RallyNorth.net

Central Catholic Raiders Girls Basketball '18-'19

Mon, Feb 25, 2019 07:00 PM @ Central Catholic
Team 1 2 3 4 Final
Arlington 5 13 9 8 35
Central Catholic 17 10 17 19 63

Central cruises into quarters

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Monday, February, 25 By Jeff Hamrick

LAWRENCE – Ending a regular season with a struggling offense, is not the ideal way to enter a sectional tournament.

Fortunately for third-seeded Central Catholic, the Raiders broke out of their funk in a big way with an easy 63-35 first-round rout of 14th-seed Arlington in a Division 1 North match up Monday night. The 63 points matched Central’s combined output while splitting the previous two outings, both of which were on the road.

“It was nice after a week of not playing a real game,” Central coach Casey Grange said. “It was nice to get back out here and play at home in front of a great atmosphere.

“It was a very tough shooting performance in our last two games. We added a lot more time to shoot in practice, and the girls to their credit got (to the gym) early and stayed on their own to kind of rectify that situation. When we move the ball well and find the open man, it’s open shots that we’re getting.”

The Raiders (17-4) jumped early behind the hot hand of Kaylee Thomas, who had eight in the opening period and 14 at half on six-of-nine shooting.

“I think Kaylee took it to another level today,” Grange said. “She attacked the basket aggressively and was able to finish.”

Thomas didn’t cool off during intermission, scoring nine of her 11 second-half points in the third. Thomas finished with a career-high 25 points while converting 10 of her 15 shots, including three of five from behind the arc. The Raiders knocked down 23 of their 52 shots.

“We just kept working at practice,” said Thomas, whose previous high was 23 and entered averaging 12.4 points. “We knew we were struggling, but we didn’t let it get into our heads. We kept working hard and moving the ball more trying to get the right shots rather than just open ones. We wanted to get the easy buckets that help us win.”

Central dominated from the tip, grabbing a 12-point lead at the end of the opening period. Arlington (10-11) kept things somewhat close by converting more free throws (seven) than field goals (five) and trailed 27-18 at intermission.

“I thought we played a bit undisciplined fouling too much in the first half,” Grange said of her squad’s nine fouls. “But we turned it around in the second half when we communicated well.”

Nadeshka Bridgewater removed any doubt by scoring Central’s final six points of the third quarter, opening a 44-25 lead. The 5-foot-3 Bridgewater converted two spinning drives and added a put back with her solid work in the paint.

Claire Finney scored 11 of her 13 points in the fourth, including a pair of threes.

“I like the way we’re playing,” Grange said. “The girls have a good chemistry. We try to make the practices harder than the game is going to be so that we’re prepared. And I think their mental toughness is at an all-time high right now.”

In the quarterfinals, the Raiders will play MVC-rival and 11th-seeded Billerica, which upset No. 6 Masconomet 39-29. Central, which had won 12 straight before losing its regular-season finale, trounced the Indians twice by scores of 61-25 and 58-35. At least one coach knows Billerica will find winning a difficult task.

“We were able to scout (the Raiders), but it’s tough to appreciate how good they are,” Arlington coach Marc Demaree said. “They really shot the ball very well today. Thomas is everything everybody says. She’s a very good player and will be tough to stop the rest of the tournament. They play hard and play well together, too.”

Game Statistics:

Division 1 North First Round 

Arlington (35): Ava Connolly 2 2-2 6, Keriann Farina 2 4-6 9, Claire Ewen 6 2-7 14, Annie Harris 2 1-2 5, Michelle Mahoney 0 1-2 1, Caleigh Lyons 0 0-2 0, Erin Walsh 0 0-2 0. Totals 12 10-23 35

Central Catholic (63): Nadeshka Bridgewater 4 0-0 8, Claire Finney 4 3-4 13, Kaylee Thonas 10 2-3 25, Adrianna Niles 2 2-3 6, Emily Downer 0 0-0 0, Juliana Porto 0 0-0 0, Claudia Porto 3 0-0 9, Mary Gerard 0 0-0 0, Kaitlyn Quinn 0 2-2 2, Maggie Smith 0 0-0 0, Lindsey Bohenko 0 0-0 0, Lily Angluin 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 9-12 63

3-pointers: Arlington — Farina; CC — Thomas 3, C.Porto 3, Finney 2

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