RallyNorth.net

Fri, Feb 22, 2013 07:00 PM @ Whittier

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
New Bedford Tech	12	15	24	21	72
Whittier	15	22	25	12	74

Whittier survives for State Voke title

HAVERHILL – When a team is as young as Whittier, a coach can only hope the tough times translate into acquired wisdom.

The Wildcats survived a learning experience last night, squandering every bit of a 17-point lead before regrouping down the stretch to claim a State Vocational School title with a gritty 74-72 victory over Greater New Bedford.

The victory not only avenged a 34-point loss to the same Bears in last year’s title game, but sends the top-seeded Wildcats into the Division 4 North Sectional on a positive note.

“They’re youngsters,” Whittier coach Kevin Bradley said of his squad which has four sophomore starters. “Hopefully we learn now and next week we can hold onto those leads. But we came up with some big shots and I’m proud of them.”

Things were going extremely well as the Wildcats (19-3) opened a 58-41 advantage with 2 minutes left in the third period. Nine fourth-quarter turnovers, however, allowed New Bedford to score 18 of the first 25 points of the period to tie at 69 with 1:11 to go.

“It was really frustrating,” said Kayla Riley, who scored a game-high 25 points. “I was like wondering what was going on. We needed to pull through it.”

Riley helped steady the Wildcats with a nice assist on a Josie Sanchez lay up to take the lead for good with 55 seconds remaining. Riley then connected on a drive down the lane for a four-point advantage before scoring the game’s final point from the line.

“This (win) was really important, especially for our captain (and only senior starter) Josie (Sanchez),” said Riley, who had seven of Whittier’s 12 fourth-quarter points. “We all look up to her, and she’s very inspirational and it’s her last year.”

Riley had ample support from fellow sophomores Michaela Martin (16 points) and Andrea Terranova (15).

“This isn’t the first time we’ve had it come down to the end,” Bradley said. “We’ve had a bunch of (close games) but they’ve learned how to win down the stretch. We’ve had growing pains, but we were still coming out with the victories. I hope that pays off with this (sectional) tournament and for the future, too.

Whittier is off until Thursday’s first round when it faces the winner of the play-in game between 16^th-seeded Georgetown and 17^th-seeded Matignon. Georgetown upset Whittier in last year’s first round.

“I feel we’re a bit more ready defensively,” Bradley said. “We can put some points up. But that first game is the scariest. That first round is about nerves playing in front of a packed house.”

Boys get their shot at Bears today: The Wildcat boys scored 28 of the game's first 32 points en route to a 60-50 victory over Bay Path Regional in the State Vocational semifinals. Andrew Wells and Nate Frongillo scored 14 and 13 points, respectively, as Whittier starters watched the second half from the bench. The Wildcats play host to Greater New Bedford in today's noon championship.