Attleboro High Girls' Hoop So Close to Upset of Mansfield

The Attleboro High girls' basketball team waswere shorthanded, playing their power forward at point guard, and facing the defending league champions but they scrapped and hustled and made Mansfield work for everything.

In the end, the Bombardiers' Savannah Boyle's three-point attempt was blocked and the Hornets escaped with a 40-37 win but Attleboro could walk away confident that they can play with anyone in the league.

"We were obviously down a couple of ball handlers tonight so we put the ball in our most confident player's hands (Boyle)," said Attleboro coach Missy Traversi. "As the game progressed, we moved her back to the wing where she was able to open up for shots and Keri Beland just stepped up huge tonight."

Beland, the freshman guard, was brought into the line-up for the second half because of the absences of Abby Oliver and Jacey Copes and handled the Mansfield press as the Lady Bombardiers charged back in the fourth quarter.

Trailing 33-20 going into the quarter, Attleboro started it on a 6-1 run, outscored the Hornets, 17-7, and had the lead as low as two points.

Mansfield coach Mike Redding was disappointed in his team's execution in the final quarter.

"I thought through the first three quarters we played pretty well," said Redding. "We just didn't shoot as well as we normally do and they did a great job of just hanging around."

Attleboro scored the first four points of the game but Mansfield then went on a 14-0 run and led by eight after one quarter. The Bombardiers defense and rebounding (they outrebounded the Hornets, 49-36) kept them in the game, but Michaela Bowes had 12 points and Kaitlyn McCarthy eight points to build the lead as high as 15.

Boyle had a double-double with 11 points (six in the fourth) and 12 rebounds, while Brianna LaPlume had 6 points and 15 boards and Emily Mayer stepped up with five-points (all in the final period). Kirsten Terrien had a balanced eight points with a field goal in each quarter.

Despite coming up short on the scoreboard, Traversi was pleased with the fight her team demonstrated. "I'm very proud of the girls. It was just hard work, we battled back and I couldn't be happier with them.

Redding could only shake his head at the end of the game at the level of competition in the conference. "This is life in the Hockomock, everyone's good, there's no easy ones...any win in the league on the road is good."

Attleboro will play host to King Philip on Friday night while Mansfield will play Franklin in a battle for first place in the league.