Lady Wildcats find their way to the state final – again

Will it be another year that the Lady Wildcats hang a basketball state championship banner in their rafters?

To quote former champion Kevin Garnett – anything is possible.

Lee made the possibility a reality on Monday afternoon, after the ‘Cats dismantled University Park (Worcester Main South) 69-37, at the DCU Center in the state semifinal, earning a state final date Saturday morning (March 16) at 10:45.

It was just two days prior, when Lee stunned no. 1 Western Mass. seed Sabis (Springfield), 58-51, to win the Western Mass title – a goal the team set for themselves back in November.

Now, Saturday, the ‘Cats will be challenged by their most daunting opponent to date – Archbishop Williams (Braintree) a ESPNHS Poll ranked no. 2 team in the state.

What makes the Bishops so daunting?

For starters, they have five girls over 5’8” and three girls over six feet tall, making them one of the toughest and best rebounding teams in the tournament.

In the Bishops’ 52-38 win over Pentucket, in the Eastern Mass. final, Archbishop Williams out-rebounded their opponent 46-20, with three girls reaching in double figures.

“I’ll be right back in the gym tomorrow,” Lee Head Coach Gary Wellington said after the Worcester South win, “and tell [my team] we are probably playing the Celtics – we’ve been watching them all year and they are a dynamite group.”

Match-ups to look for on Saturday morning at the DCU include Lee’s 5’2” Eileen Dooley against the Bishops’ point guard, 5’ 8” Sara Ryan.

If Dooley can create steals and turnovers in the backcourt without fouling – allowing the ‘Cats to get on the break for easy buckets – then Lee has a shot.

The other match-up will be between 5’11” Stephanie Young and her forward counterpart, 6’3” Jaylen Williams. Young will need to get a lot of high screens in order to find space for her shot against the 6’3” Williams.

If Young can create off-the-dribble scoring chances at the free throw line and get the Bishops’ front line in early foul trouble, then Lee’s chances increase tenfold.

The role players for Lee will once again play a huge role in Saturday’s game as Megan Gaul and Courtney Picard will be asked to knock down outside shots – even three-pointers – to take the pressure off of Young and Dooley.

“The role players are always big with us – it’s big for those other kids to step up and take some of that pressure off [Young and Dooley],” Wellington said.

The match-ups that may be an issue for the Wildcats will be having both 5’6” Moriah McKenna and 5’5” Hadley Cook under the glass against the Bishops’ much bigger frontline.

McKenna and Cook will have to be very physical in keeping the ‘Archies’ away from the paint for second- and often third-chance opportunities.

One advantage for Lee is the fact the team has a game under their belt at the DCU Center, complimented by their hot shooting on the outside in the last couple weeks, which has Lee peaking at the right time heading into Saturday.

“The whole team with 70 points over the last three games – we are shooting well right now,” Wellington said. “That’s what you want to do – you want to peak once you get here.”

Midway through the Lee season, after losses to Sabis by 20 points and Quaboag in the Hoophall Classic, it certainly didn’t appear that the ‘Cats would ever reach a state final.

“It’s crazy because midway through the season I would have said, ‘no way we are going to states’ – it’s crazy to know we are here and we are so close,” Young said. “It’s now registering in our minds how bad we want this.”

Posted by Tim Davis on March 14, 2013. Filed under High School Sports,Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry