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PMA advances to quarterfinals

Tuesday, February, 23 By Jeff Hamrick

METHUEN — Kate St. Peter and Meg McDonough had been there before times before only to suffer first-round disappointment each time. Presentation of Mary Academy’s two seniors, however, finally took the next step.

After losing their postseason opener in each of the past three seasons, the Panthers advanced to the District 4 quarterfinals with an easy 60-41 victory over St. Clement last night. PMA (16-5) will play at Lowell Catholic (16-5) on Friday in the quarters

“I think this is probably the best thing that could happen to us,” said St. Peter, the Commonwealth Conference small division player of the year. “I am so excited ... I’m just kind of lost for words right now. Our goal is to make it to the final four, and I know at a small school it’s kind of tough to do that, but I think we can bring it to the end.”

PMA took control with an 11-3 run to open a 29-17 halftime advantage over the Lady Anchors (11-11). St. Peter and sophomore Ashley Ventolieri combined to score 19 points for the Panthers.

“It’s great because every year we’ve been stopped in the first round and it’s ruined all our hard work,” McDonough said. “We’ve been pushing ourselves this season especially and we’ve been working really well as a team, so it’s really fulfilling to actually get through. We were freaking out we were so nervous (going into the game) because it means so much to all of us. Every time we thought about it we’d get so pumped.”

The Panthers not only broke down St. Clement’s press but controlled the boards, grabbing 17 offensive rebounds in the first half which contributed to 20 second-chance points. PMA ended up attempting 18 more shots before intermission. St. Peter, who scored a game-high 24 points, and Rosaly Pagan did the bulk of the glass work, combining for 15 offensive rebounds and 27 overall in the game.

The defensive stalwart in PMA’s box-and-one zone was sophomore Ashley Ventolieri, who shadowed St. Clement star Christy Novembre the entire game. Novembre, a junior who already has eclipsed the 1,000-point mark, was unable to shake Ventolieri and scored only four of her team-high 17 points in that crucial first half.
“She’s our defensive warrior,” PMA coach Joe Deblois said of Ventolieri, who also chipped in 10 points. “She’s the quickest girl on the team and she loves to play defense. Her standard is unbelievable. We’ve had games when she’s beat up the (opponents) best player and never came off the court.”

The Panthers didn’t ease off after intermission, connecting on 7 of their first 13 third-quarter field-goal attempts while opening a 17-point advantage with 1:40 left. The Lady Anchors did cut their deficit to 10 points midway through the fourth, but PMA scored 11 of the game’s final 13 points to secure the victory.

“(Novembre) didn’t make herself active on defense,” St. Clement coach Shawn Thornton said. “And that kind of killed us. She got kind of tired and we only go five (players) deep, so I can’t replace girls that much. But the offensive boards, which we’re usually pretty good at killed us. (PMA) shot the ball well and attacked the glass.”