MARBLEHEAD — A start that any basketball coach would dream of resulted in a long awaited triumph of the Peabody High girls Monday night.
Racing out to an unfathomable 23-0 lead, the Tanners controlled the Larry McIntire Board IIABO 130 Classic championship game throughout and won the tournament for the first time in six tries by defeating Reading, 60-47, at Marblehead High.
Tournament MVP Olivia Gaynor, one of four senior captains for Peabody, sunk a 3-pointer right off the bat and bookended her team’s remarkable run with another 3-pointer before the Rockets avoided being shut out for the entire first quarter with just five seconds left.
“We just all put it together, honestly, right from the start,” said Gaynor, a future player for the St. Joseph’s of Maine Monks. She scored all of her game-high 16 points Monday in the first half and had 26 total in the two-day tournament, including Sunday’s victory over Marblehead.
“We got the energy sparked up in the first quarter, and it helped us control the whole game.”
Peabody (14-6) had been to the Larry Mac finals twice previously, but this was their first time raising the hardware.
Both Gaynor and 16-year-old sophomore Olivia Ball hit four 3-pointers, which the latter coming off the bench to do so. All 13 Peabody players got into the contest, with seven of them scoring.
“Every game we’re loud and intense on the bench,” said Ball, who was 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. “We all brought that into this game.”
“These kids have been with us all season long,” added veteran head coach Stan McKeen, “and it was important to get everyone in so they could contribute to a win like this. It was a great team effort.”
Gaynor had 11 points in the first quarter scoring blitz for the Tanners, who also got four points each from Lizzie Bettencourt and captain Sophia Coburn (9 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) over the first eight minutes, along with a slash to the basket for two more points by Ava Ryan and a pair of free throws from Avery Bettencourt, another All-Tournament member who wound up with eight points.
“Liv hit that early 3 and we started rolling,” said McKeen. “We rebounded well, played well defensively, and really moved the basketball to find the open player. That was as good as we’ve done that since midseason.”
Avery Bettencourt (8) and Ava Ryan (7) also added to Peabody’s offense. Defensively, Aliana Ryan did solid work shutting down Reading’s top outside threat, Charlotte Robichaud, holding her to just four points.
“The goal was to shut off that No. 24, and Aliana did a really good job of that,” said Coburn, who will play college basketball at Salve Regina.
Peabody finished the regular season by winning eight of its final nine games and will go into the Division 1 state playoffs with a 14-6 record. They are hoping to squeeze into the Top 32 when the final power rankings are announced Saturday, so that they’d be able to host a preliminary round postseason game.
“It honestly would mean a lot to have another game at home as a senior,” said Gaynor. “It would bring our energy up a lot and be really meaningful.”
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In the consolation game Monday, Marblehead defeated North Andover, 44-31. All-Tournament team member Tessa Andriano of the Magicians led her team with 13 points, giving her 30 in the two-day tournament.
Peabody 60, Reading 47
Larry McIntire IAABO Board 130 Championship Game
at Marblehead High
Reading: Tess Weaver 1-0-2, Elizabeth O’Brien 2-0-4, Stella Harrington 5-4-17, Emma Nelson 2-2-7, Charlotte Robichaud 1-1-4, Celia Harrington 5-3-13, Haley McNeice 0-0-0. Totals 15-10-47.
Peabody: Olivia Gaynor 6-0-16, Avery Bettencourt 2-4-8, Sophia Coburn 4-1-9, Aliana Ryan 0-0-0, Elizabeth Bettencourt 2-0-4, Jayda Nagle 0-0-0, Ava Ryan 3-1-7, Gabriella Gosselin 0-0-0, Brielle Broughton 0-0-0, Ayla Ryan 0-0-0, Olivia Ball 4-0-12, Taylor King 0-0-0, Sophia Galbiati 2-0-4. Totals 23-6-60.
Halftime: Peabody, 36-16.
Three-pointers: R, Harrington 3, Nelson, Robichaud; P, Gaynor 4, Ball 4.
Records: P, 14-6; R, 7-13.