RallyNorth.net

Tue, Jan 29, 2008 07:00 PM @ Gloucester

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Revere	7	18	10	15	50
Gloucester	22	12	14	16	64

Fishermen take care of Patriots, setting up showdown with Winthrop

Wednesday, January, 30 By Richard Slate
Staff writer

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 asked what the keys have been in the five-game win streak, Gloucester head coach Jon Flanagan said, "It's been defense and rebounding up until tonight. For whatever reason, we didn't do as good a job as we could have. On the offensive end, we are sharing the basketball and people have an aggressive attitude. Our goal is to get five players in double figures. If we can do that, we'll be tough to beat."

While the Fishermen failed to put five players in double figures (something which they haven't done this season), they still had five girls score at least eight points. Freshman guard Hannah Cain (game-high 17 points, 7 rebounds, 6 steals, 4 assists), junior center Alicia Unis (14 points, 13 rebounds) and junior guard Lindsey Rogers (14 points, 4 steals) were the main scorers while sophomore forward Olivia Lufkin and sophomore guard Alexandra Verga both notched eight points in the win.

Passing the ball to open teammates seemed to be contagious as Gloucester recorded 12 assists on its 24 baskets.

The Fishermen jumped out to a big early lead (as much as 16) before finishing the first quarter up 22-7. Things couldn't have started better for Gloucester as they opened the game on a 10-1 run. Rogers was hot early with eight points and Unis did the dirty work down low, also scoring eight points in the frame.

Revere's (6-9) offense hit its stride in the second quarter, outscoring the hosts 18-12. Gloucester led 34-25 at the half and the only real problem was it had 10 team fouls in the first 16 minutes.

"I think we got out in transition in the first quarter really well and dictated tempo," said Flanagan. "We were finding their scorers and forcing difficult shots. They'd get one shot and then we were going the other way which is key to our game. In the second quarter, they began to get open looks at the rim and some easy putbacks, that slows the game down."

Just 16 seconds into the second half, Gloucester's lone senior, shooting guard Jill Lukegord (2 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists) picked up her fourth foul. One of the defensive catalysts for the Fishermen, Lukegord did not return to the game until the fourth quarter.

Verga lifted her team with eight straight points (including two 3-pointers) to start the third. Gloucester won the quarter 14-10 and headed to the final frame. The Patriots made it interesting in the late going as center Nicole Kiergard (14 points, 8 rebounds) and forward Morgan Jenkins (12 points, 8 rebounds) combined to score 13 points. Fortunately for the Fishermen faithful, Cain also found her scoring touch as she pumped in 10 for the quarter, including a few nice jumpers and lay-ins.

Before the tournament starts, Winthrop should serve as a great test, especially since the Fishermen haven't played them yet. The team's were scheduled to meet in the season-opener Dec. 11 in Winthrop but the game was cancelled after a boiler exploded.

"They're an excellent team, they proved themselves to be a solid tournament team last year (when they advanced to the semi-finals and lost by two to Wilmington in overtime)," said Flanagan. "We're looking forward to it, this is going to be a good challenge for us. We're going to take this win, go home and think about it a little bit then when we get up tomorrow, we'll start thinking about Winthrop."