LOWELL — For all the marbles — and then some.
Top-ranked Medfield and No. 3 St. Mary’s weren’t just battling for the Div. 2 state championship Friday night. The Warriors were seeking a three-peat; Spartans a fourth in five years.
As if more theatrics were needed inside of Lowell’s Tsongas Center, Medfield’s perfect season was on the line at 23-0 before tip-off.
Four quarters later, Medfield cemented its dynasty with a 72-38 win against the Spartans (23-4). It’s the first three-peat in Div. 2 girls history.
“Winning one is special; winning three in a row is pretty unbelievable. I never imagined this could happen,” said Medfield’s Mark Nickerson, the program’s varsity coach for 22 years. “This is the best team I’ve ever coached.”
Medfield buried a dozen 3-pointers, putting a bow on a season in which the Warriors won every game by double digits. Abby Broderick led all scorers with 25 points, while Naya Annigeri and Tess Baacke each netted 17.
St. Mary’s, a young team with just three seniors, defeated No. 30 Burlington, No. 14 Archbishop Williams, No. 6 Walpole, and No. 2 Whitman-Hanson through its tournament run.
“I knew from day one that they (Warriors) were the team to beat and I wasn’t sure anyone was going to beat them. I guess I was right on Dec. 1,” said St. Mary’s coach Jeff Newhall, also the school’s athletic director. “That’s one of the best high school teams I’ve ever seen.”
Friday came with a shaky start for St. Mary’s. Catholic Central League All-Star Sysy Emmanuel picked up her second foul less than two minutes into the action. Despite layups from Janae Holmes (10 points) and Sky Watson (7), Medfield used a 7-0 run to lead 10-4 after the opening quarter.
During the second quarter, Medfield created havoc with its suffocating press defense, resulting in Spartan turnovers and transition points.
“We talked about it at halftime, how great we were playing defensively and the fact that our offense hadn’t even started to click yet,” Nickerson said. “We turn people over and we create havoc. … We were jumping passes and getting good traps.”
Active around the paint on both ends, St. Mary’s Charleigh Green (6 points) came alive with back-to-back baskets during the second quarter, but Medfield netted 20 second-quarter points to lead 30-16.
A foul-heavy third quarter saw Emmanuel (6 points) beat the shot clock with a contested fadeaway jumper. Meanwhile, Medfield’s student section had plenty to cheer about as the Warriors heated up from distance to lead 46-29 after three.
“They’ve done this to everybody all year,” Newhall said. “They have no weaknesses, they move the ball, it’s hard to trap them, and I think they were 9-of-11 shooting threes in the second half.”
A 7-2 Medfield run to begin the fourth quarter felt like a dagger as Newhall called a timeout. St. Mary’s McKenna O’Connell (5 points) caught eyes with a chasedown block in the final seconds, but the fourth quarter was all Medfield, which added another 26 points to its total.
“I still think we have one of the best programs in the state — top two or three anyway,” Newhall said. “I told them you learn two things: You learn from the seniors who are leaving on how hard to play the game; and you learn from the other team on how to play the game on this stage.”
Holmes (10 points) was active defensively for St. Mary’s and led the Spartans in scoring.
“She’s been great and was arguably our best player the last two games,” Newhall said. “She has been and will continue to be.”
