Hosts Charlestown in D3N first round on Wednesday night
Published February 27, 2019
By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
WINTHROP — The Lynnfield High girls’ basketball team ended its regular season on a high note on Feb. 19 as they won at Winthrop, 48-35. With that non-league victory, the Pioneers ended up at 12-8 overall.
The first half was tight as the Pioneers led 17-15 at the half.
In the third quarter, Lynnfield took over as they outscored the Vikings 13-6 to head to the fourth quarter up 30-21. The Pioneers were then able to build the lead to 18 points in the fourth as they pulled away.
The loss eliminated the Vikings from reaching the state tournament.
“Our defense shut them down and we got into our zone offense in the second half and that helped us score,” said Pioneer first-year head coach Peter Bocchino, as his squad struggled with the Viking zone in the opening half.
Victoria Morelli led the way as she had a team-high 16 points. Grace Klonsky just missed a double-double with 12 points and eight rebounds while Cate MacDonald had 10 points and seven boards.
Melissa Morelli and Caroline Waisnor both chipped in four points.
Tonight (Wednesday), the Pioneers will take on Charlestown at home at 7 p.m. in the first round of the Division 3 North state tournament.
This will be the Pioneers first playoff game since 2015 and they enter the game as the No. 6 seed. Charlestown, the 11 seed, enters the game at 9-9.
“I know nothing about them,” admitted Bocchino, about the Townies. “I am hoping that we can have a big crowd come out and the girls are really excited about getting to play a playoff game at home.”
If the Pioneers can win that game, they will visit Greater Lawrence in the quarterfinal round on March 2 at 2 p.m. The Reggies are the 3 seed and have a record of 15-5 overall.