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Lismari Valdez had 16 kills and six serving aces as Haverhill defeated Lee in volleyball 3-1 to improve to 12-5.

WORCESTER — The similarities were uncanny.
At least at the start.
On the road to the Division 3 state championship game, both Eastern Mass. champion Pentucket and Western Mass. titlist Lee depended on athleticism, using the entire court and defending baseline to baseline — making every possession a 30-second battle.
But yesterday morning at DCU Center, the Sachems couldn’t spread the floor, couldn’t get cutters enough open space, and, save for a short stretch of the second quarter, couldn’t make enough baskets.
It added up to a 56-42 Lee win as the Wildcats (24-1), who are arguably the most dominant program in the state, earned their seventh state title since the modern state title format was adopted in 1975.
Despite seeing center Julia Warner sent to the bench in the first half with four fouls, Lee started winning the little battles. The press break came a little easier, point guard Tara Dooley made Pentucket stagnate offensively, and junior Alex Young (career game with 20 points, 19 rebounds) was the best rebounding guard the Sachems have seen this season or probably any season.
The Wildcats shook off a second-quarter, six-point deficit and scrapped their way a 56-42 victory that brought the Sachems’ ice-breaking run out of the TD Garden to a disappointing end.
“We knew we had to play well to win,” said Pentucket head coach John McNamara, “but we didn’t shoot well (12 for 66 overall, 4 for 26 from 3-point range), we didn’t shoot free throws well (14 for 24 compared to Lee’s 23 for 29) and we didn’t box out well.”
Young grabbed 12 of her 19 rebounds in the second half, six from the offensive glass. She also scored 11 of her game-high 20 points during this stretch and took any shot at precious momentum away from the Sachems (26-1).
“We worked on that all year,” Lee head coach Gary Wellington said. “We look to find an open zone and have a girl step through it. We wanted to stay active away from the ball and that helped (yesterday).”
Both teams suffered through massive bouts of nervousness to start, suffering a combined 21 first-quarter turnovers while Lee had already committed seven fouls.
Surviving the tough start, Pentucket pulled itself together behind point guard Erin McNamara as the senior banked in a nifty left-handed layup, sank two free throws, then kicked the ball to Sarah Higgins (eight points) and Ashley Viselli (team-high 19 points with 16 rebounds) for 3-pointers off clean looks. In three minutes, the locals went from down four to six up, 27-21, bringing over 1,000 green-clad fans to their feet. Pentucket finished with a 28-24 edge at the break.
“At halftime, I thought we were doing OK,” said the Sachem coach. “We were winning even though we played poorly. But they’re a good team and you’ve got to play well against good teams.”
It all changed in the second half. After a third quarter slugfest dominated by Viselli and Young featuring five lead changes, Lee started taking advantage of its opportunities.
The Wildcats hit 15 of 19 free throws over the final nine minutes while holding Pentucket to 2-for-20 shooting in the fourth. When leading scorer McNamara, who was held to four points, went to the bench with 50 seconds left with five fouls, the Wildcats’ hard battle was won.
“We’ve played team defense that way all year,” Wellington concluded. “We’ve boxed out, got second shots ... Pentucket played great defense but our kids wanted it more.”
“We never got into a flow,” Coach McNamara concluded. “We missed some shots early, and if we knocked them down like we did in the second quarter, it could have changed things a bit.
“But give all the credit to Lee for playing that style. We kind of figured they would, and we’ve seen teams do that to us, but we responded better then than we did (yesterday).”


Lee 56, Pentucket 42
Division 3 state final
at DCU Center, Worcester
Lee (56): Alex Young 7 6-7 20, Katie Eckert 3 6-9 15, Tara Dooley 3 3-5 9, Stephanie Young 2 4-4 8, Julia Warner 0 4-4 4, Casey Gaul 0 0-0 0, Megan Gaul 0 0-0 0, Eileen Dooley 0 0-0 0, Camryn Biasin 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 23-29 56
Pentucket (42): Ashley Viselli 6 5-6 19, Sarah Higgins 3 1-2 8, Coley Viselli 1 2-2 5, Erin McNamara 1 2-3 4, Holly Jakobsons 0 4-4 4, Tess Nogueira 1 0-3 2, Emily Lane 0 0-0 0, Vanessa Cahill 0 0-4 0, Lauren Iola 0 0-0 0, Alyssa Nogueira 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 14-24 42
3-pointers: L — Eckert 3; P — A. Viselli 2, C. Viselli, Higgins
Pentucket (26-1):    10 18  8  6 — 42
Lee (24-1):    13 11 15 17 — 56