Senior nights are supposed to be memorable and that's the way things worked out for Tewksbury High as she scored a season-high 12 points and swished the winning three-pointer to lead TMHS to a 50-46 win over upset-minded Notre Dame Academy Friday night.
With her team trailing by a point and only 1:26 left to play in the game, Gavin nailed a base-line three-pointer to put the Redmen up by two. On the ensuing NDA possession, Gavin stole the ball and got fouled. The diminutive point guard connected on both free throws and nailed down Tewksbury's fifth win in its last six games.
"Michelle Gavin took this game upon herself," "She worked her tail off for a positive outcome the way she wanted her senior year to be remembered. I'm proud of her and what she did for us tonight."
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Tewksbury honored its six seniors, Gavin, Kim Fairweather, Liz Connolly, Jen Bowers, Marie Boisvert and Liz Marchand, in a pre-game ceremony, and the gym was filled with an air of excitement.
But surprisingly, Notre Dame, which is winless in Merrimack Valley Conference play this season, jumped out to an almost unthinkable 14-0 lead in the first period and led the Redmen, 17-4 at the break.
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"That first quarter was our worst quarter of basketball all year," Bradley said. "We came out flat and distracted and played terribly."
But Gavin and lit a fire under their teammates in the second period, and the Redmen outscored NDA 14-9 in the quarter to cut the vistors' lead to 26-18 at the half. Chaet scored six points and Gavin had five in that quarter.
Chaet, who led the team with 16 points on the night, continued her solid play in the third quarter, pouring in nine points while grabbing two steals and three rebounds. Chaet's hustle helped Tewksbury take its first lead of the game with 1:20 to play in the period.
Notre Dame did not give up easily, however, as the Crusaders won the fourth quarter rebounding battle and retook the lead at 46-45 with less than two minutes to play. Senior Kim Fairweather (nine points in the game) did everything in her power to keep the lead in Tewksbury's hands, draining a pair of three-pointers in the final period.
"Kim Fairweather had another strong night," Bradely said. "She hit three three-pointers. That's a good shooting night for her."
Still, the game was in doubt and the Redmen trailed by a point with time running short. But that's when Gavin took over, draining her all-important three-pointer and spearheading a Tewksbury defensive effort that shut down NDA on its last three possessions.
Gavin admits that she got a little frustrated with the way things we going in the first half, and she spoke up about it.
"We weren't playing with everything we had, right from the beginning," Gavin said. "So I just told everybody 'we need to pick it up, we can't be playing like this on senior night. Let's win.'"
And win they did.
"They sucked it up and they persevered through an ugly first half," Bradley said. "They got into a rhythmn in the second half and they found a way to win. I'm proud of them."
Sophomore center Kelli Sugrue added four points for TMHS, as did junior guard Sherri Liggiero. Junior forward Katie Doherty had three points and freshman guard Sara Semenza added two.
The victory improves Tewksbury's record to 6-11, with just one regular season game to play. TMHS plays in the St. Mary's of Lynn tournament next weekend, before finishing up at Chelmsford on February 23rd.
