MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA — The Manchester Essex girls basketball team went into Saturday night’s Division 4 playoff opener aiming to prove to everyone that they are capable of making a deep tournament run.
Winners of nine of their last 10 regular season games, the Hornets had been playing their best basketball of the season — and that trend continued against visiting Bourne.
Roaring from the start, Manchester built a massive 39-point lead going into halftime and cruised to the finish line from there for a dominant 63-38 decision. With the win, Manchester advanced to the Sweet 16 where it’ll host No. 10 Sutton (13-8) on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m.
“They were ready to play. We’ve been on a break for a couple weeks,” said Manchester Essex head coach Lauren DuBois, her team now 13-8 on the year. “We hadn’t had the chance to compete and so they were so excited to get out there and play and they just executed.”
It was a one sided battle from the start, with senior guard Lily Oliver hitting two of her three 3-pointers in the first quarter to help her team get off on the right foot.
Oliver finished the evening with 16 points, all coming in the first half before she was rested down the stretch along with most of the Hornets’ starters.
Bourne did not make a field goal in the first quarter and was only limited to two free throws, trailing 23-2.
“We just had to make sure that we were doing all the little things, boxing out, getting back in transition,” DuBois said. “Those were our focus areas for the night and then we did a nice job executing the offense and finding the open players.”
Oliver’s teammate Harper Brooks, the Cape Ann League Baker Division Player of the Year, finished with a strong nine points including a triple of her own in the first half.
The Hornets were utterly dominant on both ends of the floor in the first two quarters, going into the half with a ridiculous 45-6 advantage.
It was a an all-around performance by the hosts in the first half, sending a message to the rest of the tournament field that they aren’t going anywhere any time soon.
“I thought our team came out and executed our game plan,” DuBois said. “Bourne’s a great team. They’re capable of scoring a lot of points, as you can see, they put up a lot of points in the second half.”
With the Hornets holding a commanding lead their bench was able to give them some very meaningful minutes while the starters could take a much needed break after their sizzling start.
Cordelia Riggs came in and scored five of her seven points in the second quarter to give her team a nice boost.
Ema Mustafa, Sofia Colarusso, and Violet St. Marie each contributed in the second half with all three Hornets chipping in four points to help keep Bourne out of comeback distance. All said, Manchester had 11 different players find the scoresheet.
With the win, the No. 7 Hornets will now gear up for another home playoff game, with the winner heading to the state quarterfinals.
“Any team that’s where they are is a good team, so I’ve got some work to do to plan our game plan,” DuBois said of the looming matchup with Sutton. “But we’re excited to have another opportunity at a home game.”
Manchester Essex 63, Bourne 38
MIAA Division 4 state tournament, Round of 32
at Manchester Essex Regional High School
Bourne;2;4;12;20;38
Manchester Essex;23;22;10;8;63
Individual statistics
Manchester Essex (13-8) — Lily Oliver 6-1-16, Harper Brooks 4-0-9, Anna Gardner 4-0-8, Cordelia Riggs 2-2-7, Emerald Jakes 2-0-5, Ema Mustafa 2-0-4, Sofia Colarusso 2-0-4, Violet St.Marie 2-0-4, Penelope Riggs 1-0-2, Hadley Johnson 1-0-2, Hadley Duncan 1-0-2, Bianca Torri 0-0-0, Annie Prinn 0-0-0, Mia Macleod 0-0-0. Totals: 27-3-63
Bourne (6-15) — Raeghan Blake 6-1-13, Nola Timo 5-0-12, Olivia Meda 3-3-10, Alexis Diede 1-0-2, Aubrey France 0-1-1, Saige Jacobson 0-0-0, Kailey Gilman 0-0-0, Mackenna Luce 0-0-0, Ashley Moore 0-0-0. Totals: 15-5-38.
Halftime: 45-6, Manchester Essex
3-Pointers: M, Oliver 3, Jakes, Brooks, C. Riggs; B, Timo 2, Meda.