RallyNorth.net

There was a nervous moment for the Pentucket girls basketball team yesterday in its 49-29 romp over Newburyport. In the second quarter, 6-foot-3 center Kirsten Daamen went down with what looked like a possible serious knee injury.

Junior Ashley Viselli racked up a game-high 20 points as Pentucket more than doubled-up North Reading, 56-27. Viselli hit four of the Sachems' five 3-pointers. Erin McNamara (12 points) and Vanessa Cahill (10 points) also finished in double digits. Nicole Cecchini led North Reading in scoring with six points.

HAVERHILL — A rematch, and a more important showdown, is likely in the Division 3 North tournament in two months, but Swampscott didn’t hesitate to celebrate last night.

After the Big Blue (6-0) defeated Pentucket 46-43 in the championship game of the Greater Haverhill Coca-Cola Classic’s girls tournament, it helped soothe the sting of three straight defeats over the last two years to the defending tourney champion Sachems (5-1).

Kirsten Daamen awoke with a monster second-half, tossing in 17 of her game-high 21 points after the break in a 55-45 Sachem victory.

The Timberlane Regional girls, outsized as they were, tried good old-fashioned hustle to overcome every hurdle against one of the top programs in all of Eastern Mass.

In the second night of back-to-back games, Pentucket held Lynnfield to two points in the first quarter and used stellar defense to hold the Pioneers under 30 points in a win, 55-25. Ashley Viselli led the Sachems with 17 points and had nine rebounds, and Erin McNamara had 16 points and five assists.

Ashley Viselli led all scorers with 16 points and chipped with five rebounds as Pentucket played solid defense in a win over Amesbury, 60-32.

For the Sachems Erin McNamara had 12 points and four assists, and Kirsten Daamen had eight points and eight rebounds. For Amesbury three players had seven points, Gabby Magnifico, Kerri Salvatore, and Colleen Brockmyre.