Day of farewells for English, Hogan

BOSTON – In the never-ending debate over whether height cancels out athleticism and quickness, height won Monday night at the TD Garden.When you can trot out 6-2, 6-0 and 5-11 girls, that?s a definite advantage. That?s what Braintree threw at English in their Division 1 state semifinal game, which the Wamps won, 59-41.?They made it really, really difficult,” said coach Fred Hogan afterward. “Hats off to them.”Braintree, consistently checking in as the state?s No. 1 ranked team all season, showed why as it dominated an English team that — until Monday — had gone undefeated.Central to Braintree?s attack were the Herlihy sisters — 6-0 Bridget and 5-11 Brianna. They were unstoppable, scoring 35 of Braintree?s 59 points. Molly Reagan, at 6-2, scored 12 more.?They?re unbelievable,” said Hogan, who announced after the game that he was stepping down after nine years as coach. “We thought we could do some things against them, but they were just too good. They were No. 1 all year, and we were No. 2.”That front court went to town from the get-go, jumping out to a 19-6 lead, with the three trees scoring 17 of the 19 (the 5-6 Maura Russell had the other hoop).That took the teams into the early moments of the second quarter, when Hogan decided to use a 2-3 zone to slow the Wamps down.It worked. But it also took a lot out of the Bulldogs, who were already up against three giants in the Wamp front court.English?s own Big Three — Catherine Stinson, Deidra Newson and Diondra Woumn — ran off 14 straight points as the Bulldogs — for the moment — stopped trying to shoot from the perimeter and charged to the hoop.?I thought we settled for the three-ball a little too much,” Hogan said. “We tried to tell the kids not to take so many outside shots and to go the basket, but it didn?t work out.Stinson drew a foul and made both free throws. After a couple of drives by Newson and Woumn, the Bulldogs ended the run with two threes (one each by Newson and Woumn). They actually took the lead two times before Braintree closed out the quarter on top and went into the locker room up 25-23.?We expended a lot of energy doing that,” said Hogan, “and I could see at halftime that we were tired.”?We go through stretches where sometimes I think we?re a little too flashy,” said Braintree coach Kristen McDonnell. “I think there was a little of that.?But we knew it took a lot out of them,” she said, “and they only go one or two deep off the bench where we have a deep bench. So we went right at them in the third.”The Herlihy sisters were a terror in the third quarter as, between the two of them, they scored Braintree?s next 12 points — all of them on moves inside the key. The only English baskets during that stretch came from Woumn and Devinya Robinson. Once Braintree got its lead back up to double digits, that?s pretty much where it stayed. By the end of the third quarter, it was 46-33.