LOWELL — When Pentucket’s players were growing up, it felt like the girls varsity basketball team reached the TD Garden every year. Pentucket reached the state semifinals five times between 2007 and 2013, and ask around the team and they’ll tell you all their memories watching ex-Sachem stars like Sarah Higgins, Kelsi McNamara and the Viselli sisters take the parquet against some of the best competition Massachusetts had to offer.
Now they’ll have a chance to take the famed court themselves.
Pentucket punched its ticket to the TD Garden on Saturday, convincingly beating Wakefield 48-33 in the Division 2 North final at the Tsongas Center.
While the Sachems got off to a slow start offensively, the team’s defense was dominant from the opening tip. Once the Sachems took a seven-point lead at the end of the first quarter, there was never a point after where the result felt in doubt.
“It’s crazy!” said junior Liv Cross. “It’s so unreal, it hasn’t even hit me yet. We’re going to the Garden!”
The decisive sequence came in the second quarter. Leading 13-11 with 5:40 to play in the half, coach John McNamara called a timeout to help his team regroup after surrendering five straight points. The break helped, as Pentucket came right back with a 13-1 run of its own to finish the half up 26-12, capped off by two 3-pointers by Angelina Yacubacci.
“It took us a little while to get going, I think Angelina Yacubacci came in off the bench and gave us a huge lift offensively,” McNamara said. “You know it’s a tough place to play so we relied on our defense and that allowed us to get into a rhythm and finally hit some baskets.”
Wakefield kept within striking distance through the third quarter, going into the fourth only down 33-25, but once the fourth began Pentucket quickly put the game away. Yacubacci buried her third 3-pointer from way downtown to start the quarter, and that was effectively the dagger. Wakefield only managed two baskets the rest of the game, unable to find an answer to Pentucket’s relentless defense.
“We’re deep, too, so we can rotate and keep kids fresh, so I think we wore them down a bit,” McNamara said. “We play hard defense and the kids are committed to it so it’s fun, it’s fun to coach.”
Yacubacci led Pentucket (23-2) with 15 points, Casey Hunt added nine points and Jess Galvin and Cross each had eight. Wakefield (18-6) was led by Allee Purcell, who had 11 points.
The Sachems will face either Foxboro or Nauset in the Division 2 EMass. final/state semifinal game, which will be played at the TD Garden Tuesday at 5:45 p.m.
“This right now is so surreal,” Hunt said. “I can’t wait.”
UP NEXT: The Garden
Who: Pentucket (23-2) vs. Foxboro (23-1)
What: Division 2 state semifinals
When: Tuesday, 5:45 p.m.
Where: TD Garden
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Girls Basketball, 03/10/18 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
DANVERS — Even in the state tournament, Pentucket’s revolving door of contributors remains in swing.
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Girls Basketball, 03/08/18 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
WEST NEWBURY — If defense wins championships, Pentucket could go a long way.
Behind a massive defensive effort, the Sachems pulled away from Newburyport for a 41-25 win in the Division 2 North quarterfinals.
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Girls Basketball, 03/04/18 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Freshman Julia Howse had eight points, eight rebounds and two blocks, and Mia DeNofrio had a game-high 14 points on four 3's as North Reading beat Pentucket 46-31 in both team's final game of the regular season. Angelina Yacubacci and Arielle Cleveland had seven points, and Angelica Hurley had six for the Sachems.
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Girls Basketball, 02/21/18 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Pentucket's girls wrapped up a marvelous 20-1 regular season by defeating Arlington Catholic 39-31 in the finals of the St. Mary's Tournament. Angelina Yacubacci led the scoring with 10 points and Maddie Doyle was named tourney MVP.
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Girls Basketball, 02/19/18 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Facing one of the toughest teams on their schedule in Groton-Dunstable, the Pentucket girls basketball team lived up to the challenge with a 45-32 win in the first round of the St. Mary's Tournament. Casey Hunt scored 13 points, Jess Galvin had nine on three 3-pointers and Maddie Doyle scored eight. Pentucket (19-1) will now face state power Arlington Catholic in the finals of the St. Mary's Tournament today at 5:30 p.m.
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Girls Basketball, 02/18/18 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
After falling behind in the first quarter, Pentucket's girls clamped down on defense and defeated Newburyport 47-39. Liv Cross led the Sachems (17-1) with 17 points.
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Girls Basketball, 02/09/18 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Pentucket continues to throttle everyone in its path, this time holding Ipswich to 21 points in a 60-21 win on Tuesday. Jess Galvin led the Sachems with 15 points in a balanced team offensive effort. The team is now 16-1 on the season.
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Girls Basketball, 02/07/18 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Defense was once again the key for the Pentucket girls, who improved to 15-1 with a 53-29 victory over Notre Dame of Hingham. Angelica Hurley led a balanced attack with 10 points.
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Girls Basketball, 02/03/18 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Pentucket girls basketball has been a meat grinder all season, but Friday was something else entirely. Facing a good North Reading team that came in 9-3, the Sachems jumped out to a big lead and smothered the Hornet offense entirely. Pentucket led 18-3 after the first quarter, 27-7 at halftime and then 50-14 at the end of the third quarter before letting up in the fourth for a 56-29 final. Maddie Doyle led Pentucket with 12 points on four 3-pointers and Liv Cross added 11 points.
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Girls Basketball, 01/26/18 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
