy Ball (13 points, seven rebounds, six assists, three steals) scored seven in the frame and junior forward Jordan Biggar (12 points, 10 rebounds, three assists) started to heat up from deep, making two 3-pointers in the first eight minutes.

The Hornets closed the first quarter on a 11-0 run that continued into the second and eventually ballooned to 17-0 before Fenway stopped it. Junior forward Elsa Keefe (seven points, seven rebounds) had five in the first quarter.

The Panthers dynamic duo of Jasmine McNeil (20 points, 14 rebounds, two blocks) and Melika Clark (19 points, three rebounds) had solid numbers but their teammates could only muster seven points combined for the whole game.

"They're quick, those two were so good with the ball," Dubois said. "They were tough to stay with and I thought our girls did a good job helping on them defensively."

After being held to two points in the first quarter, Ciccone went for six points in the second, on the way to another huge night: 16 points and 17 rebounds. The Hornets held a comfortable 38-22 lead going into halftime.

Judging by the first possession of the second half, Fenway didn't look capable of making the double-digit comeback as they were called for a backcourt violation.

The Hornets lead went as high as 23 before Dubois rested the starters at various points. With the extended minutes, senior forward Alex Arntsen (six points, four rebounds), sophomore guard Sam Christopher (five points, four rebounds, four assists) and junior forward Jen Bishop (four points, four rebounds) all contributed immensely.

The Panthers cut the lead to 15 (54-39) heading into the fourth but once Manchester Essex's starters returned, they sealed the win. The top play of the game was in the fourth as Ball spun by a defender then delivered a pass to a wide-open Biggar, who drained her final three. All the starters got big rounds of applause after their final exits in the fourth, headlined by Ciccone.

"I felt like it was a real team win," said Ball. "We were pushing the ball on them; we knew they were fast but we felt like we could keep up. I don't mind facing a press because it gives us easy layups."

When asked about Biggar's shooting prowess, Ball replied, "that's what she can do."

The Hornets will look to get past their final stop last year in the tournament-the Division 4 North Final.

"It was a big win for us again," said Dubois. "They had some really great shooters and we tried to key in on them. It's a team effort every time we win."

Additional stories:

• Hornets win sparked by unusual suspects