RallyNorth.net

Pentucket faces Swampscott in semis for second year in a row

Tuesday, March, 04 By John Shimer
Staff writer

A year ago, Pentucket was in the same position it faces tonight | a No. 2 seed preparing for No. 3 seed Swampscott in the Division 3 North semifinals at St. John's Prep.

However, last year Pentucket was the prohibitive underdog | a Cinderella role that was very familiar all season for the Sachems | to the two-time defending Division 3 North champs from Swampscott.

This yea,r the roles are reversed.

Pentucket is the defending North champ after beating Swampscott last year before the thrilling win over Wilmington in the North final.

And although 18-3 Swampscott is no Cinderella, boasting this year's Northeastern Conference championship, Pentucket has to be big favorites after knocking of the Big Blue for the second time inside a year at this past Haverhill Christmas Tournament championship game, 51-35.

Yet, a year after the Swampscott win propelled the Sachems to the Division 3 North final, John McNamara and company know they cannot take lightly another extremely talented Big Blue team itching to regain the Division 3 North throne.

"If they are not the top team in the Division 3 North bracket, they are easily one of the top three and are going to be a handful," said McNamara of Swampscott. "They are very well coached, they have solid role players that don't make many mistakes, and they have two scorers that can put up 30 points on the board on any given night."

After graduating a trio of talented seniors off last year's Big Blue squad | Tara Driscoll, Gwen Luke, and McKinley Tennant | Swampscott may have become even more explosive with focus of their offense going through their two junior starters, Tara Nimkar (18.3 points per game) and Allie Beaulieu (15.5 points per game). And the Big Blue's third option, sophomore guard Kara Gilberg, also averages in double figure points at 11.2 a night.

"This year they are a little more explosive with the two scorers Nimkar and Beaulieu handling the ball more and getting a lot more touches," said McNamara of the team that hung 69 points on Wilmington last Thursday, the second highest total the Wildcats allowed all season. "It's their team now, and that makes Swampscott more dangerous."

For the Sachems to be successful again against the Big Blue, they will likely need a repeat performance from their stifling team defense that held Nimkar and Beaulieu to nine and seven points, respectively.

"They have really good pick and rolls," said sophomore guard Holly Jakobsons, who figures to play a big role drawing the assignment of guarding Beaulieu. "After Nimkar picks for Beaulieu, either player can shoot from distance or inside." An x-factor for the Sachems could be their deep bench, according to junior forward Andi Attenasio.

"Emily Lane has contributed a lot for us lately, and both of our captains Lyndsay Beaton and Kelly Murphy have given us a lot of energy defensively," Attenasio stated. "I don't think they have as deep a bench as us, and hopefully we can take advantage of that."

The one area though that Swampscott has had no answer for Pentucket has been the center play of 6-3 Kirsten Daamen. Last year the junior sensation scored 15 points and had an astounding 20 rebounds. This year matched up against the 5-9 Nimkar in Haverhill, the Dominator again dominated putting together a triple-double performance of 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 blocks.

"We have more height than they do, so we are definitely going to look to go to the post," said All-Cape Ann League point guard Erin McNamara. "Hopefully I can keep my turnovers low and get everyone involved because the longer we have the ball, the less time they have at the offensive end."

And after an unbelievable atmosphere at last year's thrilling game, John McNamara said he hopes this year's game will have the same intensity.

"St. John's Prep is a great venue," said McNamara, who added Pentucket fans can get in touch with athletic director Dan Thornton about a bus traveling to this year's game. "Out of all our games last year from the Tsongas Arena to the Garden that game was probably the most special because of the size of the crowd and the noise. Both fans bases really got into the game, and it was just incredible."