PHOTO BY BOB ROCHE
Fenwick’s 5’10” Colleen Corcoran and No. Reading’s 6’5″ Jessica Lezon converge on the ball.
By MIKE ALONGI
HAVERHILL — In front of a packed house at Whittier Tech High, the Bishop Fenwick girls’ basketball team punched its ticket to the TD Garden after defeating No. 1 North Reading, 65-47, in the MIAA Division 3 North championship game Saturday night. It is the Crusaders’ first sectional title since 1991.
“I think we started off slow because we were nervous,” said Fenwick coach Adam DeBaggis. “I even felt more nervous than usual. But the girls just played great after that. This team has played with great determination all year, and it really showed tonight.”
Senior forward Colleen Corcoran led the way for Fenwick, recording a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Senior guard Sydney Brennan had 13 points and three rebounds, while sophomore guard Fredi DeGuglielmo finished with 10 points. Senior forward Melissa MacKenzie had a big game with 10 points and six rebounds off the bench.
“We have a great team offense,” said DeBaggis. “One person plays well one night, and we’ll probably have someone new step up on Tuesday (against Catholic Central League rival Archbishop Williams in the state semifinal at 2:15). That’s a great team to me, being able to pick each other up and take a share of the weight.”
Early in the game, Fenwick had some trouble getting into an offensive rhythm and also had trouble dealing with North Reading center Jessica Lezon. The 6’5 senior had seven blocks in the game in addition to 15 points and 16 rebounds.
But the Crusaders quickly adjusted and began to deny the inside pass.
“We’ve done that well all year,” said DeBaggis. “We have a lot of depth, so we just get in people’s faces. We’ve got a lot of girls who play really good defense. We just didn’t want to allow lob passes inside, and we did a good job limiting that.”
After the first quarter, North Reading led 9-7, but Fenwick quickly took the lead early in the second. Once they took the lead, the Crusaders poured it on with a 15-5 run to close the half to give them a 30-19 lead at the break.
Fenwick increased its lead in the second half by as many as 22 points early in the fourth quarter.
At that point, all Fenwick (21-4) had to do was run out the clock and wait for the celebration.
“I’m pumped,” said DeBaggis about Tuesday’s game. “It’s going to be fun. We love big games, and obviously these girls going to play at the Garden and me getting to coach at the Garden will be a dream come true.”
Mike Alongi can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @m_alongi