By Paul Vozzella
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
An upset was on the horizon in a tightly contested matchup between Needham and Braintree. Ultimately, the Rockets’ efforts were not enough to prevail as their season came to an end with a 52-47 loss in the Round of 16.
Braintree is no stranger to Needham. The Bay State Conference foes played each other twice in the regular season with the Wamps came out on top both times but only by a combined six points.
“We know Braintree so well at this point because we've played them so much,” said head coach Hannah Carroll. “It comes down to a couple of those little possessions, those little turnovers or the rebounds that they're getting back.”
Carroll called multiple timeouts in the fourth quarter to halt Braintree’s momentum and create some of her team’s own. At 5:33, the first one was a success. Junior Hannah Levine cut to the basket and finished the play after a crafty bounce pass from junior Eva Andrews.
The second inbound play, following a timeout at 3:40, was missed along with two crucial free throws later on in the fourth period to diminish hopes of a win.
At its best, however, Needham showed tremendous signs of life after beginning the second half on an 11-3 run to bring the game within two possessions. The quick start was sparked with a basket from senior Callie McCarthy and finished off with a deep three-pointer from senior Noa Brown, forcing Braintree to call a timeout.
“[We] came out and got three, maybe even a fourth [defensive stop] in there, and that totally changed things around,” said Carroll. “Once you get those stops on defense, even if you don't get a point on the offensive side, you're still [keeping the other team from] scoring, so it's helping you in that sense. We can still score
and… started to execute on [Braintree] a little bit better.”The Rockets also came out of the first quarter with a good start, trading baskets and forced turnovers with Braintree. The turnovers from Needham were much in due to the pressure caused by its press defense. On the offensive end, the Rockets were able to penetrate the paint and come away with multiple easy layups to trail 13-10 by the end of the frame. The second quarter saw Braintree creep away with the lead, setting up the great run at the beginning of the second half.
McCarthy finished the game as the leading scorer for the Rockets with 14 points. She headlines a group of three seniors including Brown and Ella Sidhom.
“They have been the backbone since I've started here,” said Carroll. “When I came on, they were sophomores and they were on varsity. They have been the core of the group for sure. They've seen the good, they've seen the bad, they've seen all the in betweens.”
Carroll returns ten players for next year and mentioned building on the underclassmen’s experience as the key to a better regular season and deeper playoff run.
