PHOTO BY SPENSER HASAK
Revere’s Adanna Hector cuts to the basket.
By MIKE ALONGI
HAVERHILL — The Revere Patriots girls basketball team overcame a slow start to beat the top-ranked Lowell Red Raiders, 60-51, in the Division 2 North semifinal game at Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School on Tuesday night.
“It was a great win for us,” said Revere coach Diana Finn. “I was really happy with our defense tonight, it was huge. (Lowell is) an excellent team – probably the best team we’ve played all year – so it’s good to get the win for sure.”
Sophomore guard Pamela Gonzalez led the way for Revere, putting up a double-double, tallying 17 points and 11 rebounds. Junior center Meaghan Gotham also had a double-double, finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while senior guard Ally Hinojosa had 12 points and four rebounds. Senior point guard Adanna Hector had eight points and five rebounds for Revere, while senior forward Maritza Scott had five points and 13 rebounds.
Controlling the glass was a big part of the Patriots’ win, outrebounding Lowell, 46-25.
“We stressed controlling the boards and we did for the most part,” Finn said. “When we started to let up on the pressure in the third quarter, they got right back into it. So we needed to make sure we did a better job there.”
Revere fell behind, 12-4, early in the first quarter, but rallied back to close with an 11-5 run to make it a 17-15 game after one.
The Patriots switched their defense in the second quarter from man to zone, which propelled them to a 21-20 lead about halfway through the quarter. That seemed to only energize Revere even more, as the Patriots closed the quarter with a 16-2 run to take a 14-point lead into the half (37-23).
“That run was huge,” Finn said. “I can’t say enough about Pamela Gonzalez, Adanna Hector, our senior point guard, and Ally Hinojosa with those three big threes in the first half. That really got us going.”
Lowell snuck back into the game in the third quarter, and by the halfway point in the fourth quarter, the Red Raiders only trailed 48-45.
But behind sheer hustle and a few big shots by Gotham, Hector and Gonzalez, the Patriots were able to hold off Lowell and cruise to a nine-point win.
“Overall, it was a really, really good team win for us,” Finn said. “We’re very excited to be heading to the final.”
With the win, the No. 4 Patriots (20-5) advance to the Division 2 North final on Saturday, where they will face the winner of No. 2 Woburn and No. 3 Billerica.
Finn and the Patriots will be watching the Woburn-Billerica matchup closely Wednesday night.
“We’ll be here to watch tomorrow night, and we’re psyched,” Finn said. “They’re both really tough teams, and we know we’ll be in for a battle no matter who it is. We’re looking forward to it.”
Mike Alongi can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @m_alongi.