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Methuen ends another streak, Defeats Haverhill for first time in seven years

Wednesday, January, 23 By Chuck Frye
Staff writer

After upsetting Central Catholic a month ago, Methuen achieved another landmark victory last night. This one, however, needs an asterisk placed next to it.

The Rangers' pressure defense and timely fast-break offense overcame early foul trouble to gallop past Haverhill, 51-24, their first win over the Hillies since January 4, 2001, a span of nine consecutive setbacks.

But this is a different Haverhill squad than the perennial state tourney powers of the recent past, one that is battling an additional opponent | its own internal issues concerning consistency and execution.

"Methuen's aggressive. They're a tough team and they play very well," veteran Hillie head coach Kevin Woelfel said. "I think if we were able to convert our layups and foul shots ... there were certainly enough opportunities in these areas. It probably doesn't tell the whole story but it makes us competitive if we do that."

Although the effort was there from start to finish, the results weren't. The Hillies, now 3-8, shot a dismal 18 percent (9 of 50) from the field while missing all nine of their 3-point attempts. Center Colleen Garvey's hustle and desire was immense, resulting in 12 rebounds and five steals, but she missed all 10 field goal attempts in the paint and finished with just one point.

The charity stripe wasn't charitable for both squads, but Haverhill was hurt by a 6-for-15 effort there. The Rangers were 5 of 19 from the line.

The difference was a full-game, full-court Methuen press that finally ditched the Hillies in the third quarter, a 19-2 blitzkrieg that turned a 10-point deficit into a 27-point gap.

"We knew Methuen was going to press us all night," Woelfel explained. "We worked on it for two days in practice, but not with Methuen's aggressiveness.

"In other years when we had excellent teams, our second five was just a notch below our first five. You'd have practice and, man alive, it was up and down. You're getting more than what you're going to see from the opponent. That's what we haven't been able to do this year and that's what we hope to get better at. That takes 12 or 13 players day-in and day-out to give that kind of effort."

"Basketball goes in different cycles in different towns," Methuen head coach Karen McLaughlin said. "We've had down years. Different teams lose kids to different schools or whatever, but I'm happy for our kids. We needed this win, trying to get to the .500 mark (now at 5-7) and make a return to the state tournament."

With Rashidat Agboola (seven points and 14 rebounds) and Lea Freeman (five points and eight boards) on the bench early, subs Lindsay Pare (six points) and Jessi McCarthy (eight rebounds) more than filled their roles as Methuen outrebounded Haverhill, 54-35. Adding athletic play from senior guard Sujaliz Dominguez (game-high 11 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocked shots) just widened the talent gap.

McLaughlin said, "We do work on our fast break in practice but to really see it work like this in a game, that's what I've been looking for all year."