Lynnfield Qualifies for MIAA Tournament With One-Point Win Over North Reading

With a tournament berth hinging on the last game of the season, the Lynnfield High girls basketball team came through in dramatic fashion, securing a 51-50 victory over North Reading despite a furious 13-point comeback by the home team late in the game.

The Pioneers were in a "do-or-die" situation and needed to win the contest on the road to qualify for the MIAA tournament. They narrowly accomplished the task, and by doing so they locked in the 10th win they needed to keep their season alive. 

"I’ll tell you, there is no more dramatic way than that [to make the tournament], but that’s the way the season has gone. These kids are fighters, they’re scrappers," said Lynnfield coach Pamela MacDonald. "These kids have worked so hard and I really felt like we had this, and I really felt like we were going to settle down and get it done."

"[The team] was disappointed, I know they really wanted to beat Lynnfield their last time playing them, but Lynnfield is in the tournament now and there’s always a chance we will see them again this year, and that is motivation for us," said North Reading coach Karla Sullivan.

Lynnfield came out strong, knowing the season hung in the balance, and they were able to lock in a seven-point lead going into the half. Two three-pointers by sophomore Jillian Fama and a field goal by Whitney Montesanto to close out the second quarter heavily contributed to the advantage the Pioneers had going into the midway point. 

The Pioneers went up by 13 points in the third quarter, 45-32, taking their largest lead of the game. The third quarter closed out with a Lynnfield lead of 11 points, 47-36.

North Reading wasn't giving up that easily and went on a 10-0 scoring spree to open up the final quarter of the game, finding themselves trailing to their opponent by a single point with about four minutes to play. 

Hornet co-captain Kirsten Morrison registered a monster block with three minutes to go, but the Hornets were unable to capitalize on the other end. Lynnfield then missed a wide open breakaway layup, but once again North Reading did not respond with a basket. 

A Montesanto layup followed by a Brittany Hunt field goal for the Pioneers finally ended Lynnfield's scoring drought, allowing them to go up by four with less than two minutes remaining.

"Brittany had some real good minutes all game," MacDonald said. " She is a great kid and a great player and she hustles and gets on the ball and comes up with steals night after night. She is a worker."

North Reading responded with a field goal and two Lauren Hebert foul shots to get the Hornets back within one. They had the ball in their possession with 6.3 seconds left on the clock, but the ball was thrown away and their furious comeback ended up not being enough to pull out a win.

The Pioneers lucked out when North Reading star player Hebert fouled out with little time left on the clock, removing her as a factor in the final moments of the game. Hebert had 14 points on the night.

"[Hebert] fouled out, and that was great because she is a playmaker for them, she’s good and she can create off the dribble really well," MacDonald said.

The Pioneers walked away with the 50-51 victory, and a guarantee at postseason play. 

"We never gave up, but Lynnfield played really well," Sullivan said. "We just hung in there and really worked right until the end. But we ran out of time."

Morrison was the game's scoring leader with 19 points. Fama came up big for the Pioneers, registering 15 points for her team, along with Hunt who contributed an additional 14 points.

North Reading, which qualified for the tournament last Tuesday, will face powerhouse North Andover on Wednesday at 12 p.m. 

"Our goal is always to make the tournament every year and now we are going to take it one game at a time," Sullivan said.