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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

BOSTON — “You can’t stop her! You can’t stop her!”

The Pentucket student section chanted this after senior Erin McNamara snuck past a pair of Archbishop Williams defenders and scored a lay-up with 26 seconds left in the first half of the Division 3 state semifinal contest yesterday at the TD Garden.

BOSTON — Erin McNamara hopes that the third time is the charm for Pentucket. Yesterday, the senior guard led the way with 21 points as the Sachems advanced to their Eastern Mass. final in four years, disposing of Bishop Fenwick 58-47 in the Division 3 North final at Emmanuel College. The Sachems advance to Tuesday’s state semifinal game at the TD Garden (4:15 p.m.) against Archbishop Williams, the team that beat Pentucket in the 2007 and 2008 EMass. title games. “We hope it will be different this time around,” said McNamara, who was near perfect from beyond the arc (4 for 5). “We know that they’re a tough team. It’s great to have one last shot at them as a senior, we wouldn’t want to play anyone else.” Pentucket was fired up from the start, sometimes to a fault. The Sachems were whistled for seven traveling calls in the first quarter. “I think we were a little charged up,” said head coach John McNamara. “It’s an exciting day and a big game and we were a bit hyper. We got things calmed down, though. At the same time, you have to give credit to Bishop Fenwick because they were pressuring us which forced us to try to do too many things too quickly. “We’re an up-tempo team, but we were too hyper for a little bit.” Trailing by 8 at the half, Bishop Fenwick (16-8) cut the Pentucket lead to four heading into the fourth quarter. Then, it was McNamara’s time to take over. The senior never left the floor the entire game, knocking down a key 3-pointer midway through the final quarter to up the lead to 10. “That’s a big shot,” said John McNamara, her coach and father. “At a key point in the game that’s a key shot and it was a great job by everyone on the floor to set that play and get her the ball. Everyone did what they were supposed to, it was great.” Late in the game, after being fouled going for another three attempt, she was went to the line for three shots, knocking down all of them.  “I knew they were big shots. If I don’t make them they can come back down the floor and make it a real close game with plenty of time left,’’ said McNamara. “There is pressure, but I just told myself that I made the same shot a million times. I take so many of those shots in practice. I just imagined I was in practice.” The Sachems out-rebounded Fenwick 23-11 and nine of their 16 field goals were from 3-point range. “I don’t mind us taking threes because we can shoot,” said the coach. “I thought as the game went on, we were taking better threes in the sense that they were more quality shots. And, as the game went on, we were making more of those shots.” Fenwick tried to hit a homerun pass on multiple inbounds from under its own basket as well as a few other strategic moves to disrupt the undefeated Sachems. “We knew they could shoot,” said head coach Timothy Harrington. “We tried our best and I’m proud of our girls, but we were beaten by a very good basketball team.” Vanessa Cahill led the way with seven rebounds for the Sachems and freshman Nicole Viselli and sophomore Sarah Higgins combined for 16 points off the bench. Garden Party Yesterday’s win over Bishop Fenwick should bolster Pentucket’s confidence. In December, Fenwick lost a 62-61 squeaker to Archbishop Williams, the Sachems’ Tuesday state semifinal foe. The Archies beat Pentucket in the state semis in 2007 and 2008. They are led by 6-4 center Valerie Driscoll, who has signed with Michigan.

DANVERS — The offense was a bit spotty, but Pentucket’s defense was more than enough to dispose of St. Mary’s of Lynn last night in the Division 3 North semifinals at St. John’s Prep.

Wilmington stayed within 10 points at the break, but huge defensive efforts off the bench from sophomore Sarah Higgins (9 points) and freshman Coley Viselli (11 points) earned Pentucket a runaway 68-38 victory. Six different Sachems pitched in 11 3-pointers in the win.

Pentucket's girls basketball team clamped down on North Andover early, rushing to a 19-4 lead on its way to a 51-23 victory. Erin McNamara led the way for the Sachems (18-0) with 19 points.

In the regular season rematch against Division 2 state champion Notre Dame of Hingham, Pentucket got off to a quick start and made it last in a 65-51 victory. Erin McNamara got the Sachem offense cooking with a game-high 23 points and 9 assists, while Coley Viselli provided 10 important points off the bench.

With her eight points last night, senior Ashley Viselli set the Pentucket school record for points in a career — male or female — with 1,063 in the Sachems' 57-45 victory over St. Mary's.

Taking Ipswich's top scorer out of the picture defensively and contributing 10 important first-half points, senior Emily Lane was a key factor in Pentucket's 62-33 victory over the previously unbeaten Tigers. The Sachems travel to Boston's Emmanuel College tonight to take on a powerful St. Mary's squad.

Erin McNamara and Ashley Viselli combined for 28 points to lead 12-0 Pentucket to a 50-28 victory over Masconomet. The two seniors are having strong seasons as Viselli was averaging 18.0 points per game entering yesterday and McNamara was averaging 13.9.