TAUNTON – In a rematch of last year’s Div. 3 state final, Norwell stepped up on both ends of the floor to take down a touted Foxboro squad that had won two straight state titles.
Thanks to a big night from senior captain Maddie Oliver and a couple key runs on the defensive end, the No. 3 Clippers ousted the No. 2 Warriors 55-47 at Taunton High Monday night in the Div. 3 state semifinals.
“(Foxboro) was a good team then – they’re a good team now. Last year, I don’t think we were quite ready,” Norwell coach Matt Marani said about being able to take down Foxboro. “I think the experience helped us and the kids really worked at it in the offseason.”
With a slim lead at the half, Norwell (23-1) allowed just 2-of-13 shooting from the field in the third with Foxboro senior captain Kailey Sullivan getting into foul trouble and netting just two of her game-high 24 points to push the lead out to 41-31 before leading 42-34 after three.
“Hats off to Paige Maguire,” Oliver said about the senior captain that hung with Sullivan defensively most of the contest. “She has the job of face guarding whoever the best player is. Sullivan is an amazing basketball player and she can facilitate even when getting face guarded. (Maguire) had the job of shutting her down the entire time and that’s really a hard feat to have. All of us know she will get the job done every single time.”
In the fourth, Oliver found a way to get to the hoop and scored nine of her 22 points in the frame, including a pair of layups to keep the lead at double digits at 48-38 and 50-40 and the Clippers coasted from there.
“In the second half, I thought we did a great job facilitating the ball,” Oliver said. “If Reagan (Dowd) was being face-guarded in the backcourt, I would bring up the ball. I tried to get into the paint and then I had all this stuff off of it. So, just looking for my teammates and then when I get the chance to go and score, my teammates know how to get me the ball.”
To start the contest, Foxboro (22-2) started off hot by hitting all four of their field goals to build their lead up to 10-7 as Norwell kept pace. The Clippers then stepped up defensively and allowed just 1-of-9 shooting the rest of the first to aid a 9-2 run to go up 16-12 after one.
“The big thing for us was having length (on defense),” Marani said. “As a team, that required everyone to rotate too. So, I thought they did a great job doing that.”
In the second, Norwell pushed their lead out to 21-12 after senior captain Maddie Oliver hit a putback layup after a missed free throw for Adrienne Dowd with 5:30 left in the frame. From there, the Warriors knocked down a pair of triples with 10 points from senior captain Kailey Sullivan to cut the deficit to one possession at 31-28 at the half.