WINTHROP — It was a tight game for the first two quarters, but the Lynnfield girls basketball team had a big third quarter and eventually rode that all the way to a 48-35 win over Winthrop to close out the season with a victory. The Pioneers got better throughout the game, scoring more points each quarter than in the previous quarter.
“We’ve been starting off slow recently, which is strange since we usually start pretty fast,” said Lynnfield coach Peter Bocchino, this year’s Cape Ann League Kinney Division Coach of the Year. “But I think they’re just a little overhyped with the tournament coming up. We were able to stabilize ourselves and play well for stretches tonight, and it was enough to get us the win.”
Tori Morelli had a big game for Lynnfield in the win, notching a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Grace Klonsky was right behind with 12 points and nine rebounds, while CAL All-League honoree Catherine MacDonald had 10 points and eight rebounds. Melissa Morelli added six points and seven rebounds, while Caroline Waisnor had four points and three rebounds. Both Morellis were selected to the CAL Second Team All-Star team.
For Winthrop, Maura Dorr led the way with 18 points and six rebounds. Lily Pulsifer added six points and two rebounds, Grace Galuris had five points and two rebounds and Emma Turner had four points and four rebounds. With the loss, the Vikings were officially eliminated from tournament contention.
“I think we came out pretty flat, even though we knew we had to come out strong in this one,” said Winthrop coach Rick Pulsifer. “But that’s basketball sometimes, you don’t always have it. I was proud of how we fought all the way until the end and never gave up, but we just came up a little bit short.”
It was a slow start to the game for both teams due to a combination of good defense and poor ball security on both sides. The two teams struggled to find the bottom of the net, and Lynnfield held a slim 6-4 lead after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, shots started falling. For the Pioneers, Klonsky started making a number of plays defensively and hit a few shots to help Lynnfield pull ahead by as many as five points. But Winthrop fought right back behind Dorr, who scored 13 of her 18 points in the first half and brought the Vikings back to a 15-15 tie. After Melissa Morelli hit two free throws at the buzzer, Lynnfield took a 17-15 lead into halftime.
The third quarter is where the Pioneers took over the game. Behind the strong play of Klonsky, MacDonald and Tori Morelli, Lynnfield extended its lead to as much as 11 points in the frame. The defense held strong as well, with the Pioneers outscoring Winthrop 13-6. The Vikings slowed the rally as the quarter came to an end, but Lynnfield still held a 30-21 lead after three quarters.
The Pioneers went on to extend their lead to as much as 18 points in the fourth quarter, locking down on defense and winning the rebounding battle. Once again Winthrop went on a rally to end the quarter, but it wasn’t enough as Lynnfield coasted to a victory.
While Winthrop (8-11) is now mathematically eliminated from the state tournament, there’s still one game left on its schedule. The Vikings will try to close out the year on a high note when they take on Austin Prep Thursday.
“We still want to keep our heads up and finish off the season with a win,” Pulsifer said. “We obviously wanted to make the tournament, but now all we can do is practice hard (Wednesday) and have a strong showing against Austin Prep.”
As for Lynnfield (12-8), the regular season is over and the tournament lies ahead. The seedings will be announced this weekend (Bocchino expects Lynnfield to be a No. 5 or No. 6-seed) and the Pioneers will play their tournament opener sometime early next week.
“It’s school vacation week, so unfortunately we lose a couple of days of practice,” said Bocchino. “But we’ll get back to work Sunday night and practice hard for a couple of days to prepare ourselves for a tournament run.”
