RallyNorth.net

Swampscott falss to Lowell

The Swampscott girls basketball coach, Jack Hughes, couldn't call it heart-breaking, even if the NEC south champs nearly pulled off the upset of the year against a Lowell opponent that literally and figuratively had an all star at all five positions.

"Lowell was also huge with two 6-foot-3 sisters, so when you get this close, it's more disappointing than anything," Hughes lamented after his Big Blue fell to heavily-favored Lowell, 54-48, a top-ranking Division 1 power that is seen as a red-hot state title contender.

Swampscott was swept off its feet when Lowell came alive and outscored the host, 29-12, in the final quarter. Yet, the Big Blue still had the lead with 1:27 remaining.

What the Big Blue did to compensate for Lowell's sizeable height advantage was spread the floor on offense and the strategy worked for three quarters, not giving the visitors many open looks with solid defense at the other end of the court.

Tara Nimkar (19 points, 7 rebounds), Allie Beaulieu (14 points, 9 rebounds), and Kara Gilberg (12 points) spearheaded Swamscott's great bid, but there was no stopping Lowell when it caught fire and hit 4 of their 5 trifectas for the game.

"The threes killed us," Hughes said."They heated up and that was it. I give them credit. The kids ran the game plan well and gave one heckuva effort. This was a huge team and we contained Lowell fairly well.

"Aside from the disappointment, I couldn't have been more proud of our kids tonight."

He said it was much like a tournament game with a matching atmosphere.

"We wanted a tough game and I think it will benefit us in the tournament," he said.