McCarthy, girls hoop capture state title

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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor

The Medfield High School girls varsity basketball team concluded their incredible 2016-2017 season in the perfect manner, capturing the Division II State title on Saturday afternoon in the form of a 47-34 victory over Arlington Catholic in the state championship game at Springfield College.

The Warriors (23-2) earned their way to the title game by winning their way through the Central Sectional, culminating in a 47-42 victory over TVL rival Hopkinton in the Central finals on March 11 at WPI in Worcester. Medfield then defeated Western Sectional champ, Pittsfield, 55-38 in the state semifinals on Monday night at the DCU Center in Worcester, advancing them to Saturday’s title bout against Arlington Catholic, champion of the North.

Medfield jumped to a quick 7-3 lead out of the gates, but AC responded with a 7-0 run towards the end of the first to take their first and only lead of the game at 10-7. A pair of layups by junior captain Maggie McCarthy and senior captain Lauren Casieri in the final minute gave the Warriors back the lead at the end of one quarter of play at 11-10.

A layup by Casieri followed by three-pointers from McCarthy and senior guard Allie Petit allowed the Warriors to extend their lead to 19-11 midway through the second. Arguably the biggest difference maker for the Warriors in the first half of Saturday’s championship contest was the rebounding and defensive play of Maggie McCarthy. Thanks to McCarthy’s efforts on the boards, Medfield was able to significantly limit the production of Arlington’s set of tall power-forwards, which had been their bread-and-butter all throughout the tournament in the offensive end. Following two-plus minutes of teams trading missed baskets and defensive rebounds, the lady-Warriors extended their lead to 23-13 at the half thanks to a pair of free throws by Casieri with under 10 seconds to play.

The Warriors simply took over in quarter three, extending their already double-digit lead to 14 at 31-17 thanks to a three-point play by senior captain Meg Zona with 3:54 to play in the frame. With less than a minute to play in the quarter, a pair of free throws by Maggie McCarthy extended the Medfield lead to 40-25. The pair of free throws also gave McCarthy 996 career points, meaning that the fourth quarter would not only decide a state title, but also an incredible personal career milestone for one of Medfield’s core players.

After the Cougars cut the deficit to 11 at 40-29, McCarthy swished home a three-pointer with 4:18 remaining to extend Medfield’s lead back to 14 at 43-29, putting her 999 career points and just one away from the 1000-point milestone. With less than two minutes to play in the contest and Medfield still ahead comfortably by double digits, McCarthy got her chance to reach the milestone as she headed to the free-throw line. McCarthy swished home the front half of a one-and-one, giving Medfield a 45-32 lead and putting her at 1,000 career points. McCarthy was mobbed by teammates following the made free throw, and then came back to hit the latter half of the one-and-one to put her at 1,001 career points and extend the Medfield lead to 46-32 with under a minute to play.
What makes the moment even more special is that Saturday marked McCarthy’s 17th birthday.

The Warriors would go one-for-two at the line in the final 30 seconds of play, and hang on to win their second title in five seasons by a final of 47-34. Congratulations to the Warriors on a phenomenal run to a state title this season and to Maggie McCarthy on reaching the 1,000-point mark.