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Hornets look to avoid letdown in semifinal matchup with Panthers

Tuesday, March, 04 By Richard Slate
Staff writer

Going forward, perhaps the biggest obstacle for the Manchester Essex girls basketball team is preventing a let-down after their emotional win on Saturday over top-seeded New Mission, the defending Division 4 state champions.

After two full days of celebrating its upset win, No. 9 Manchester Essex will take on fifth-seeded Fenway at Malden High School in the Division 4 North semifinals tonight (7 p.m.). A victory would mean a second straight trip to the North finals for the Hornets (14-8).

The opposing Panthers hail from the Boston City League and carry a 16-5 record after defeating No. 12 Greater Lawrence (60-33) in the first round and No. 13 Mount Saint Joseph (63-41) in the quarterfinals.

For what it's worth, Fenway lost to conference-foe New Mission, 83-55, in the regular season on Feb. 20. But Hornets players will have to clear that fact from their minds and focus on maintaining their focus on the court, something that the team has excelled in so far in the tourney with a pair of tough road wins.

Playing without injured junior point guard Lee Stroman so far in the postseason, the Hornets have relied on a spread out offensive attack and variety of ball-handlers.

Senior center Dani Ciccone has averaged an impressive double-double of 16 points and 16.5 rebounds in the two tourney wins, while freshman guard Lizzy Ball (who has taken over the point guard duties) has averaged 15 points, 9.5 rebounds and four assists. Junior forward Elsa Keefe has also stepped her game up in the playoffs, putting up 15 points per game. Meanwhile, junior forward Jordan Biggar has been deadly from 3-point range, making four trifectas over the two games.

As is the case with most tournament contests, each opponent has presented different challenges for Manchester Essex. Lynn Tech started out in a full-court press but switched defenses at halftime, nursing a slight 28-27 lead. The Hornets offense was efficient in the first round, scoring 26 in the first half and 27 in the second half. Their defense keyed the win over the Tigers as Manchester Essex held Lynn Tech to only 15 second half points.

Facing New Mission, who preferred to run on every possession, Manchester Essex adapted to a more high-scoring game, notching 31 in the first half and 37 in the second half. The Hornets defense was knocked around in the third quarter, giving up 24 in the frame but they also held the Titans to 11 (first quarter), 13 (second quarter) and 13 in the final eight minutes. When they had to have some stops, they came through.

In tonight's matchup, conventional wisdom would say that the style of play will be closer to the run-and-gun approach that was featured in the Manchester Essex-New Mission game. For the most part, an up-tempo brand of basketball is played in the Boston City League, while the Cape Ann League contains a mixed bag.

The Panthers are led by senior forward Jasmine McNeil, who averaged 18.5 points per game during the regular season and has boosted that average to 25 ppg in the tourney. Melika Clark is also a very capable scorer and averaged 18.2 ppg during the regular season.