Wellesley holds on, L-S falls off
There will be a new Division 2 state champion in girls' basketball.
Both Wellesley and reigning champion Lincoln-Sudbury endured long periods of cold shooting in last night's EMass final at TD Banknorth Garden, but Wellesley warmed up just enough in the end to pull out a 38-32 victory. The Raiders must wait and see who their opponent will be in Saturday's state championship game at the DCU Center in Worcester, as Central champ Millbury takes on West winner Palmer tonight in Amherst.
"We just lucked out, we fought 'em off really," said Wellesley coach Kristin Cieri, whose squad staved off a Lincoln-Sudbury comeback in the final minute. "We played great defense. I think the kids executed their game plans. We ran into foul trouble that we never expect, because we never expect to go with one big girl, we've got three of them . . . But the kids adjusted very well."
The Raiders jumped to a 10-2 lead through one quarter, holding the Warriors without a field goal. A basket by Sarah Wetmore (game-high 13 points) with 7:02 left in the second quarter broke the L-S drought, and soon after, Wellesley went scoreless for the rest of the quarter following a free throw by Mary Louise Dixon that made it 15-5.
The Warriors used two free throws from Wetmore and an Ali Murray jumper with 1:37 left to cut the deficit to 15-9 by halftime.
Business picked up for the Warriors in the third quarter as they went on a 7-0 tear to open the half. Two more free throws from Wetmore put L-S ahead, 16-15, but a rebound and score from Lindsay Sydness put Wellesley back in front with 5:00 left in the quarter. A jumper from Sarah Grant and a layup by Eleni Dixson gave the Raiders a 25-21 lead heading to the final period.
A Dixon 3-pointer and a pair of free throws from Blake Dietrick helped give Wellesley a 34-27 lead, but L-S stayed close. The edge was cut to 35-32 when the Warriors' Bridget Mahoney hit a trey with 22 seconds left. But free throws from Dixon and Jesse Miller, plus another by Dietrick after a L-S turnover with less than five seconds left, allowed Wellesley to finish the job.
"I'm ecstatic," said a smiling Dietrick (team-high 10 points). "It's so great. It's the biggest win, the biggest game of my life."
L-S coach Liza Feldman was proud of her team's accomplishments as reigning state champions, and of her team's run in the second half.
"I knew it was going to be a low-scoring game," she said. "Maybe psychologically, it's difficult to have such a low-scoring quarter and first half, but we came out ready after the half and Wellesley came back at us again.
"We came out [in the second half] and made a run, and I think it showed a lot of mental toughness on our part."
