Holmes Tallies 15 But Mustangs End Regular Season with Loss; Look to Playoffs

MEDFORD-- The girls basketball team ended its regular season on a sour note Wednesday, losing to Salem High in the final seconds.

But the Mustangs, who finished the season 14-6 and undefeated in league play, will have a chance to get rid of that bad taste in the playoffs.

The Witches cast a fourth quarter spell over Medford High, and escaped with a last-second 42-41 victory in a non-league battle at Kenneth W. Cooper Gymnasium, denying the Mustangs a home tournament game and most likely forcing a coin-flip to determine the seventh, eighth and ninth seeds for the Division 1 North Sectionals.

“I hope the girls feel how much it hurts," said Head Coach Leo Burke. “When we come to play in the tournament, this is how it’s going to be: we lose, we’re done.”

Despite 15 points from Tania Holmes and a strong supporting performance from Senior captain Kasey Moran (10 points), Medford wasn’t up to the task presented by Salem down the stretch last night.

Trailing 41-36 with just over a minute left on the clock, it looked as though the Witches would end their regular season with a road loss, but after a pair of Amanda Wilkins free-throws cut the deficit to 41-38, and Salem managed to intercept the ensuing inbounds pass and Jasmine Bryant converted a quick layup, the score stood at 41-40 in favor of the home team with 25.6 seconds to play.

After Holmes missed a one-and-one opportunity from the charity stripe, the Witches corralled the rebound and headed down the floor with a chance to take the lead. Holbrook Phelan and Amanda Wilkins (12 points) conspired to put the Mustangs’ defense to the sword, slicing through the lane with a nifty give-and-go that resulted in Wilkins banking home the game-winner with 5.7 seconds showing on the clock.

“I was just telling them: ‘be aggressive, take the ball to the hoop,’” said Salem Head Coach John Fortunato. “We did ... we did it just enough.”

Salem finishes the year at 12-10 overall (7-6 Northeastern Conference), while Medford heads into the tourney as Greater Boston League champions, toting a 14-6 overall record (8-0 GBL). 

For the Mustangs, coming off a tough league game the night before, a let-down yesterday was always a possibility.

“I just think we ran out of gas,” said Medford head coach Leo Burke of his team’s failure to close out yesterday’s game. “Last night was a physical game against a GBL opponent, which I think took a little steam out of us.”

The Mustangs edged out arch-rivals Somerville 49-47 on Tuesday night.

Medford missed out on a golden opportunity to ensure a home game in the tournament with the loss, and will now enter postseason play seeded either seventh, eighth or ninth.

“If we had won, we definitely would have had a home game,” said Burke. “Now I believe it’s going to be a three-way tie and a coin flip for seven, eight and nine.”