READING — The No. 41 Magicians came into enemy territory Monday and had a 7-5 lead after the first quarter against No. 24 Reading Memorial at the Walter Hawkes Field House in the preliminary round of the Division 2 tournament.
Unfortunately, that was as good as it got for the visitors, who fell to the Rockets 39-20.
Junior forward Tessa Andriano (4 rebounds) led the Magicians with 12 points. For Reading, Molly Trahan scored a game-high 15 points and Charlotte Robichaud scored nine.
Simply put, Marblehead just could not buy a basket in this one, while Reading found its touch at both ends of the court, outscoring the Magicians 34-13 in the final three quarters to advance to a round one game at No. 9 Northampton Friday at 7 p.m.
“I have no complaints,” Magicians’ Coach Paul Moran said. “We were a little undermanned due to injuries, but the kids worked hard and I thought all the kids played great. We just were a little overmatched.”
Reading Coach Kara Melillo complimented the Marblehead team for playing “tough.
“They came in ready to go,” she said. “Our shots weren’t falling early and we talked about that at halftime, and they picked up the energy and moved the ball a little bit better in the second half so I was happy with the way they turned it on when they needed to, but there are a lot of things we need to clean up.”
Marblehead came into the game riding a four-game winning streak, matching its longest streak of the season. Down 2-0, the Magicians rattled off seven straight points in the first three minutes to open up a 7-2 lead on a pair of free throws from Tessa Andriano followed by an Andriano 4-pointer and Madison Forbes steal and bucket.
Unfortunately, the Magicians went stone cold and scoreless the rest of the half, which ended with the Rockets on top, 15-7.
Marblehead opened the third with a 7-4 run in the first two minutes to get the deficit down to six, 20-14, and still was within striking distance going into the fourth quarter trailing by only nine, 25-16.
But Reading ramped up defensively in the fourth quarter and also found its shooting touch, going on a 13-2 tear in the first six minutes to open up its largest lead of the game, 38-18. The Magicians’ Nora Mahan temporarily stopped the bleeding with a bucket with about a minute left, but it was too little too late.
Moran gave a shoutout to seniors Madison Forbes (2 points, 11 rebounds, steal) and Ramona Gillett (9 rebounds) and freshman Lucy McDonald (3 rebounds), who came in off the bench with some energy.
“Lucy has been doing that all year for us,” Moran said. “She’s such a great athlete and I think the future for her is going to be good.
“Ramona played so hard tonight and all year and Madison just couldn’t get the ball to fall. She rebounded and put herself in a position to succeed but sometimes the ball just doesn’t fall in for you. She clogs up every stat sheet and is just so good and this isn’t even her best sport. She’s going to Skidmore to play lacrosse. She does it all,” Moran added.
Moran also had high praise for Olivia Goldwater, who left the game with an injury.
“She tried to play but couldn’t yet was cheering her teammates on from the bench,” Moran said. “I’m just so proud of her. Just the fact that she came and got taped and tried to go is something I’ll never forget. That goes a long way with me.”
Marblehead finished the season 14-8. Despite the loss, Moran was optimistic about the season.
“This team was fun to coach. We were 9-4 in the conference and clearly, Tessa is one of the best players in the conference. She carried us all year and little by little everyone filled in their roles,” Moran said. “Again, I have no complaints. This is a team of hard workers.”
