Winthrop’s Finn playing for national title

It wasn’t all that many years ago that Courtney Finn was one of the most dominant high school girls basketball players in the Northeastern Conference and beyond.Finn, who graduated Winthrop High in 2009, and was part of a great Viking basketball team coached by Peter Grimes. She finished her high school career with 1,747 career points, the most in the history of the school. She was also an all-everything softball player and a soccer player.Although she probably could have played any one of the three sports at the college level, basketball was her passion. Tonight she and the Bentley University women’s basketball team will put their 34-0 record on the line when the play West Texas A&M for the NCAA Division 2 National title at Erin Insurance Center in Erie, Pa. Game time is 7 p.m.Finn, who is working on her MBA as a graduate student at Bentley, will wrap up her career having been named All-America. A 5-9 guard, she is one of two players on the team to earn that status, the other being Lauren Battista (Oliver Ames High School). Finn averaged 15.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game this season. In a a win over Drury in the “Elite Eight” game, she scored 30 points.uFormer Lynn English ace Ben Bowden has appeared in three games for the 20-5 Vanderbilt Commodores so far this spring. The freshman lefty has pitched 4.1 innings, allowing four hits, three runs (3 earned runs). He has struck out five, walked four and has a 6.23 earned run average.uClassical High’s Kyle Gauthier has made six appearances so far this season for the University of Hartford baseball team. Gauthier has pitched 12 innings and has a 1-0 record. His ERA is 2.25. The Hawks are 11-8 overall.uJake Fay of Lynn, who attended Classical High as a freshman before transferring to Brimmer & May, wrapped up his freshman season as a member of the Fordham University men’s basketball team. Fay played in 15 games and was recently named to the Atlantic 10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll for the fall semester. Older brother Jared Fay also plays for Fordham.uThere was nowhere for run for the Bates College baseball team in the first game of a doubleheader against Salem State last weekend. Sean Buckland of Lynn/St. Mary’s was on the mound for the Vikings and managed to pick off four runners in the first four innings, setting a school record. Salem State won the game, 5-3.uThe St. Joseph’s College (Maine) is off to an 8-5 start with several local athletes occupying spots on the roster. Freshman Scott Betts of Peabody/St. Mary’s is hitting .333 with two RBI in four games played. Alex Markakis of Lynnfield is also swinging the bat well in the early going. In 12 games he’s hitting ..293 with 12 hits, including a pair of doubles. He also has seven RBI. Freshman Dan Donovan of Lynn/St. Mary’s is also playing for the Monks as his Peabody’s Joe Gruntkowski.uFormer Lynn English softball player Cara Crowley is getting the job done at the plate for the Vikings. Crowley has started all 14 games and is hitting a robust .304 with four doubles, a triple and three RBI. Freshman Jessica Raymond of Peabody is also seeing the ball well. She’s hitting .457 in 13 starts with two RBI and five runs scored.Salem State’s local contingent also includes Bobbie Dee Regan/Classical High. Regan has started 12 games and has three RBI. Former Marblehead High pitcher Sarah Hastings has a 1-1 record for the Vikings and a 3.87 earned run average.