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HAVERHILL — Prior to last night, the Whittier girls basketball team did not have a lot to feel good about. After a blistering 8-0 start to the season, the Wildcats struggled, losing five of their last eight games. But after a hard fought 54-48 win against a formidable Shawsheen club in the state vocational tournament semifinals, Whittier’s spirits are sky high. The boys team feels the same as it also advanced and will host streaking Greater Lawrence Tech today (5 p.m.) for the state vocational large school crown. “It’s huge to beat a team like that who we have such a rivalry with,” said Whittier girls coach Kevin Bradley, whose club split with the Rams (17-4) in their previous two meeting. Whittier (16-7) will play at Greater New Bedford today at 4 p.m. in the state vocational large title game. The host Bears (18-3) beat Blackstone Valley yesterday. Senior forward Christina Medley led Whittier with 17 points. Senior guard Catherine Roche chipped in 12 points including several clutch free throws which sealed the deal in the fourth quarter. “I was looking to get open and get around the box-and-1 (defense), which is how they stopped me last time,” said Medley. “Tonight I tried to run off my teammates and drive to the hoop more.” Whittier also used a halfcourt zone defense for one of the first times this season. “We went to a zone in the second half and I think that was the big difference in the game,” said Bradley. “It slowed them down more than they are used to since they like to play fast paced like we do.” Whittier took the lead for good with five minutes to go on a Medley bucket. “We have such a big rivalry with them,” said Bradley. “I compare it North Carolina and Duke but at a smaller level. We play each other hard during the regular season, and we know we will see each other later in the year. We love playing them because we just beat the daylights out of each other.” If the two teams were to face off again it would be deep in the state tournament, something that Medley thinks is very possible. “We just want to win no matter who we face,” said Medley. “We always say, ‘Go for gold.”

HAVERHILL — Coming into the season, one of the most important things that Whittier girls basketball coach Kevin Bradley stressed to his team was getting off to a good start to games and dictating the game’s pace. Yesterday afternoon, the exact opposite happened and it proved to be the difference in a 69-63 loss to Shawsheen.

Whittier trailed for most of the game until Andrea Terranova scored with just a minute to play.  Her basket put the Wildcats up by one (52-51) and a defensive stop and two free throws later, Whittier earned a 54-51 win over Shawsheen - in a battle of two CAC undefeated teams.  Terranova and Catherine Roche each had 12 points and Christina Medley led Whittier 16. Michaela Martin came up with a game-saving block in the final seconds to secure the win.

Shabeli Villa scored 22 points, including netting four 3-pointers, but Greater Lawrence lost  65-35 to Shawsheen.