English girls hoop stays perfect, tops Masco

LYNN – Something had to give, and it was obvious from the overflow crowd that tried to jam into the Conigliaro Gym at St. Mary?s.It was No. 3 English vs. No. 7 Masconomet. Two teams with an aggregate record of 39-0 were about to meet in the Division 1 final of the Spartan Classic … and one team was going to go home with a blemish on its record while the other was going to stay undefeated and get the inside track on the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Division 1 North tournament.Advantage, English.The Bulldogs clawed their way to a 59-49 victory to win the championship and move to 21-0. Only Arlington Catholic Thursday stands in the way of a perfect season for the Bulldogs, and it would be the first time any English girls team has played 22 games and won them all. Further, coach Fred Hogan elected to count every one of those 22 games toward the tournament record.?This game really set the tone for us as we head into the tournament,” said Hogan, whose Bulldogs beat No. 6 Newton North and No. 7 Masco on successive nights to win their division of the Classic for the third straight year.?To play a team so good as this late in the season and get a win is huge,” he said. “We?ve had so many blowouts this season so we didn?t worry about giving up points, but worked to make sure we could come out on top in a close game.”Tournament MVP Diondra Woumn had another big game for the Bulldogs as she contributed a game-high 14 points. Sam Holey was also a vital part of the Bulldogs as she added 10 points, including four in the fourth quarter.English jumped out early and took the lead after the first quarter but the Dogs relinquished that lead as they trailed 31-25 going into halftime. However, they came out on fire in the second half as they were able to outscore the Chieftains 18-10 in the third quarter and then ended the game on a 10-0 run.Catherine Stinson joined Woumn on the all-tournament team while Meghan Collins garnished the honor for Masco.?(Masconomet is) certainly as good as advertised,” Hogan said. “They played their hearts out tonight in what was an incredible game. Masco is definitely a team we want to be familiar with once the tournament comes around even though they will be on the other side of the bracket.”It pleased Hogan that his bench came up big two nights in a row, because it gives him some much-needed depth heading into the tournament.?Our bench has come up huge for us, while our core group has locked down on both ends,” he said. “I have no problem saying we have one of the best defenses in the state.”Best of all, Hogan said, “we haven?t let the streak (21 straight wins) mess with our heads at all. Our team has felt disrespected by all the talk that we play in a weak conference. We just continue to play well and now have victories over some very good teams. We?re proud of the conference we play in.”