English girls clinch D1 North title

LOWELL – As it has so many times in its championship-studded history, Central Catholic was in the middle of another stirring comeback.The Raiders had been taken apart by Lynn English in the first half, trailing by as many as 14 points (and this happened despite the fact English didn?t score its first points until there were 3:52 left in the opening quarter).Now it was the fourth quarter and the Raiders were not only knocking at the door, they were getting set to barge in and take the dinner off the table.Something went off in senior guard (and Franklin Pierce-bound) Diondra Woumn?s head.?I just thought,” she said, “that there was no way we were going to lose this game. No way. I can honestly say we willed ourselves to victory.”That the Bulldogs did. They changed up on defense, playing fierce man-to-man to stop the Raiders? three-point shooters from getting open looks (they?d hit nine of them over the course of the game). That produced three straight Central turnovers and a bevy of foul shots. The Bulldogs sunk their freebies, with Deidra Newson collecting the final two crucial foul shots, and beat the defending state champion Raiders, 52-49, to win the Division 1 North sectional crown and proceed to the TD Garden today (5:45) to face south champion Braintree.?Mental toughness, man,” said coach Fred Hogan. “That was the key. We wanted to win this so bad.?Defense wins championships,” Hogan said. “That?s what we?ve been telling them. This is a special moment. I think four of the last five champions have come from the Merrimack Valley Conference, so to beat Central … this is a special moment.”It looked as if English would run Central off the court. After spotting the Raiders a 5-0 lead, the Bulldogs came back and scored the next 14 to close out the first quarter. Everything continued to work for the Bulldogs until they hit their high-water mark, a 29-15 lead late in the half. A three by Alexandra Nagri of Central in the closing seconds might have provided a boost, because the Raiders came out in the third quarter a different team. Courtney Walsh (14 points) and Nagri (11) hit two threes each while the Bulldogs had trouble solving the full-court trap Raiders coach Sue Downer put up.As a result, Central trailed only by two, 40-38, as the third quarter closed.Both teams appeared to be exhausted in the fourth from all that running around, trapping and playing full-court zone. And that went double for English senior point guard Catherine Stinson, who played brilliantly en route to a 22-point game.With less than six minutes to go, Central finally reclaimed the lead it had had early in the game, 43-42, on a basket by Amanda Williams (14 points). But Stinson got it right back with a basket of her own at 5:59.Back and forth it went. First Nagri … then two Stinson free throws … and then, with 4:06 left, Caitlin Dell?Orfino dropped a three-pointer that a) gave the Raiders a two-point lead; and b) forced Hogan to go to a man defense.?I just didn?t want them to get any more threes,” he said.The Bulldogs were so tenacious that Central couldn?t penetrate. English didn?t fare much better, as the ?Dogs went almost a minute and a half without a hoop until Woumn (11 points) hit with 3:08 left to tie the game.Central turned the ball over three times during the stretch, with one of them resulting in a Stinson free throw that gave English a 49-48 lead with 50 seconds to go. Stinson, coming off another Central turnover, hit another one to make it a two-point lead with 25 seconds to go. Central had a chance to tie the game, but Dell?Orfino could only hit one of two, and when Newson connected on both her free throws with 11.5 seconds to go, the Bulldogs had the win.?They came up with the stops when they had to,” said Downer. “We didn?t take care of the ball down the stretch. It?s a tough way for our seniors to go out.”Also having huge games for English were Newson and Makayla Everette (8 points each and solid play on the boards).?And now,” said Hoga