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Peabody girls hold off Beverly in NEC hoop debut

Wednesday, December, 12 By Jean DePlacido
Correspondent

Welcome to Northeastern Conference girls basketball, Peabody High School, where the competition is stiff on any given night.

The Tanners, for years a perennial powerhouse in the Greater Boston League, learned a lesson last night in their first ever contest as a member of the NEC. They left victorious after a hard fought, 48-44 victory over Beverly High at the Henry Cabot Lodge Fieldhouse.

The lesson they learned: be prepared to play a full 32 minutes every game.

The Tanners shot out to an 11-point lead at halftime (25-14) but had to weather a furious comeback by the host Panthers, who owned the third quarter and took a two-point lead into the final frame after outscoring the visitors, 17-4 in that eight minute stretch.

After the lead see-sawed back and forth down the stretch (with the game tied four different times), Peabody pulled it out at the end led by senior captain Lindsey Consoles, who had 8 of her team-high 10 points in the final quarter.

"An ugly win is better than a pretty loss," said Peabody head coach Jane Heil. "Beverly played a great game, and we were just good enough to win.

"Our captains and other seniors stepped it up, and I was pleased to see a little fire from Consoles. We got in foul trouble early, which affected our game plan, but I am happy that nobody wound up fouling out."

Consoles took matters into her own hands, scoring three unanswered baskets down the stretch. She put the Tanners on top, 40-39, with just over three minutes remaining, then grabbed a loose ball and put up an off-balance shot that went in before nailing a baseline jumper for a 44-40 lead with two minutes to play.

But Beverly fought back once more behind senior captain Breezy Dwyer, who had a sensational second half by scoring 12 of her game-high 13 points after intermission. Dwyer was especially tough on the offensive boards, fighting inside to get rebounds.

The Panthers scored five straight points on a foul shot by Dwyer and baskets by Kellie Shea and Meghan Chatellier in the final minute to once again tie it up at 44-all before Peabody put the game away with a clutch basket.

Tawny Palmieri's jumper wouldn't fall, but Consoles grabbed the rebound and put it back up and in with six seconds left. After a timeout, Beverly's long inbound pass was grabbed by the Tanners' Michelle Grifoni (7 points), who was fouled and made both shots to insure the win.

"This was a big win for us," said Consoles. "Once I hit that first shot, I had momentum going and wanted the ball in my hands. We knew we had to pick up our speed, and there was great communication on the court."

Play in the first half was sloppy with lots of turnovers, but once the teams got into a rhythm the pace picked up. Peabody was cruising in the first half, but the Panthers regrouped at halftime and dominated play in the third quarter when Dwyer had eight points and owned the boards. Beverly was able to break Peabody's press and score.

"Breezy was great; she earned every point she got," said Heil. "I think she is going to have a banner year.

"There were some problems tonight, and we made some strange passes. Some landed right in Beverly's hands, and other times we passed when nobody was there. Beverly executed the press break a lot better than we did, but I also saw a lot of good things tonight."

Panther coach Matt Smith, whose team has several new varsity players this year, said the girls are still getting used to each other on the court.

"We've got a lot of things to work on, especially on offense," said Smith. "This is a new team, but all things considered I'm pretty pleased. We played good defense, and Breezy had a monster game. From top to bottom everybody played and everybody contributed."

The Tanner JVs also prevailed, 57-43, led by Brittany LeFave with 21 points.