MARBLEHEAD — Just remember: It’s not over until it’s over.
Swampscott and Marblehead faced off in girls basketball action Wednesday evening with the Big Blue leaving enemy territory with a 48-46 overtime win.
Toward the end of the second quarter, Swampscott went on a 10-0 run behind back-to-back threes from Anna Kanders (14 points) and Olivia Quagrello (8) to take a 24-13 lead into halftime.
That said, in the second half, the Magicians rallied behind Ramona Gillett (11 points) and a 14-point deficit turned into a tied ballgame.
“Ramona played unbelievable,” said Marblehead Coach Paul Moran.
Trailing by two points in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter, Swampscott grabbed a rebound before Gillett stole it right back and scored a game-tying layup (39-39) with 32.8 seconds remaining.
The Magicians had a chance to win the game with 3.2 seconds to go, but a Hailey Schmitt shot just rimmed out after an offensive rebound.
In overtime, a combined 16 free throws were shot as both teams were over the limit. With Quagrello and Kanders fouling out in overtime, you could say the Big Blue needed someone to step up.
Luckily for Swampscott, sophomore Cecilia Tripp (8 points) answered the call.
Down by two points with 17 seconds left, Tripp was fouled before calmly making both free throws. Then, after the Magicians inbounded, Swampscott stole the ball and Tripp went coast to coast for a go-ahead layup with 4.1 seconds remaining.
“Just a huge play from a sophomore. She’s been reliable all season long,” said Swampscott Coach Katelyn Leonard. “She killed it and I’m so proud of her. She’s worked so hard this season and I’m just so happy for her.”
Back to the 16 free throws. Leonard knew how important that aspect of the game was and her group went 7-of-8 at the line in overtime.
“They’re huge and we’ve been stressing that all season. We’ve been up and down at the free-throw line all season,” she said. “There’s been games where we probably could have won if we hit our free throws.”
Despite losing a double-digit lead, Leonard was happy with how her team played defensively in the first half.
“In the first half, we really just tried to contain them. We didn’t want to give them anything easy on the inside,” she said. “In the second half, we let that go a little bit and we started to foul. Overall, when we needed it, we got stops.”
On the other side, and in addition to Gillett, Marblehead’s Madison Forbes (6 points) stepped up when captain Olivia Goldwater went down with an injury in the second quarter.
“Madison played phenomenal today and stepped up when we needed her to,” Moran said. “Olivia is one of our captains and best players. Unfortunately, she hurt her ankle. We have some injuries and, unfortunately, they’re starting to build up, but no excuses. Swampscott is dealing with injuries, too.”
Moran was happy with his team and praised both Swampscott and Leonard.
“I’m really proud of my team. They did a great job and worked really hard,” Moran said. “Two really good teams. They beat us and they deserved it. They made the last play and we didn’t. Katelyn does a great job, so I’m happy for them.”
