It’s Sunday, and you know what that means. It’s time for the Sports Watch, the fastest three minutes in Weston sports coming your way right now:
Well, it was a tough finish to an otherwise outstanding season for the Weston girls’ basketball team, which dropped a 52-34 decision to host Pentucket in the Division 3 North quarterfinals last night.
“Pentucket had a very strong and aggressive team that crashed the boards well, “Weston head coach Linda Martindale said. "[They] rebounded very well, which didn’t give us any second chances, [and] they also out-rebounded us on the defensive end.”
Find out what's happening in Westonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Nicole Viselli canned four three-pointers and totaled 17 points to lead the Sachems (19-4), while Sarah Higgins and Tess Noegueira added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
A few too many miscues for the Wildcats (14-8) in the first half also didn’t help the Weston cause.
Find out what's happening in Westonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“We struggled early on with 16 turnovers in the first half and got into foul trouble, which forced us to adjust our game plan,” Martindale said. “Pentucket ran the floor well and played very tight defense, which forced us out of our usual set offense.”
Weston sophomore star forward Saliah Serrette poured in 15 points and grabbed six rebounds, before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Serrette closes a terrific campaign in which she earned Dual County League Co-MVP honors this winter with Wayland’s Jen Berkowitz.
Senior standout Allyson Pemberton also fouled out for the Wildcats, with five points, two boards, and a pair of steals, while sophomore Bianca Brueckner had a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with five points.
Martindale also lauded the play of junior Sami Gosman, who “did a nice job coming off the bench and played strong defense,” the coach said.
Weston doesn’t go home empty-handed, after winning its second consecutive DCL Small Division crown, and defeating archrival Wayland in the first round of the state tourney.
“We ended the season 14-8 with back to back DCL Small titles, [and] we are very proud of our seniors as they set a very high standard of work ethic and tenacity this year,” Martindale said.
In the tourney’s first round, all systems were ago for the Wildcats, who pulled off a stunning 59-34 victory over visiting Wayland (9-12).
Weston rode a dominant first half to the victory, as the Wildcats led by a whopping 32-10 at the break. After allowing the Warriors to make a little run early in the third quarter, Weston stifled any further opportunities.
The Wildcats played a terrific all-around game, with Pemberton leading the troops with 20 points and Serrette grabbing a team-high 17 rebounds, to go along with 12 points, five blocks, and four steals.
Brueckner, meanwhile, helped Serrette on the boards with 11 rebounds to go along with 11 points.
For her part, Berkowitz led Wayland with 13 points, after feeling a bit under the weather last week.
“She played tough, and she was sick all week,” Wayland head coach Kathleen Thompson said.
But this was Weston’s game. The Wildcats never trailed in the third meeting between the teams this year, Weston winning the other two as well. The ‘Cats started swiftly with Serrette swishing an outside jumper, and Pemberton canning a three-pointer, before the good crowd could even get comfortable.
Moments later, the cheers were for senior Margaret Cox, who converted a feed from Serrette for a 10-2 Weston advantage. Cox finished with seven points, three rebounds, two assists, and a steal, playing “a phenomenal game,” Martindale said.
Pemberton, meanwhile, went 4-of-4 from the foul line in the first quarter, and also made a key steal and outlet pass to fellow senior Anna Duffey, who finished, putting the Wildcats on top, 16-4.
Weston led, 21-6, after one frame, and the lead eventually grew to 30-8, before Wayland tallied on a pretty fall-away jumper by Morgan Fletcher, who finished with eight points.
“Morgan had a great game, she played hard on defense and made some nice shots, distributed well, and took care of the ball well,” Thompson said.
Wayland chipped away a bit in the second half, cutting the deficit to 35-17 on a three-pointer by senior Emily Ivker. The Warriors got to within 37-25 when Fletcher and junior Madison Lemmo both drained a pair from the charity stripe.
“We played much better in the second half,” Thompson said. “We had 24 turnovers in the first half to 10 in the second. We’re inexperienced. It’s our first time back to the tourney in three years. We’re young, and we have a lot of sophomores, so that bodes well for next year.”
Weston then turned on the gas to score the next five points capped by a Duffey steal and hoop to up the lead to 17. Duffey finished with seven points, two steals, and three assists.
Brueckner heated up to score seven of her 11 marks in the final frame.
“We started to put more pressure on them,” Martindale said of her team’s second half resurgence.
