RallyNorth.net

Hornets win sparked by unusual suspects

Wednesday, March, 05 By Matt Langone
Sports editor

In its first two victories in the Division 4 North girls basketball state tournament, Manchester Essex relied heavily on the rebounding and post presence of center Dani Ciccone, who had been gobbling up every rebound within a 10-foot radius of her.

However, in last night's Division 4 North semifinal against fifth-seeded Fenway at Malden High School, the ninth-seeded Hornets' bench and role players were asked to pick up the slack in the paint early when Ciccone was sent to the bench with a painful injury.

"(Jasmine McNeil) elbowed my tooth and a big piece of it chipped off," said Ciccone, who, despite her missed time, still racked up her usual monster double-double of 16 points and 17 rebounds by the time the clock ran out on her team's dominant 69-46 victory. "It hurt really bad, I had to cry it out on the bench, but then I was able to play again." While Ciccone healed from her wound, her teammates played inspired basketball.

Led by junior forwards Jen Bishop (four points, five rebounds) and Hannah Dumont (four points, eight rebounds), both of whom came off the bench, and starting forward Jordan Biggar (12 points, 10 rebounds), The Hornets turned a 13-12 lead with two minutes left in the first quarter into a 24-12 lead as the frame ended.

The trio of frontcourt players did the work that Ciccone has become known for, by collapsing in the lane and not allowing Fenway's two creators (McNeil and Melika Clark) to get easy baskets early on and forcing them to settle for deep jumpers.

Manchester Essex's defensive rebounds sparked fastbreak points on the other end, as speedy point guard Lizzy Ball (13 points, seven rebounds, six assists) scored seven points during the 11-0 run.

Just like that, the game was all but over as the Hornets increased the run to 17-0 to start the second quarter as Ciccone returned early in the second. The Hornets held a 16-point halftime lead (38-22) and never led by less than double-digits.

"We had to get intense quickly because we knew Fenway is a great team," said Biggar, who was an assassin behind the 3-point line, drilling four 3-pointers. "We used our speed that we have, but nobody thinks we have, and just pushed ourselves up and down the court so that we could get a big lead. It was a total team effort."

Manchester Essex head coach Lauren Dubois praised her team for their efforts without the services of Ciccone.

"When Dani got hurt it shook us up a little bit, as it always does when a big player gets hurt," said Dubois. "But we really stepped it up and made a nice run.

"All the girls did a great job. It was just a complete team effort."

While Ball, Biggar and Ciccone all hit double-figures, seven other Hornets players joined them in the scoring column. In fact, the bench played so well that Dubois played a lineup that consisted of mainly bench players for the final five minutes of the third quarter.

Manchester Essex's depth and dominance on the glass earned praise from Fenway coach Maurice Penn.

"Their size really hurt us," said Penn. "They had size all the way down the bench and it was really tough to compete with. They got easy stops on defense and easy baskets on offense."

Undoubtedly Manchester Essex will be looking for a replica of last night's performance when it meets third-seeded Mt. Alvernia for the Division 4 North crown on Friday night at Salem State College (6).

Additional stories:

• Hornets roll over Panthers and into North Final