NEWTON – There were many things going against the Bishop Fenwick girls basketball team Wednesday – the seeding, opposing student section, unfamiliar facility, you name it.
But when the clock hit its zeros at North Newton High, the No. 3 Crusaders were championship-bound with a 40-38 win against No. 2 Norwell – eliminating the Clippers for the second consecutive season.
“I don’t want to say I can’t believe it,” Fenwick head coach Adam DeBaggis said. “To go to a state championship is an unbelievable accomplishment.”
Fenwick, which will take on top-seeded St. Mary’s for the title, didn’t have it easy against Norwell.
Things were tied late (38-38), but Fenwick’s Tess Keenan buried a baseline jumper with 25 seconds remaining – her first points of the game.
Simply put, DeBaggis said “that’s what Tess does.”
“We kind of laughed about it,” DeBaggis said. “She gets about two points a game, and she does everything else right. It just happened to be that her two points were huge in this game.”
Norwell had its final chance, but Fenwick’s Kate McPhail had different plans, blocking a shot at midcourt as time expired.
“We literally said, ‘play really good defense and, absolutely, do not foul someone taking a crazy three,’” DeBaggis said. “Really nice play by Kate, actually. She did get all ball.”
When asked about the back-and-forth final quarter, DeBaggis said the display was the definition of mental toughness.
“I said, ‘tell your bodies to go to heck,’” DeBaggis said. “Because your body is telling you you’re tired [and] you can’t do it, but you have to do it. If you guys want to go to a state championship, you guys have to do it.”
They certainly did. Fenwick’s Cecilia Kay, whose layup – plus the foul – put her team ahead with less than two minutes remaining, led the way with 19 points.
Speaking of Kay, she had five blocks in the first quarter, and scored three field goals in one minute during the second.
“She’s got a heart the size of this basketball,” DeBaggis said. “She’s amazing.”
It was a different type of game to start. Fenwick, in its visiting black uniforms with gold trim, had one point with 3:26 remaining in the first quarter, and didn’t score its first field goal until the frame’s final minute.
The first quarter favored Norwell 6-4.
“How many missed layups did both teams have?” DeBaggis said.
But in the second, that’s when the hardwood tilted. Erica Lendall – for the second straight game – provided a spark off the bench with a three-pointer, and the 15-point second quarter proved incredibly important.
“That was all the girls,” DeBaggis said.
Fenwick’s Caitlin Boyle had seven points in total, followed by Lendall and Celia Neilson with six apiece.
Now, it’s on to the Tsongas Center where the underdog Crusaders will take on No. 1 St. Mary’s (time and date to be announced).
“There’s not much we can do about the fact that they’re extremely talented,” DeBaggis said. “All you can really do is play your best game, that’s it. That’s all we’re going to focus on.”
