ITEM FILE PHOTO
Malvelis Hernandez looks to make a shot past the Notre Dame defense.
By KATIE MORRISON
LYNN — The rest of this week is going to be a little stressful for the Lynn Tech girls basketball team.
The Tigers have hovered around the .500 mark all season and have had their goal of 10 wins and a tournament berth within reach. After a 47-40 loss to Notre Dame at home Tuesday, that goal is still attainable, but it’s going to take two wins in the team’s final two games to get it done.
Tuesday’s loss stings for Tech, but there were plenty of positives coach Kaitlyn Wechsler could take away from a close game against a team that the Tigers have had trouble even competing with in the past.
“We’re still working on how to pull away in these close games,” Wechsler said. “That’s a team from the upper division (in the Commonwealth Conference). The girls have fire, they’re working hard on defense, and when we can get out in transition that’s a big spark for us.”
The Tigers were in this one for the entire 32 minutes, but a third-quarter offensive slump allowed Notre Dame to build a lead the Tigers couldn’t overcome.
Tech fell behind early as the Lancers jumped out to a 6-2 lead, but the Tigers rallied to gain the 7-6 edge. Jamila Constantine pulled down a rebound on a missed free throw for a second chance and put it back to make it 10-6 Tech. Arianna Anaya gave the Tigers a 13-9 lead at the end of the quarter, hitting a three from deep.
In the second, turnovers were a problem for both teams. The Tigers squandered a few scoring opportunities by turning the ball over, but Notre Dame struggled to capitalize and couldn’t build any kind of sizable lead. Solid defense and rebounding kept the turnovers from stinging Tech too much, but the steals finally caught up to the Tigers as the Lancers caused a turnover and ended the half with an easy layup to take a 23-20 lead into the break.
Notre Dame turned up the heat on defense in the third and took away the Tigers’ bread and butter: baskets in transition. The Lancers forced Tech to find open shots through the defense, and when the Tigers struggled to score, Notre Dame took advantage. The Lancers ended the third with their biggest lead of the night, 34-26.
“We couldn’t find our flow,” Wechsler said. “They upped the pressure a bit, and we couldn’t figure out how to break it and it threw us off.”
Anaya opened the final quarter with a quick three, and the Tigers clawed their way back to make it a 6-point game, thanks in part to some big defensive rebounds from Constantine to take away second chances from the Lancers. But the offense stalled again midway through the period as the Tigers struggled to hit shots while Notre Dame built the lead back up to 43-32 with 4:06 to play. Anaya, who led Tech with 11 points, did her best to get the Tigers back in the game, but the effort came up short.
Constantine had a solid game with nine points, as did Alondra Sanchez (9 points) and Malvelis Hernandez (7 points).
Now Tech turns its attention to tonight, when it takes on Minuteman on the road. The Tigers have already beaten Minuteman twice this season.
If the Tigers can win tonight, it’s on to Friday, when they play rival Chelsea. Not only will the game determine Tech’s playoff fate, but will also be the rubber match between the two teams in the three-game season series.
“They know the pressure is on, it’s been on for a while now,” Wechsler said. “We need to come out and take care of business (tonight) and Friday’s a big game, and we’re looking forward to it.”