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Masconomet girls basketball presents huge challenge for Beverly in North Shore Final

Saturday, February, 16 By Matt Jenkins
Staff writer

DANVERS -- Danvers girls basketball coach Pat Veilleux has a pretty good idea about what makes Masconomet special.

"Confidence, experience, and coaching. Those are the only things I can think of right now," Veilleux said after the Falcons fell, 57-35, at the hands of the Chieftains in the first round of the North Shore High School Hoop Invitational Saturday night.

Confidence is withstanding an opposing team's run and firing right back, like the Chieftains did after Danvers outscored them 13-4 to start the second quarter. The Falcon flurry tied the score at 20-20 midway through the quarter, but Masco responded with a 7-point burst of its own for a 27-20 halftime advantage.

Experience is a starting lineup that features the past two tournament MVPs | Annie Burns in 2006 and Caroline Stewart in 2007 | and a third player (Jamie White) who is a returning member of the All-Tournament team.

Coaching is allowing Stewart, Masco's starting center, to help with the ballhandling duties against a pressure defense. Stewart possesses an excellent handle for a post player and putting the ball in her hands against a press not only gives the guards a breather, but also creates a favorable matchup because it forces an opposing forward or center to defend the length of the court. Danvers' Kellie Macdonald and Cate DiNitto found out about Stewart's dribbling skills many times Saturday.

"They're actually a pleasure to watch, unless you're the opposing coach," Veilleux said. "It's not one or two girls on that team. It's all of them. They play very well together and they're all role players."

Beverly -- a 55-49 winner in the North Shore Invitational opener -- gets the next crack at Masco in the tourney final tonight (6 p.m.), while Danvers will play Bishop Fenwick in the consolation game (2 p.m.).

Life won't get much easier for Danvers in the second round as it plays a Fenwick team desperate for a win. The Crusaders are 9-10 and need to win to advance to the postseason.

Beverly has already been eliminated from the tournament hunt, but the Panthers are playing as well as any team on the North Shore. Winners of five straight, Beverly will battle Masco like it's for the state championship.

"That's probably the hottest team on the North Shore right now," Masconomet coach Bob Romeo said. "They've got some 3-point shooters. We'll be ready. They're a different looking team for us though, because they really spread you out. They've got a bunch of good athletes and some nice young players."

Beverly may not have the individual skill of the Chieftains, but it will keep fresh legs in the game. Beverly coach Matt Smith uses all of his 13 players, and he doesn't rely on any one player to do the scoring.

Smith will need all 13 players to defend a lineup that can score points in a variety of ways. Stewart, Masco's game MVP, led the way with 14 points against Danvers, while Burns knocked down three third quarter triples and finished with 11. Krissy DiBenedetto added 10 points and White contributed eight.

Defensively Masco did the job as well. Danielle Sherry (Danvers' MVP) dropped 17 points for the Falcons, but Masco made her work for every shot. No other Falcon had more than five points.

"I'd like to tell you we were setting them up for the (Division 2 North) tournament if we see them, but I'd be lying to you," Veilleux said. "As sloppy as we played, we still don't feel like we played a bad first half. But in the second half, you better come out and play the first four minutes against them, and we didn't."

Beverly made some key defensive stops down the stretch in its game against Fenwick, and junior Kellie Shea converted four free throws in the clutch to seal it for the Panthers.

Shea led Beverly (8-11) with 17 points and was named game MVP, while Meg Chatellier pitched in 10. Bridget Dullea led Fenwick with 11 points, Lara Bruni had 10, and Maddy Bissaillon had eight points and a strong all-around game to grab the team MVP trophy.

Before walking off the court Saturday night, Veilleux offered some advice to Beverly.

"They'll have to shoot a whole lot better than we did, and they'll have to defend better than we did I guess," Veilleux said. "I know Beverly's been playing great the last month or so, and I wish them the best of luck because we haven't had any against this team."