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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
It’s been a special season for the Medfield High School girls varsity basketball team. After finishing the regular season 18-2, the lady-Warriors earned themselves the No. 1 overall seed in the MIAA Central Division II State Tournament. On Friday, the lady-Warriors took to their home floor for their first-round date with No. 9-seeded Notre Dame Academy (Worcester), and were able to take care of business in convincing fashion by prevailing by a final count of 59-38 to advance to the DII Central Semifinals on Wednesday in Worcester.
Medfield got off to a fast start on Friday against the Rebels (13-7), going on a 9-2 run to start the game, highlighted by the slick three-point shooting of junior captain and guard Maggie McCarthy, who notched six points (two three-pointers) during that span. The lady-Warriors were able keep up their high-paced tempo following the 9-2 run to open things up, as power drives into the paint by senior captain and forward Lauren Casieri led to easy buckets for Medfield.
The lady-Warriors also did a phenomenal job of playing the backcourt trap when Notre Dame attempted to move the ball up the floor, as McCarthy and fellow captain Meg Zona were able to force a combined six turnovers in the first quarter alone. Through their tight defensive play and power drives through the paint, Medfield built an 18-7 lead at the end of the first quarter of play.
After Medfield extended their lead to 20-7 at the beginning of the second quarter, the Rebels went on a small run to cut the deficit to 20-11. However, all that that miniature run by Notre Dame did was add motivational fuel to the fire that was Lauren Casieri, as the senior captain converted back-to-back three-point-plays in a span of about seven seconds midway through the second quarter to extend Medfield’s lead to 26-13. Following the power layups and and-ones by Casieri, the lady-Warriors converted another layup by McCarthy with about 50 seconds to play in the half and took a 15-point lead into the locker room at 28-13.
Following the break, Medfield continued to pepper the Notre Dame backcourt with pressure and caused an abundance of turnovers. The lady-Warriors converted these turnovers by NDA into points on fast breaks by McCarthy and Casieri, and built a 14-point lead heading into the final quarter of play at 42-28.
The lady-Warriors put the game away midway through the fourth quarter when they went ahead by 16 at 50-32, and ended up outscoring Notre Dame 17-10 in the final frame to prevail by a final score of 59-38.
At the time of print, the Medfield girls will travel to Worcester State College on Wednesday to play in their semifinal contest against Wayland.
