Reading Ends Patriots' Playoff Run

If ever there was a recipe for a monumental upset, this was it.

With a trip to the MIAA Division II North Sectional finals on the line, the top-seeded girls basketball team found itself facing an opponent fresh off two surprising victories over higher seeded competition and fast earning a reputation as defensive minded giant killers.

The Lady Rockets proved why they remained unbeaten during the regular season, taking everything that 13th-seeded could throw at them and still emerging with a lopsided 67-35 victory in the North semifinals Wednesday at Woburn High School.

“I was really pleased with getting to this game,” said Concord-Carlisle (7-12) head coach Joe Bodenrader. “The kids did a great job of making it into the playoffs, which was a struggle for us, but we made it...unfortunately, we fell pretty short tonight.”

Nonetheless, they certainly made the Lady Rockets (23-0) work for it for the majority of the night.

“They are a very good shooting team,” said Reading High head coach Kim Penney about her team’s odds-defying opponent. “We had to play some defense tonight ... I was happy with the way the girls adjusted on offense; they were throwing different looks at us and we adjusted, so it was good.”

Reading High has earned the right to play Arlington Catholic for all the Division II North marbles on Saturday at Tsongas Arena in Lowell. The start time is still TBA as of this writing. Reading missed out on the sectional finals last season, after making it the previous three years.

Junior Olivia Healy led the attack for the Lady Rockets, dropping 21 points to go along with 12 rebounds and four assists, while senior Melissa DalPozzo netted 18 points, 12 rebounds and four assists. Junior Morgan O’Brien also contributed some big points on the night—11 in total. Junior Meghan Stanford came off the bench and pitched in with some key minutes, collecting seven rebounds and two points in the process.

“She had a great game,” said Penney of Stanford’s efforts. “Our whole bench had a great game ... [Stanford] was big for us tonight, because she understands how to post up, how to rebound.”

The Patriots, as has been the case since their tourney run began, benefitted from some serious senior leadership, as Jessie Catelline—one of only two seniors on the C-C roster—paced the attack with 19 points.

“We ended up losing by a lot tonight, but I was actually pretty pleased,” Bodenrader said after the final whistle. “I thought we were pretty competitive ... If we could have relaxed a little bit, took an extra half second with our shots, I think we could have been in the game for longer ... Reading is just an amazing team. They are really, really good.”

At the outset, it looked like the Patriots had brought the magic that led a 7-11 squad into the playoffs and past No. 4 Brighton and No. 5 North Andover into the gym at Woburn High with them, as they capitalized on a tentative start from the RMHS offense to jump out to an early 5-0 lead. 

“We have been saying all along, the record is not indicative of the team they are,” said Penney about C-C. “They’ve earned the right to be here and play this long into the season ... Their coach has them playing some tough defense, and they gave us a game. We had to earn it.”

But with nearly five minutes gone in the opening stanza, the Lady Rockets found their sea legs and tied it up, ultimately leading 12-7 after the first quarter. 

They would not trail again.

Reading opened the second quarter with a 10-3 run, and that was essentially all she wrote, as, by the half, the Lady Rockets had nearly doubled up C-C, leading 33-17.

“We had to make some adjustments, and move people around a little better,” said Penney. “We had to be more patient with the ball and drive the gaps.”

It looked as though the Patriots, who, it bears noting, play in the ultra-tough Dual County League, had solved the riddle that has perplexed many a bench boss this year: how to stop the dangerous Healy.

While the RMHS standout was held to just five points in the first half, her teammate DalPozzo picked up the slack and dropped 11 first half points on C-C. Healy would make up for lost time in the final two frames, victimizing the Patriots defense for 16 points as RMHS pulled away.