This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Lynnfield to Face Familiar First Round Foe

The Lynnfield High girls basketball team will take on seventh-seed Triton (11-9) on Tuesday in the first round of the Div. 3 North sectional.

Three weeks ago the Lynnfield High girls basketball team lost on the road to Triton Regional, 50-38. On Tuesday night at 7 p.m., the Lady Pioneers will have a chance at revenge when they head back to Triton for the first round of the Div. 3 North sectional. 

“The girls seem confident,” said Lynnfield head coach Pamela MacDonald. “I think Triton is a team we played well against. Honestly, I think after the Triton game the girls were upset with themselves. They were a little down and out, but I think they feel like this is a chance to redeem themselves.”

After winning just four games last year, Lynnfield came back this season to finish 10-10 and made the MIAA tournament as the 10th seed with a win over North Reading in its final game of the season. Triton finished the season 11-9 overall and 8-6 in the tough Div. 1 of the Cape Ann League and grabbed the seventh seed in the tournament. 

Find out what's happening in Lynnfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“They’re a great team and they played really well down the stretch,” said MacDonald of her team’s first encounter with the Vikings. “We just had a hard time finding the basket and we did not score in the fourth. They played some good defense but we also missed a ton of shots.”

With tournament brackets announced on Friday afternoon, the Pioneers will have had two solid days of practice when tipoff comes on Tuesday night. MacDonald will be relying on her team’s height to outplay Triton under the glass and hopes her team’s speed and athleticism will translate into baskets, something that hasn’t always been easy for Lynnfield. 

Find out what's happening in Lynnfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We do have a height advantage on a lot of teams,” said MacDonald. “We have really great options between Morgan Festa, Kelsey LeBlanc and Kelsey Mancini. All of them are great post players for us.”

“Offensively we just try to do what we do which is get some rebounds and run the ball,” added MacDonald. “Our transition offense is much better than our half-court set. We have struggled all season with our half-court offense. We want to get the ball up the floor and get some easy buckets.”

It was an up and down year all season long for the Pioneers. After riding a four-game win streak early in the season, Lynnfield went on a five-game skid before snapping that streak with back-to-back wins. 

But no matter how the team fared in the win/loss column, MacDonald said one thing has been constant: work ethic. 

“They’ve worked hard day in and day out,” said MacDonald. “We run them, we work them. You can’t have a good transition offense if you’re not running. You can’t play good defense if you’re not in shape. We’ve pushed them all season and challenged them and they’ve stepped up time and time again.” 

Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Triton Regional High School in Byfield, Mass. The winner will go on to face either second-seed St. Mary’s of Lynn (18-4) or 15th-seeded Saugus (5-15) in the quarterfinal round. 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?