Met Newburyport in semifinals
Published March 5, 2020
MARBLEHEAD — The NRHS girls’ basketball team traveled to a packed Marblehead High School gym on Monday night for a Div. 2 North quarterfinal against the 17-3 NEC Champion Magicians and came away with an impressive 45-30 win.
The game was close throughout the first half with the Hornets taking a 10-6 first quarter lead. The Magicians would battle back to force a 16-16 halftime tie.
The third quarter saw the Hornets close out on a 6-0 run to build up a 32-24 lead heading into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter saw the Hornets go on a 13-0 run to open the lead all the way up to 21 with three minutes remaining and both teams going to the benches to finish it out.
“Our 19-0 run that spanned the third and fourth quarters and took a 26-24 close game to a comfortable 45-24 lead late in the game was one of our best stretches of basketball all season,” said head coach Bob Romeo. “It was a combination of lockdown defense and efficient offense.”
The Hornets got solid contributions from all of the starting five: Lauren Sullivan (11 points, eight rebounds, two assists, three steals), Ali Grasso (11 points, two rebounds, three assists, four steals), Sarah Gerber (11 points, four rebounds), Nasha Arnold (seven points, 13 rebounds) and Kiley McCarthy (five points, three rebounds, four assists, three steals).
Sophomore forwards Riley Cullen and Kayla Imbriano played significant roles off the bench, combining for three rebounds and great defense.
“Our balanced scoring was the key to beating their 2-3 zone as we were able to get Marblehead to spread out to cover our shooters which left plenty of space around the paint for our post players to attack the inside,” said Romeo. “We were also very aggressive defensively, forcing 25 turnovers while only committing eight ourselves.”
North Reading also had 23 offensive rebounds to Marblehead’s seven. North Reading’s significant advantage in rebounds and turnovers led to a large 68-37 disparity in shot attempts.
Defensively, the Hornets were able to limit the 3-point shooting of the Magicians to one made three in only three attempts, while NR was able to convert five of 25 attempts on 3’s.
The win advanced the No. 7 Hornets to the semifinals where they played No. 6 Newburyport on Wednesday night at St John’s Prep after press time. The two CAL foes split the regular season series with North Reading winning 48-26 on Jan. 16 and Newburyport winning 38-36 on Jan. 8.
The winner of that semifinal will play the winner of No. 1 Pentucket vs. No. 4 Wilmington on Saturday at the Tsongas Center.
Cruise past Generals in first round
The Hornets won their D2N opening round game on Feb. 26 at NRHS over Hamilton-Wenham 54-37. The two teams played once in the regular season and the Hornets barely hung on for a one-point win. This night was very different as the Hornets had the comfort of their own gym and a very large and loud home crowd.
The Hornets got off to a fast 13-4 first quarter lead on great team defense and the early scoring of Lauren Sullivan and Nasha Arnold. Hamilton-Wenham chipped away in the second quarter and got to within 18-15 at halftime.
A very strong 16-5 Hornet run in the third quarter sparked by the 3-point shooting of Kiley McCarthy opened up the game to 34-20 after three quarters. Ali Grasso led NR’s 19-point final quarter with drives to the basket and foul shots.
The Hornets had four players in double figures led by Grasso (13 points, five assists and seven steals), Sullivan (12 points and nine rebounds), McCarthy (12 points) and Arnold (11 points and 14 rebounds).
“One of the keys to this win was our ball control with only 10 turnovers while forcing 19 Hamilton-Wenham turnovers which we converted into 14 points,” said Romeo.
Another key for the Hornets was the contributions of forwards Arnold, Sarah Gerber, Riley Cullen, Mary Majeski and Kayla Imbriano who all contributed and filled the void left by injured junior Julia Howse who is out for the remainder of the season.
“The energy level was great all night long with the assistance of a very vociferous bench and a loud energetic student section,” said Romeo. “Home games in the state tournament are a great community event and the turnout for our game was much appreciated.”