RallyNorth.net

Mon, Feb 22, 2010 07:00 PM @ North Andover

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Gloucester	13	10	13	12	48
North Andover	14	13	9	14	50

North Andover barely beats Gloucester in tourney opener

Monday, February, 22 By Christopher Smith
Staff writer

NORTH ANDOVER — Nikki Karalis missed the easy shots but knocked down the difficult ones against Gloucester in the Division 2 North first round yesterday.

The North Andover senior swished two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Her second 3 gave her her team the lead for good with 2 minutes, 53 seconds left in the game.

The No. 6 seeded Scarlet Knights won 50-48 over No. 11 Gloucester at home.

Karalis' go-ahead 3-pointer came 31 seconds after she made a nice steal, sped down the court but then missed a layup that would have put her team ahead by four points.

"I was going so fast ... and then it just clanked," she joked about her missed breakaway.

"Honestly, I just shot (the 3s) and was thinking to myself, 'This is going to go in,'" she added. "With the layups I was just rushing more. With the 3s I was like, 'We need these.'"

Karalis' second 3 gave North Andover a 47-44 lead. The Scarlet Knights increased their lead to 49-44 on a pair of free throws by Amanda Foote with 1:28 remaining.

But Gloucester did not back down as it cut its deficit to 49-48 with 31.7 seconds left.

Gloucester put a strong full court pressure on North Andover and then fouled Katie Moroney when the Scarlet Knights finally were able to get the ball past midcourt.

Moroney missed her first free throw attempt.

"I was freaking out at the foul line," she said. "I was also just thinking in my head, 'Relax. You've taken a million free throws. You take 10 minimum every practice.' I think missing the first one honestly helped me because I was like, 'OK, I can do this. I got the miss out of me and now I'm going to make this one.'"

Moroney did make her second three throw putting North Andover ahead 50-48. North Andover put some strong pressure on Gloucester not letting ballhandler Olivia Lufkin drive in like she had all game before.

Lufkin scored a game-high 20 points, many of which came when she drove in toward the basket for layups.

"It finally clicked with 15 seconds left," Moroney joked. "We were like, 'Hmmm, we need to stop this girl.'"

Lufkin got off a shot under pressure and it clanked off the rim and into Moroney's grasp as the buzzer sounded.

"We didn't play very well," Moroney said. "There's a lot of mistakes that we can work on."

Karalis added: "It was a weird game. It was up and down but obviously it was exciting to win."

Karalis scored 10 points and made four steals.

"I thought Nikki played a great game," North Andover coach Sue Breen said. "I thought she played within herself. I thought her defense was excellent. And she came up with some big steals."

The Scarlet Knights converted 18 of 24 free throws.

Four players scored 10 points each for North Andover.

The four: Karalis, Foote, Erika Zahoruiko and freshman Morgan Lumb.

Lumb had come off the bench all season but has been a starter the past three games.

Lumb knocked down a a pair of 3-pointers. She also made a nice play early in the game when she collected a rebound in traffic and then scored on a put back. She also made four steals.

"Honestly," she brings so much to this team," Karalis said about the freshman Lumb. "She's such a good player and without her we wouldn't be able to do half the things we do. She's a good passer, shooter, and she's clutch when we need her. She's just all around a great player."

Lumb is comfortable in her new role. She said he is not afraid of taking a shot or driving in for a layup.

"I was at the beginning of the season because I didn't know how the girls would take me but now we all just click together," Lumb said. "They all tell me to drive to the basket. They trust me."