| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Timberlane | 13 | 5 | 12 | 15 | 45 |
| Pentucket | 9 | 13 | 16 | 17 | 55 |
The Timberlane Regional girls, outsized as they were, tried good old-fashioned hustle to overcome every hurdle against one of the top programs in all of Eastern Mass.
The last one, 6-foot-2 Pentucket senior Kirsten Daamen was simply impassable.
Daamen awoke with a monster second-half, tossing in 17 of her game-high 21 points after the break in a 55-45 Sachem victory.
Pentucket now moves on to the Greater Haverhill Coca Cola Christmas Hoop Classic “Girls A” division semifinals tomorrow vs. Cambridge at 8 p.m.
“We realized we had to go inside, we finally settled the floor and got it in to her,” said Pentucket coach John McNamara of his Central Connecticut State-bound post presence.
“She’s a nice weapon to have. It’s just frustrating when you have to rely on that one thing in the end.”
With no player over six-feet on the floor, Timberlane did what it does best, work every inch of the floor from boundary to boundary behind the relentless work of guards Tianna Parolisi and Leah Swanson.
“Timberlane was scrappy. They outhustled us and probably outplayed us,” admitted McNamara.
Down eight, 38-30, through three quarters, Timberlane actually pulled even at 43-43 on a Swanson three.
But that’s when all those tourney games and postseason nail-biters paid major dividends for the defending Haverhill tourney champs.
“I’m not sure we played real smart at the end, but that experience was invaluable,” said McNamara. “We don’t get too rattled, and we did what we had to do at the end.”
That, was of course involving Daamen, whose five-point flurry in the final two minutes ultimately put it away.
Junior Ashley Viselli put it on ice, nailing 10 of 11 free throws in a 14-point, eight-rebound night. Andrea Attenasio chipped in nine points. Daamen was credited with 14 rebounds.
For Timberlane, it was Swanson terrorizing the Sachems for 20 points, with Parolisi right behind, dropping in 18.
Pentucket (55): Andrea Attenasio 4 1-1 9, Kirsten Daamen 9 3-8 21, Emily Lane 1 0-0 2, Holly Jakobsons 1 0-0 2, Erin McNamara 1 1-2 4, Abby Stephenson 0 1-2 1, Ashley Viselli 2 10-11 14, Vanessa Cahill 1 0-0 2, Totals 19 16-24 55
Timberlane (45): Tianna Parolisi 6 4-7 18, Leah Swanson 7 3-6 20, Kathleen Matatall 0 2-2 2, Taylor Cefalo 1 0-0 3, Meghan Short 1 0-0 2, Totals 15 9-15 45
3-pointers: P - McNamara; T - Parolisi 2, Swanson 3, Cefalo
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