St. Mary's Aisling Smith, right, goes after a loose ball as Saints' Lauren Chapdelaine (30) and Monica Hannoush (10) look on. (Photo by Chris Putz)
Monica Hannoush (10) dribbles the ball up the court Tuesday in Three Rivers. (Photo by Chris Putz)
Jeannette Peretti (33) attempts to turn the corner against a defender. (Photo by Chris Putz)
Jeannette Peretti (33) collects a loose ball. (Photo by Chris Putz)
GIRLS’ HS HOOPS ROUNDUP
Saints hit roadblock
Southwick, WVT prevail
By CHRIS PUTZ
Staff Writer
THREE RIVERS – The St. Mary’s High School girls’ basketball team ran into a roadblock late Tuesday night.
Pathfinder outscored 23-5 over the course of the final 12 minutes to tear away a potential upset bid from St. Mary. The Pioneers pulled away, 40-25.
St. Mary’s led at the half 16-14, fell behind early in the third quarter 17-16 on Kathleen Morgan’s 3, but rallied with Monica Hannoush’s 2-point shot in between traffic in the lane and Gennet Peretti’s inside bucket.
Pathfinder responded with a furious rally.
Sam Crejka started Pathfinder’s run with a low-post basket. Then Sophia Hess drained consecutive 3s. After Monica Hannoush converted the second of two free throw attempts, Jenna Maska made a free throw, and scored down low to take a 28-21 lead just before the end of the third quarter.
Pathfinder continued to apply the pressure offensively, scoring inside buckets, and kicking outside for the occasional 3.
Hannoush made a brilliant runner in the paint to keep St. Mary’s close in the third quarter 30-23. But the Pioneers reeled off five straight points. Hunter took matters into her own hands for the Saints with just under four minutes remaining in the game, bobbing and weaving past three defenders in transition before hitting a 2.
Pathfinder poured in five more points to complete the scoring.
St. Mary’s, which fell to 5-8 with the loss, are now faced with a situation in which it must win the majority of its remaining games or risk falling out of the tournament chase. The Saints next host the Voc-Tech Tigers in a rivalry game Friday night at Westfield North Middle School.
Westfield Voc-Tech 45, Smith Voke 24
Voc-Tech’s Nadine Tran netted 15 points to pace all scorers, and Amber Rode scored 11 for the Tigers (6-6).
Southwick-Tolland 41, Commerce 40
Melissa O’Neill scored 13 points for Southwick, and Taylor Leclair and Lindsey Wilcox shut down Commerce’s Nykeisha Robinson to improve to 9-3. Robinson, who entered Tuesday night’s game with a scoring average, managed just nine.
Chicopee 64, Westfield 43
Westfield’s Beka Santiago amassed 22 points with two 3-pointers and eight free throws. Keri Paton finished with eight points.
JV GIRLS’ HOOPS
Southwick 40, Commerce 4
Jacqui Richard led all scorers with eight points, and every other Southwick player scored at least once as the Rams improved to 10-3.
