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Memories from another Garden trip

Thursday, March, 13 By John Shimer
Staff writer

Many studies show that it is important for younger athletes to play more than one sport. That diversity allows athletes to build different muscles throughout the course of the year. Additionally athletes who play more than one sport are generally less likely to get burned out than athletes who only play one.

One such multitalented athlete | Erin McNamara | can attest to the results of playing more than one sport. The sophomore point guard competed in cross country last fall along with teammate Kirsten Daamen.

Clearly running in the fall helped with her endurance and the All-Cape Ann League player only got stronger as the season went on, especially when it came to tournament time.

In the state tournament, Pentucket faced a murderer's-row of all-star point guards in succession. First came Newburyport's Taylor Hickman, next Swampscott's Allie Beaulieu, then Winthrop's Courtney Finn, and lastly and perhaps the best of them all | Archbishop Williams' Christine Duffy.

Each game presented a different challenge. McNamara saw virtually every style of defense from in-your-face pressure to a more relaxed half-court set. She matched up with some of the top scorers. She did not miss a minute of tournament action except in the waning minutes of their first game against Newburyport.

"She's pretty durable for a smaller kid," said her coach and father John after the Swampscott game. "She runs cross country, so maybe it comes from that. It certainly doesn't come from me."

Erin confirmed her father's presumptions, saying she felt in top form before her sophomore campaign.

"Cross country definitely helped," she said. "I could tell I was in a lot better shape this year coming into the season. In practice everyone pushes each other really hard, and I think that's why I am able to play a full game."

And now with the explosive Ashley Viselli rejoining McNamara on the cross country team next fall (Viselli participated her freshman year in cross country but missed last fall with an ankle injury), that only speaks for more trouble for the Sachems opponents next winter.

Big Three really Big Four

Although Andi Attenasio did not score at the Garden on Tuesday evening, it did not take away from the outstanding accomplishments she had in her junior season. For the year Attenasio averaged nearly 10 points per game and nearly six rebounds.

Attenasio was part of the 200-point club for the Sachems this year that included Daamen, Viselli and McNamara. Even more remarkable is the fact that those four were only separated by some 35 total points in the regular season.

Mentioning Pentucket's fearsome threesome (McNamara, Daamen, Viselli) without including Attenasio would almost be an injustice.

Bests and worsts from the Garden

Best matchup: Too obvious, or should I say two obvious? While Daamen (16 points, 17 rebounds, 7 blocks)  and Val Driscoll (14 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks) stole the show, McNamara and Duffy put on a clinic from the point guard position.

McNamara was clutch from 3-point land, tallying four while providing seven assists. Duffy, who only scored 12 points, was superb and never seemed fazed by anything Pentucket could throw at her. She controlled the game from minute one and consistently found the right Archie, totalling nine assists. She also provided the back-breaking play of the night, but more on that later.

Best shot: Trailing by seven points with the game slipping out of reach and only a few seconds to play in the third quarter, Pentucket had the ball out of bounds under the Archie hoop. Barely getting the ball in bounds before the five-second rule was called, the Sachems never seemed fully comfortable on their possession as McNamara and Viselli passed the ball back in forth in front of the Pentucket bench desperately looking for a good look. Viselli provided the heroics, though, kissing the ball off glass in the corner for an unbelievable 3-pointer at the buzzer to make the score 43-39 Archies headed to the fourth quarter.

Best run: Viselli, who scored all of her 20 points in the second half, was NBA-Jam (old video game) on fire in the third quarter and the first possession of the fourth quarter. During that stretch she scored 17 straight points for the Sachems. Before the explosive guard went bonkers, the Sachems trailed by seven. By the time she was finished, they trailed 43-41.

Best fans: Pentucket. AW's coach Jim Bancroft had to call numerous timeouts in the second half to quell the Pentucket faithful and stop the momentum that was quickly shifting to the Sachems' side.

There were more Pentucket fans, and they were louder than the sizable Archie section.

Best played quarter: The Dominator earned that distinction with her ridiculous stat line of nine points, nine rebounds, and three blocks as she nearly single-handedly pulled the Sachems back from an early 10-2 deficit to only trail 15-12 at the end of the first quarter.

Worst injury: Unfortunately Daamen's muscle cramp could not have come at a worse time for the Sachems. Trailing by eight points with 1:54 to play in the game, Viselli landed on Daamen's calf, which sent her to the sidelines in obvious pain. Although the Sachems made a valiant effort, they could not get a couple of crucial rebounds in her absence.

Best/worst and most back-breaking play: That honor goes to AW's Duffy. After Pentucket took its first lead of the game in the fourth quarter, AW quickly reeled off a 12-1 run to take a 10-point lead, which was highlighted by Duffy's circus layup.

Shooting a scoop shot in which the ball was no more than a foot off the ground, Duffy was able to avoid Daamen's outstretched arms. It was a momentum-swinging play to put the Archies up 51-47, and AW never looked back.