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Photo by Nicole Harnishfeger
Shantel Hanniford flies toward the basket during Provincetown Saturday afternoon. The junior forward played a big part in the Whalers’ Island Invitational championship-game victory over the Vineyard Monday with 20 points.
Boys Basketball Photo Gallery |
By Allison Goldsmith
I&M Sports Editor
The girls basketball team had a few loose ends to tie up this week as the regular season came to a close.
Without missing a beat, the Whalers swept the final three games against Provincetown, Harwich and Martha’s Vineyard, earning a championship title at the Martha’s Vineyard Island Invitational and a perfect Lighthouse Conference record. They also stretched their win streak to 17 straight games and set a new high mark for regular season wins by a Nantucket girls basketball team at 19.
But it is not about the regular season for this group of eight players, who seem to have more important goals in mind.
The Whalers are headed into the postseason at 19-1 overall and are hoping to make some noise.
Nantucket has matched Cohasset for the best regular-season record in Division IV South, and despite the Whalers’ loss to the Skippers earlier this season, the top seed will come down to a coin flip during the MIAA tournament seeding process. Playoff brackets will be announced Friday.
“I think it is unbelievable. All of the credit goes to (the players). They work hard every day at practice and they don’t want to lose. They are doing a great job,” head coach Willis Ferreira said.
In front of a packed house Saturday, the Whalers easily defeated Provincetown 73-24. The Valentine’s Day game, which raised money for the Marla Ceely Lamb Fund and breast cancer awareness, also featured the milestone achievement of senior co-captain Angela Paterson, who scored 25 points to become the new girls basketball all-time leading scorer.
The Whalers then traveled to the Island Invitational on the Vineyard where they earned the tournament championship, defeating Harwich 78-44 in the first round Sunday, followed by a victory over Division III Martha’s Vineyard 65-53 in the title game Monday.
Paterson continued the successful weekend with her third-straight tournament MVP win and Shantel Hanniford was named to the all-tournament team as the duo led the Whalers in the two victories.
Welcome invite
Martha’s Vineyard had defeated Sabis in the preliminary round Sunday to earn a date with the Whalers in the championship game Monday afternoon.
“I was interested to see how we were going to respond to getting beat up. I knew we were going to get beat up and wanted to see how we reacted. I thought there were a couple times where they started to lose their composure, but gained it and figured it out,” Ferreira said. “Those are the games we are going to be in at tournament, so you have to be able to play in those tight games. I think sometimes they think they are supposed to win by 40 every time.”
The physical nature of the game was evident right from the tip, and despite the Whalers’ sizable lead, it never seemed comfortable. In the first quarter, Hanniford and Bianca Brown battled under the basket and helped establish an early lead. Jessica Halford and Paterson opened things up from the outside in the second quarter as Nantucket took the 38-27 lead at the break. But even with the 11-point advantage, the Vineyard showed no signs of taking off the pressure.
The fouls started to add up against Nantucket’s short-staffed line-up. The Whalers have been playing with only three subs for the past two weeks, but were down to two Monday when Lindsay Fry injured an ankle against Harwich the day before. Ferreira had hoped to not have to use Fry against the Vineyard, but when the Whalers found their way into foul trouble early, it forced the her to test the ankle on the hardwood in the second half.
The contribution from Fry and the rest of the bench was key in keeping the Vineyard away from a comeback.
“The whole bench in that second half, when we were in trouble, I thought they did a good job. I think GA (Grace-Anne Tornovish) played some good defense and (Ashley) Clinger and (Caroline) Stanton really battled down low and that’s what we need, a couple minutes here and there,” Ferreira said.
Key shots from Brown, Hanniford and Paterson sealed the victory down the stretch. Hanniford dominated the inside for 20 points and five rebounds, while Brown controlled the boards for 13 points and 15 rebounds. Paterson contributed 19 points in the win.
Rough ride
Harwich came into Sunday’s match up with a season record well below the .500 mark, but had played tough against some of the top division opponents including Cohasset, Hull and Carver.
The Rough Riders came out in a box-and-one on Paterson, but it almost immediately backfired as that left Fry wide open on the perimeter. The junior shooter knocked down three, three pointers in the first quarter as part of 11 points to get the Whalers going.
Paterson finally found some space toward the end of the quarter and came to life seven quick points to stake Nantucket to the 27-11 lead after one.
“They went man-to-man instead and it played into our hands a little bit. You have to have a good defensive team to be able to do that. I think they had one or two defensive players, then there was a weakness somewhere and I thought we found it. I thought we played as good as we have played all year,” Ferreira said.
Harwich’s Jen Gonsalves scored 17 of the Rough Riders’ 22 points in the first half, converting five three pointers. But in the second half Nantucket was able to shut down the freshman threat for only six more points as they expanded the lead.
With a substantial advantage by the half, the Whalers worked on passing and finding the open shot, letting everyone in on the action.
“It was just a great team win. Grace-Anne and Stanton and Clinger, they played great. They get you rebounds, they dive on the floor and they play good defense and that’s all you want them to do and any offense you get out of them is a plus,” Ferreira said.
Paterson finished with a game-high 29 points, Fry chipped in with 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Bianca Brown scored nine points and Jessica Halford and Shantel Hanniford added eight each.
Raising awareness
Members of the community dressed in pink, packed the gym Saturday to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. The Whalers fed off the excitement and streaked to a 29-0 lead before the end of the first quarter.
Paterson, who was gunning for 24 points to set the all-time scoring record at home, notched 14 in the first eight minutes of the game.
Provincetown could not keep pace with the surging Whalers who led 50-6 by halftime.
Out of the gate in the second half, the goal was simple: pass the ball to Paterson. She scored the first 11 points of the half, including the record-breaker on a baseline-jumpshot with 3:57 remaining in the third quarter.
The Whalers coasted the rest of the way to the easy win. Paterson finished with 25, while Fry added 13 and Brown scored 12.
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