RallyNorth.net

Belmont's height too much for Fishermen

Tuesday, February, 26 By Richard Slate
Staff writer

Last night the Gloucester girls basketball team was reminded that basketball is indeed a tall person's sport.

The young and relatively inexperienced 12th-seeded Fishermen, with Jill Lukegord as the team's lone senior, met No. 5 Belmont in the opening round of the Division 2 North state tournament. However, experience was not so much the issue in this contest. Height was.

Led by 6-foot-2 sophomore center Clare Sullivan and 6-foot-1 senior forward Molly Gavin, the host Marauders took advantage of the Fishermen in the paint and on the glass en route to a 48-34 victory. Both 6-footers registered double-doubles, with Sullivan notching 10 points and 14 boards and Gavin adding 16 and 14.

"We talked about it the last few days, the key to the game was going to be our ability to box out and match their intensity on the backboards," said Gloucester head coach Jon Flanagan. "Our goal was to get out in transition and we didn't get enough rebounds to get us going tonight."

Gloucester, which missed the postseason for the first time in Flanagan's tenure last year, competed with Belmont for the first two quarters. The Fishermen raced out to a 13-12 lead after the first frame thanks to an aggressive 2-3 zone defense and ball movement on offense.

The visitors continued to battle in the second quarter and maintained their strong defensive effort. But Belmont's dominance on the boards wore down the Fishermen and created several second-chance opportunities and trips to the free-throw line.

Gavin had nine of her points in the first half, and when Gloucester collapsed down in the paint, Belmont senior guard Meg Zolner (16 points) was able to convert from outside. Gloucester sophomore Olivia Lufkin (10 points) and freshman point guard Hannah Cain (10 points) kept the Fishermen within striking distance at the half as Belmont held a slim 26-22 lead.

"It's positioning, you have to get a body on someone and not allow second and third chances," Flanagan said. "Shots just weren't falling, it's difficult when you play defense for 25 seconds then they get a rebound and score, then go down the court and don't score. That began to take its toll and we were very tired by the end."

Gavin dominated the third quarter, scoring seven as Belmont took the frame, 13-8. A 10-0 that spanned the end of the third and into the fourth put the game out of reach for the Fishermen.

Nothing seemed to go right for Gloucester in the fourth as the normally reliable Cain saw a layup rim out while Lukegord missed a lay in off a rare fast break. There seemed to be a lid on the Gloucester hoop in the second half as they managed just four in the fourth quarter.

For such a young team, Flanagan hopes that last night was something to build on. "I wish we could have got a win in the tournament for Jill but for the younger players coming back, hopefully it's a stepping stone."