Commonwealth Classic: Tate, Lawrence hold off Methuen in exciting opener

Tuesday, December, 23 By Christopher Smith

By Christopher Smith  csmith@eagletribune.com  — Posted: Monday, December 22, 2014 2:00 am

NORTH ANDOVER — Lawrence junior Aria Tate's NBA-range 3-pointer to beat the first-quarter buzzer was one of several highlights during her game-high 21-point effort against Methuen.

To be honest, it might have been longer than NBA distance. Get the measuring stick out.

"As soon as it left my hand I knew it was going to go in," said Tate who ran back the Lawrence pumped and showing as much excitement as someone who had just won the 50/50 raffle.

Tate poured in three 3-pointers, including one just 12 seconds into the third quarter, to lead Lawrence to a 47-43 victory over Methuen in the Hyde Division semifinals of the Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic at Merrimack College on Sunday afternoon.

Tate, a 5-5, junior guard, averaged 11.8 points as a sophomore. She worked on her versatility during the summer.

"Sophomore year, I was just more of a straight-up jump shooter," Tate said. "Coach (Dan Blouin) said for me to drive in and pull-up if I had the open shot. It worked for me today."

Genesis Santana, the Lancers' leading scorer last winter when she averaged 13.8 points, added 14 points for Lawrence, who escaped despite Methuen's 16-7 fourth quarter rally. 

"Genesis is our leader and has the ball in her hands 90 percent of the time," Blouin said. "She's been doing a great job of finding Aria open, finding Karla (Dominguez). She's working better with teammates."

Blouin added with a smile about Tate's shooting, "She's got the green light all the time from half court — anywhere inside halfcourt. When she's on, she's on. She has been working at trying to get herself to the basket more and not just to be a shooter."

Lawrence outscored the Rangers 12-6 in the third quarter but made a nice fourth quarter run. The Rangers never gave up under new head coach Jillian Middlemiss. 

Methuen co-captain Kelly Dorandi said, "We fought hard. We tried our hardest. There's nothing you can do. We could have made some more foul shots, finished, but other than that I thought we played really hard."

Dorandi said the girls are adapting extremely well to a new coaching staff.

"I love all of them," she said. "It's just a great experience having them as coaches."