RallyNorth.net

Pentucket Sachems Girls Basketball '19-'20

Wed, Mar 04, 2020 07:00 PM @ Pentucket
Team 1 2 3 4 Final
Wilmington 8 1 17 11 37
Pentucket 12 16 5 12 45

Sachems use FT line to hold on

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LAWRENCE — Wilmington did an admirable job of defending Pentucket senior guard and high scorer Angelica Hurley Wednesday night in the Division 2 North semifinals, holding her to just one field goal in four attempts.

What the Wildcats could not do was keep Hurley off the free throw line and that proved to be the difference as the defending state champion Sachems (22-2) held off Wilmington, 45-37, to advance to the finals at the Tsongas Center Saturday against  North Reading.

Hurley sank 10 of 12 free throws, including six of eight in the fourth quarter, and led the Sachems with 12 points.

"I don't usually shoot a lot of free throws in games, but I'm pretty good in practice," said Hurley. "I felt pretty good out there."

With Wilmington making an impressive second half surge, Pentucket coach John McNamara certainly felt good about having Hurley on the line when it counted.

"She (Hurley) is a lights out foul shooter," said McNamara. "We know she's about 80 to 90 percent."

At halftime, it hardly looked like the Sachems would need clutch free throw shooting to prevail. Thanks to some terrific defense, and with Wilmington star Kylie Ducharme on the bench in foul trouble, Pentucket outscored the Wildcats 16-1 in the second quarter to take a commanding 28-9 halftime lead.

But whatever flow the Sachems had on offense in the first half disappeared in the second half and, with Ducharme back in the game, the Wildcats clawed their way back.

After two Hurley free throws made the score 30-11, Wilmington outscored Pentucket 15-3 the rest of the third quarter and only trailed 33-26 heading into the final quarter.

Wilmington kept up the pressure and, after three more minutes, was within three, 36-33, before Pentucket made its first field goal of the half, by Arielle Cleveland, after an 11-minute drought.

A driving reverse layup by Angelina Yacubacci (10 points) put Pentucket ahead 41-33, but a nifty basket by Ducharme, who led al scorers with 15 points, made it 41-37. However, two more free throws from Hurley and a pair by Mackenzie Currie (who was 6 of 8 from the line) sealed the deal.

"I'm just really proud of the way we held on and finished the game," said Hurley. "We forced some shots and lost our composure for awhile but we played well at the end. We knew they would come back."

McNamara agreed: "We got rattled and they got going like we thought they would — that number 23 (Ducharme and number 2 (Jenna Tavanese, who had nine points) are dynamite players and they really got it going.

"But we managed to regroup, which is a credit to our seniors."

Chipping in with six rebounds and three blocks was Cleveland while Yacubacci had four steals to go along with her 10 points. Overall, Pentucket ended the game 20 of 28 from the line.

Game Statistics:

Wilmington (37): Tavanese 2-4-9, Wingate 0-0-0, Morrison 2-0-4, Sweeney 1-1-3, Almeida 2-0-6, Ducharme 7-0-15.Totals 14-5-37

Pentucket (45): Wyner 1-1-4, Thompson 0-0-0, Maurer 1-1-3, Lambert 1-0-3, Yacubacci 4-2-10, Hurley 1-10-12, Dube 0-0-0, Currie 0-6-6, Cleveland 3-0-7. Totals 11-20-45

3-pointers: W — Tavanese, Almeida 2, Ducharme; P —Wyner, Lambert, Cleveland

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