MARBLEHEAD — Not a good night for us.
That’s how Marblehead girls basketball coach Paul Moran summed up his team’s 45-30 loss Monday night to visiting No. 7 seed North Reading in the quarterfinals of the Division 2 North tournament.
Both teams started off slowly and struggled to find any offense. Tied 16-16 at the half, the game was still up for grabs with Marblehead, the No. 2 seed, trailing by eight, 32-24, with one quarter to go. But the Hornets ran away in the fourth quarter, going on a 13-0 run over the first five minutes to lead 45-24 and seal the Magicians’ fate.
“They deserved it but we had a poor coaching plan,” said Marblehead coach Paul Moran. “The kids played great, I just have to do a better job on the coaching end.
We got out-hustled, out-coached, all that. If you are going to advance, you’ve got to do a better job and they deserved it.”
Marblehead sophomore Emily Clough led all scorers with 12 points and also hauled down six rebounds, while junior Leila Walton was also in double figures with 10 points.
Ali Grasso and Sarah Gerber led the Hornets with 11 points each.
North Reading led 10-6 after one and opened up a five point lead, 14-9 after a jumper by Lauren Sullivan midway through the second quarter.
The Magicians fought back and went on a 7-2 run the rest of the way, the big hoops coming from Walton, sophomore Annika Haley (a three-pointer off the glass) and a backdoor layup by Haley off a pretty feed from Walton.
The Hornets heated up in the third quarter, outscoring Marblehead 16-8 to lead by eight, 32-24, with eight minutes left in the game. All eight Marblehead points were scored by Clough.
“If she (Clough) gets the ball, it’s an automatic two, and you saw that every time she touched the ball in that quarter she scored,” said Hornets’ coach Bob Romeo.
That was as good as it got for Marblehead, as North Reading kept its foot on the gas in the final quarter to push the lead into double digits to eliminate any hopes Marblehead may have had of a fourth-quarter comeback.
Walton softened the blow with three consecutive baskets over the final one-and-a-half minutes, but it was too little, too late.
The game marked the end of the high school careers of Marblehead seniors Simone Rinaldi, Camille Comstock and Magdelynne Lowy.
“The seniors did a great job all year long, it’s just I had to come up with a better game plan than this,” said Moran. “This was a terrible game plan and I don’t blame the kids, I put this one on myself. I got embarrassed out there by a much better coach in Bob Romeo and I have to do a better job. They just beat us.
Haley finished with five points and two rebounds, while Emma Cianchi scored two points and had four rebounds. Lowy finished with one point.
Marblehead, which had a first-round bye, finished the season 17-4.
North Reading (13-8) moves on to the semifinals and will play No. 6 Newburyport Wednesday at St. John’s Prep (7).
“We got a girl there just as good, just as big (as Clough) against Newburyport so we know what’s coming,” Romeo said.
Moran said he will take some time to process the loss.
“I think we need to let a couple of days go by and find ways to get these kids playing more, but I have no complaints with the kids, they played great all year,” said Moran. “It was a good night for them (North Reading), not a good night for us.”
