
Foxboro, Wachusett capture titles at Comcast tournament
Kailey Sullivan walked onto the court at Emmanuel College for the Comcast Tournament Monday, and chose to keep playing basketball in the only manner she knows how.
The senior guard poured in a game-high 27 points as Foxboro (19-1) captured the Richard Antonelli championship with a 61-56 victory over Bishop Feehan at the annual showcase presented by Board 27.
“I think after halftime, we just realized that we needed to play better,” said Sullivan. “We were kind of playing scared, making stupid decisions. We started playing better defense, started hitting shots, and then we won.”
Sullivan was selected to the Board 27 All-Tournament team alongside teammate Addie Ruter, who registered a double-double (19 points, 14 rebounds).
Bishop Feehan (19-2) was propelled by senior captain Madelyn Steel, who had 17 points on her way to being selected to the All-Tournament team.
After Sullivan hit a last-second shot to cap the third quarter, she and Ruter took the game over in the final frame by scoring 22 of the team’s last 25 points to seal the championship.
“I actually thought (her birthday) was tomorrow,” laughed Foxboro coach Lisa Downs. “She’s just been playing with so much maturity out there. I think with it being her senior year and the games are ticking away, her final ones, she’s not willing to let it go without giving 100 percent every time she’s on the court.”
Meanwhile in the James Grady championship matinee, junior Jaelynn Scott (19 points, 10 rebounds) recorded a double-double, earning All-Tournament honors as Wachusett (19-1) maintained its stronghold atop the MIAA Div. 1 girls basketball power rankings with a thrilling 46-44 win over Central Catholic.
“This was good for us,” said Wachusett coach Jim Oxford. “Because Central Catholic is a different kind of team, with how hard they play and with the intensity they bring. So, we needed to see that, and for a neutral site, that crowd was pretty aggressive and noisy. They didn’t feel like they were getting a fair whistle on the floor, so all those things are good, adverse situations to overcome right before we go into the postseason.”
From the opening possession until the end, this clash was a barn-burner.
After Kerri Finneran (19 points, eight rebounds) helped Central Catholic (12-6) construct a 39-32 edge at the start of the fourth quarter, Scott forced a steal in a clutch moment for the Mountaineers. The forward drove coast-to-coast, finishing a layup to provide her team some desperately-needed momentum.
“We were really confident,” said Scott. “After that steal, everybody’s energy was up. We just kept it going throughout the game.”
Wachusett would keep on rolling, embarking on an 8-0 run to jump ahead 40-39 with 3:52 left. Then, the two schools traded buckets until the waning seconds.
Sophie Gibbons (10 points) was also selected to the All-Tournament team for the Mountaineers.
With the game hanging in the balance, Teegan Lanpher came up with a steal herself, then sank a layup to clinch the game as Wachusett made it a two-possession game with seconds to play.
“I just wanted to score,” Lanpher laughed afterward. “We needed to keep the lead, so we had to keep running and going.”