GIRLS BASKETBALL
The third time proved to be the charm for New Mission.
Merrimack-bound center Denia Davis-Stewart was immense in the paint with a career-high 37 rebounds and seven blocked shots to go along with 11 points as the fifth-seeded Titans (17-5) avenged a pair of regular-season losses by knocking off top-seeded Fenway, 53-36, in a Div. 4 North semifinal contest.
“It’s what I am supposed to do,” Davis-Stewart said. “My teammates counted me on and they knew I had their back.”
Defense was the calling card for New Mission as it limited a high-powered Fenway offense to just 12 field goals in 71 attempts (16.9 percent) from the floor. All-Scholastic guard Takora McIntyre was the only Panther to finish in double figures as she ended her stellar career with 13 points.
“I watched the film of the earlier game one more time this morning and I noticed we gave up way too many 2-on-1 breaks and open shots,” New Mission coach Mitch Hercule said. “They spread us out way too much and we had to do a better job of closing that and we did it.”
Taneja Drayton scored 15 points and dished out four assists for New Mission, while Kayla Kelley added 13.
Katy Golden scored 18 points and Erica Mullally added 14 as No. 10 Millis (15-8) defeated No. 3 West Boylston, 50-43, in a Div. 4 Central semifinal. ... Hannah Favaloro scored 23 points as No. 4 Douglas (18-5) cruised to a 64-27 win over No. 8 Norfolk Aggie. ... Gianni Hill had 26 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, and Korine Haidul added 22 points as No. 10 Pope John (14-9) edged No. 3 Mount Alvernia 68-62 in overtime.
Francesca Calabraro scored 16 points and teammate Kayla Raymond added 12 as No. 2 Oliver Ames (20-3) defeated third-seeded Falmouth, 56-40, in a Div. 2 South semifinal. ... Haley Blasetti hit a driving layup with two seconds left to give No. 4 Hingham (17-6) a 50-48 victory over top-seeded Westwood.
In the Division 3 North semifinals, senior captain Sydney Brennan collected 17 points and six assists as No. 2 Bishop Fenwick (20-4) took down No. 3 St. Mary’s (L) (19-5), 56-40.
There were more than a few hoop junkies who had already scribbled the high-flying Lowell girls basketball team in ink into the Division 1 North title game in their brackets. Last night, however, in front of a boisterous crowd at Whittier Tech, a resilient Revere squad sent those folks scrambling for the whiteout as the No. 4 seeds stunned the top seeded Red Raiders, 60-51, to advance to the North finals.
“They are an excellent team, probably the best we have seen all year long,” said an elated Revere coach Diana Finn. “It’s just a really, really good win for us and we are so excited to go to the finals on Saturday.”
Trailing by as many as 17 in the third quarter (40-23), an ice-cold Lowell (21-3) squad finally found the touch from outside behind sophomore guard Shyan Mwai (26 points) and Britany Mota (two threes) and cut the lead to three with six minutes to play, but Pam Gonzalez (17), center Meg Gotham (14) and Ally Hinojosa (12) and the rest of the Pats were not about to let the top seeds off the hook and finished on a 12-to-6 burst to finish it. In the final game of her stellar four-year career with the Red Raiders, University of Albany-bound center Alexi Schecter (15 points) was kept in check for the most part by both Gotham and Valentina Pepic down low.
Trailing 17-15 after one quarter, Revere (20-5) used a pivotal second quarter surge that saw them outscore Lowell, 22-to-6 and force eight turnovers to take a lead 37-23 lead into the half. Lowell shot just 3-for-13 in the period and 19-for-62 (30 percent) for the game, while the Patriots clicked along at 46 percent (23-for-49). Up next is the winner of tonight’s semifinal showdown between Woburn and Billerica.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Andy Johnson led a trio of double-figure scorers with 14 points as No. 5 Apponequet (19-4) edged top-seeded Rockland, 53-49, in a Div. 3 South semifinal. Dylan Sheedy scored 12 and Chad Gaucher added 11 for the Lakers, while Stephen Norris poured in a game-high 16 for the Bulldogs (19-3).
Moses Flowers scored 31 points and Trevor Lynch added 13 as No. 2 Cathedral (20-3) rolled to a 76-46 victory over CASH in a Div. 4 South semifinal. ... Alex Norton scored 21 points to lift No. 14 Cohasset (14-9) to a 74-60 victory over top-seeded St. John Paul.
Jovani Harper-Lopez scored 21 points and Christian Hon added 14 as No. 4 Randolph (18-5) defeated top-seeded Bishop Feehan, 59-58, in a Div. 2 South semifinal.
BOYS HOCKEY
Joe Blaise scored twice and Luke Downie added the other tally as No. 4 Franklin (15-3-5) advanced to the Div. 1 South final with a 3-0 victory over No. 8 Newton North.
John McLean scored with 9.5 seconds left in the second overtime to give No. 1 Medfield (17-1-5) a 2-1 victory over No. 5 Pembroke in a Div. 2 South semifinal.