Swampscott girls survive a battle at Bedford

BEDFORD – Well, this one was certainly a lot tougher than the scorebook might indicate.The Swampscott High girls basketball team won its Division 3 North first-round game against Bedford, 55-43, but it was a three-point game heading into the final quarter and a mere two-point spread in the Big Blue’s favor with under 3:30 left in the game.”It was a struggle, a real struggle,” Swampscott coach Jack Hughes said. “We knew they would be scrappy.”Swampscott (12-9) goes from the frying pan to the fire on Friday when it plays Pentucket, the No. 1 seed at 22-0, in the quarterfinals at Amesbury. The time is to be announced.Both teams had a tough time getting going with cold shooting, tough defense on the part of the other team and a boatload of turnovers plaguing both most of the first half.”We just weren’t executing (in the first half),” Hughes said. “How many times did we turn the ball over? We looked so tight.”Senior Kara Gilberg apparently decided early on she wasn’t ready to pack up and go home. Although she didn’t enjoy much success in the early going, Gilbert kept driving to the hoop and her tenacity paid off. She spent the night at the free-throw line, hitting 11 on the way to a game-high 19 points.”Thirty-two (Gilberg) decided the game,” Bedford coach John Cody said. “She was just bowling for dollars down the middle and we would stick an arm out and foul her.”The Buccaneers did have a weapon of their own in senior Jamie McConnell, who led her team with 17 points. Whenever Swampscott threatened to pull away, McConnell seemed to come up with a big bucket to keep things close. She hit three threes in the third quarter with the first tying the game at 21 and the second knotting the score at 27. Her third came with nine seconds left and the Big Blue up by six.When Gilberg wasn’t killing the Bucs at the free-throw line or scoring in the paint, she was dishing off to freshman teammates Ara Talkov (14 points) and Caroline Murphy (7 points). Senior Tara Gallagher also had a nice game for the Big Blue with seven points. Swampscott more than doubled its point production in the second half, scoring 37 points.Cody said his team has struggled all season manufacturing offense. McConnell has pretty much been the team’s lone three-point threat, accounting for all but four from behind the line.This was the seventh year in a row the Buccaneers have qualified for the tournament. Last year they upset Ipswich before bowing out. They finish the season 12-9.