A dream finish for red-hot Griffiths and Ursuline
There is no need to travel to Worcester to see a Cinderella. The Ursuline girls' basketball team already has filled the glass slipper at the FleetCenter.
The Bears, seeded 12th entering the tournament, won their first title in any sport yesterday by defeating North sectional champion Whittier, 53-40, in the MIAA Division 4 title game.
"It's hard imagining a bigger athletic win in school history than winning the state title at the FleetCenter," said Ursuline coach John DePasquale.
Sophomore Molly Griffiths carried the team, scoring a game-high 20 points, while junior point guard Jacklyn Hourihan and junior center Julianne McDonald scored 12 apiece.
"I don't think Molly Griffiths hit the rim once in the second half," said Whittier coach Kevin Bradley. "She reminded me of Larry Bird. `Enough with this. Jump on my back.' She just took over."
Whittier began with a quick 8-2 run, keyed by the presence of 6-foot-2-inch senior center Ammanda Dennis, who led the Wildcats with 17 points. Then Griffiths took command, hitting two threes and scoring 10 of Ursuline's first 16 points. The Bears went into halftime with a 26-16 lead, but they knew they had to improve their rebounding and fast break to make the lead stick.
"Our main game is running and that's how we beat a lot of teams," Griffiths said. "We picked it up in the second half."
Whittier (19-4) entered the second half determined to close the gap. Bradley employed a full-court press against the smaller Ursuline squad and consistently had the ball fed down low to Dennis. The Wildcats claimed the lead, 30-29, at 10:58 with a 3-pointer from senior Tina Janelle. The Wildcats answered an Ursuline basket with another three from Janelle, capping a 17-5 run.
"When we were down, me and Meghan [Lawrie] felt we had to step up or this wasn't going to happen," Griffiths said.
Step up they did. McDonald tied the score at 31 on a pass from Hourihan, and a clean-up basket by Griffiths gave Ursuline a lead it would not relinquish.
Lawrie, a senior forward, scored 9 points but was much more valuable in other departments. She took two important charges that set the tone in the first half, grabbed several key rebounds in the second, and played ball-hawking defense throughout.
"I'm a team player," Lawrie said as she clutched the championship plaque. "If my team needs me to step up and take a charge, I'll take the charge. If my team needs me to step up and rebound, I'll get the rebound."
