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Gloucester falls in tight rematch with Vikings

Wednesday, February, 20 By Matt Langone
Sports editor

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.

Despite the fact that it was a loss to close out the regular season, Gloucester head coach Jon Flanagan liked what he saw from his squad, which is now 12-7 and awaiting their state tournament seed on Friday.

"I think we have improved greatly over the course of the season," said Flanagan. "The girls have paid great attention to detail in practice and that has been very important to our execution in games. I think with a little more preparation we'll be ready for the tourney."

Winthrop, which closed the regular season at 16-4, controlled the first half. But stingy Fishermen defense kept things close in the second half and gave Gloucester three chances to win the contest in regulation.

After tying the game at 47-47, Gloucester stopped Winthrop on three different possessions in the final minute. Unfortunately for the Fishermen, they were unable to find their offense on the other end of the floor.

"If we could have turned our defense into just one basket, we probably would have won the game in regulation," Flanagan said. "We outplayed them defensively in the second half, and we were able to get to the rim at times offensively."

The extra session was an extension of the final minute for Gloucester, as its offense was once again missing in action. The Fishermen were held to just four points in the five-minute frame, while Winthrop opened things up with 11 points.

Junior Lindsey Rogers had a team-high 15 points for Gloucester, while freshman Hannah Cain had 14 and senior Jill Lukegord added 13.

Flanagan predicts his team is headed for a tourney seeding in the 10 through 12 range, which would mean a first round road game. But his team should be able to benefit from last night's tournament atmosphere.

"It's always nice to play before a home crowd," Flanagan said. "But we'll just have to be ready to play on the road again."