RallyNorth.net

Tue, Dec 31, 2019 12:45 PM @ Central Catholic

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Pentucket	15	6	12	5	38
Central Catholic	10	15	2	9	36

Pentucket wins heavyweight showdown to claim first Christmas Classic title

Tuesday, December, 31 By Kyle Gaudette

ANDOVER - Tuesday's finale to the Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic had the feel of a mid-March state tournament game.

Mostly because the two teams playing - Central Catholic and Pentucket - have plenty of high-end aspirations.

You of course have the defending Division 2 state champions in the Sachems, and the Raiders were mere moments away from a trip to the Division 1 state final last winter, too. And both top-notch programs returned plenty of talented pieces from last year's rosters.

But when Central's final heave from 35 feet fell short, it was Pentucket who walked out of Andover High's gym with both a 38-36 win and the Christmas Classic Blue Division championship. It marked the Sachems' first title in the highly-popular tournament - which switched to a two-division format this year - in this their fourth year playing in it.

"I'm just really excited," said Angelica Hurley, who poured in a game-high 20 points with four 3s. "Especially being senior year. Me and Angelina (Yacubacci) and the two other seniors, we really wanted it. And we were the underdog against Central, too."

The heavyweight showdown didn't disappoint.

Pentucket (4-0), which was ranked No. 6 in EMass by the Boston Globe, led 35-30 with a minute left and looked to be in full control. But Central (3-1), which was ranked No. 2, got two straight layups by star point guard Nadeshka Bridgewater to make it a one-point game with 35 seconds left.

Hurley knocked down two free throws to make it 37-34, and teammate Arielle Cleveland (7 points, 5 rebounds) grabbed a strong board and made one of two at the line after getting fouled to make it a two-score game. Bridgewater converted an acrobatic layup to make it 38-36 with 7.3 seconds left. But after two missed Pentucket free throws, the Raiders' final heave came up short.

"This was special for the girls," said Pentucket coach John McNamara. "We knew, being the only D2 team in here, that it's special for Pentucket to be in here. We've played Central multiple times in this tournament, and we've actually had good luck against them. ... But this is a big win, a nice win for the program."

Hurley, a returning Eagle-Tribune All-Star, provided the bulk of the scoring.

"I was kind of surprised I hit a few 3s" laughed Hurley. "In warm-ups my shots weren't really going in. But that kind of got me going that I was scoring early."

She got the Sachems off to a hot start with 10 points in the first quarter, and drained a huge 3 in the fourth that looked - at the time - to have put the game out of reach. That's because after the Raiders took a 25-21 lead into halftime, they were held to just four points the entire second half up until the 1:05 mark of the fourth quarter.

But that's when Bridgewater, a Merrimack commit, took charge.

She scored half of her team-high 12 points in the final minute of the game, and sophomore Claire Finney chipped in with 10.

"I think we'll learn a lot of lessons," said Central coach Casey Grange. "We need to get into more rhythm and flow on offense. There's no flow, so that's on us to fix. But I'm really proud of my girls' defensive effort, and I credit Pentucket for making all of the plays they needed to."

Pentucket beat talented Westford and Central teams on its way to the Christmas Classic title, but won't get much time to enjoy their success.

The Sachems will be at division rival Masconomet on Friday for a 6:30 p.m. tip.

 

 

BLUE DIVISION ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Name, School     Year

*Angelica Hurley, Pentucket     Sr.

Angelina Yacubacci, Pentucket     Sr.

Nadeshka Bridgewater, Central     Sr.

Claire Finney, Central     Soph.

Carly Davey, Westford     Soph.

*Denotes MVP

Ted Boudreau 6th Player Award

Arielle Cleveland, Pentucket     Jr.

 

Pentucket 38, Central Catholic 36

Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic Blue Division finals

Pentucket (38): Anna Wyner 0-2-2, Angelina Yacubacci 3-1-7, Angelica Hurley 6-4-20, MacKenzie Currie 0-0-0, Arielle Cleveland 3-1-7, Greta Maurer 1-0-2, Megan Reading 0-0-0, Hannah Lambert 0-0-0. Totals 13-8-38

Central Catholic (36): Claudia Porto 2-0-6, Nadeshka Bridgewater 5-2-12, Claire Finney 3-3-10, Adrianna Niles 2-0-4, Emily Downer 2-0-4, Juliana Porto 0-0-0, Lily Angluin 0-0-0, Cailyn Scharneck 0-0-0. Totals 14-5-36

3-pointers: P - Hurley 4; CC - C. Porto 2, Finney

Pentucket (4-0):     15  6 12 5 - 38

Central Catholic (3-1):     10 15  2 9 - 36