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The Manchester Essex girls basketball team will be heading into the state tournament on a very positive note.

In their final regular season game against rival Rockport last night, the Hornets rolled to a 53-35 victory and picked up their third straight victory. The win was also the team's sixth in their last seven games. At 12-8, Manchester Essex feels good about its position as it waits for its tourney seeding.

It was Senior Night at Danvers High School. It proved to be an excellent motivator for the Falcons girls basketball team.

"I'm glad we got to have it at home," Coach Pat Veilleux said. "We had a good crowd come out for it and it really got the girls going."

Hannah Cain, Gloucester: The freshman point guard had and added 10 points and three assists in an upset victory over Swampscott.

Olivia Lufkin, Gloucester: The sophomore drained four free throws in the final 12 seconds to give the Fishermen a dramatic 53-50 victory over Swampscott. She finished the game with 12 points.

With just one game remaining in the regular season, the Manchester Essex girls basketball team is playing its best when it really matters.

The Hornets are trying to get the highest possible seed in the Division 4 North tournament which will begin in two weeks. After losing on the road to Georgetown, 56-35, in its season-opener, the Hornets exacted revenge on the Royals by taking a 60-47 win on senior night in Manchester. Centers Allison Hogan and Dani Ciccone are the only Hornet seniors and they were honored before the game.

All it takes for Olivia Lufkin to succeed in a pressure-packed situation is a few words of encouragement.

At least that's all it took last night.

With Lufkin and her Gloucester girls basketball team trailing Northeastern Conference front-runner Swampscott 51-50 with 12.7 seconds left on the clock, the sophomore guard stepped up to the free-throw line with a chance give the Fishermen the lead.

The Manchester Essex girls basketball team punched their ticket to the state tournament last night.

It was not their best offensive night, but the defensive-minded Hornets defeated Essex Aggie 39-15 to improve to 10-8 on the season. Manchester Essex held Essex Aggie to just five points in the second half to make up for its own offensive struggles.

A total team effort on both ends of the floor put the Gloucester girls basketball team back in the postseason after an absence of a year.

Nine different players scored as Gloucester also recorded 18 steals en route to a 61-30 win over visiting Saugus (2-14). With the win, the Fishermen (10-5, 8-4) clinched a tournament berth with four games still remaining in the regular season.

Riding a five-game winning streak coming into last night, the Gloucester girls basketball team had a chance to see how they stacked up against one of the premier teams in Eastern Mass.

By the end of the night the Fishermen found out that Winthrop is every bit as good as their 12-1 record would suggest, as Gloucester fell to the Vikings, 73-47, on its home court.

The Manchester Essex girls basketball team seems to be hitting its stride as the state tournament looms near.

The Hornets captured their third straight victory last night with a 48-37 decision over North Andover. Manchester Essex boosted its record to 9-7 with the win, while North Andover slipped to 8-7 in the ultra-competitive Cape Ann League.

The Manchester Essex girls basketball team used strong team defense, rebounding, free throw shooting and balanced scoring | four key ingredients come tournament time | to pick up a 41-35 win at Lynnfield.

There would be no looking ahead for the Gloucester girls basketball team. The Fishermen (9-4) won their fifth in a row, 64-50 over visiting Revere. Next, Winthrop comes to Gloucester on Friday in a huge NEC showdown. If Gloucester can knock off the Vikings, they'll clinch a tournament berth and score its biggest win of the season.

When you ask Jon Flanagan if he believes his Gloucester girls basketball team is playing their best ball of the season, the Fishermen head coach channels his inner Bill Belichick.

"I think we're improving, but there's a long way to go," said Flanagan, answering the aforementioned question in true Belichickian form, which always looks ahead and never behind.

1.Masconomet (10-1): Chieftains recorded signature win with a two-point victory over previously unbeaten Pentucket earlier this week. The Cape Ann League Large title will have to be ripped away from them now.

Dani Ciccone, Manchester Essex: The center has caught fire recently for the Hornets, posting 14 points in a win over North Reading and 13 points in a loss to might to Masconomet.

Jill Lukegord, Gloucester: The senior scored a game-high 15 points to lead the Fishermen to a 48-43 win over Lynn Classical.

The Fishermen (7-4) picked up a nice win led by senior Jill Lukegord's game-high 15 points. Freshman guard Hannah Cain notched 12 points in the win and sophomore center Mary Unis added nine.

"It was an excellent team effort, they shared the basketball," said Gloucester head coach Jon Flanagan. "They were much more focused defensively and rebounded better in the second half." Gloucester is off until next Friday when it goes to Lynn English.