For former freshman phenoms on the court, the future is now

LOWELL – Four years ago, they were freshman phenoms ? the future of their franchises, as it were.There were three of them from each school: Diondra Woumn, Catherine Stinson and Deidra Newson of English; and Brianna Rudolph, Sharell Sanders and Jennie Mucciarone from St. Mary?s.Now they?re seniors ? four of the six have scored at least 1,000 career points ? and this is their time. They are both North sectional champions in their respective divisions, and both are going to the TD Garden.English beat Central Catholic, 52-49, Saturday in Division 1 and play Braintree today (5:45 p.m.) while St. Mary?s nipped Winthrop, 47-45, in Division 3 and face Archbishop Williams Tuesday (2:15 p.m.). It comes down to the City of Lynn versus the Town of Braintree.It?s safe to say neither team would be anywhere near the Garden without their trios of stars. Rudolph and Mucciarone, as freshmen, started on the Spartans? 2011 state championship team, with Sanders coming off the bench. Back then, they had seniors Tori Faieta, Cassi Amenta and Kirsten Ferrari to shepherd them along, but they were front and center.The climb back has been painful. Two years ago, Rudolph, one of two career 1,000-point scorers on this Spartans? team (Mucciarone being the other), broke her leg during the season, and the Spartans struggled to a 12-10 finish and an early exit (quarterfinals) in the tournament.Last year, with the three of them healthy, St. Mary?s did much better, finishing at 20-2. But they were upset in the North semifinal by Watertown.Now they?re back.English?s trio of seniors also burst onto the scene with similar promise ? and suffered similar growing pains.As freshmen, the emergence of Stinson and Woumn – both of whom eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau this season – forced coach Fred Hogan into finding a permanent place for them in the rotation. But come tournament time, the Bulldogs fell by two points to Revere in the first round. A year later, it was a 56-41 drubbing at the hands of Lincoln-Sudbury in the quarterfinals.Last year was perhaps the most frustrating. English was the No. 1 seed in the North and had already rolled to a huge win over Medford when the Bulldogs hosted Andover in a Sunday afternoon quarterfinal.The Golden Warriors were – as they say – en fuego. They hit nine three-pointers in the second half to win the game and send the Bulldogs home heartbroken.This brings us to 2014. Both English and St. Mary?s were among the preseason Top Five, and both began the season as if they?d set out to prove the it. The showdown came on Dec. 28, when the two teams met in the finals of the Walter J. Boverini city basketball tournament. English ended up on top and rolled to an undefeated (25-0) season while the Spartans? only other loss was to Williams.English and Hogan are borrowing from the Rodney Dangerfield playbook. They?re playing the “no respect” card. The whispers have been persistent that the Northeastern Conference – at least in girls basketball – is weak and that English has had no serious competition to prepare for the tournament.Even if that was true in the past, it?s not true this year. Besides St. Mary?s, the Bulldogs defeated two Top 10 teams in Masconomet and Newton North late in the season. And, in their season?s finale, they defeated Division 2 North champion Arlington Catholic.The Bulldogs survived another three-point explosion Saturday night against Central Catholic. The Raiders, like Andover a year earlier, hit nine of them. But unlike last year, the Bulldogs shut Central Catholic down when it counted most ? in the final two minutes. They forced three straight Raider turnovers and withstood Central?s second half surge.While the Bulldogs are healthy, St. Mary?s has some injury concerns going into Tuesday?s game, with Rudolph and Sanders both nursing ankle injuries.But Rudolph, who turned her ankle against Charlestown in the quarterfinals, came back for the sectional semifinal last Tuesday against Bishop Fenwick and carried the Spartans