NORTH ANDOVER — The seeds held to form on the girls side of the 2023 Commonwealth Motors Classic, but there were some tense moments for sure.
No. 1 Central Catholic, No. 2 Pentucket, No. 3 Andover and No. 4 Methuen all advanced to Thursday’s semifinals with wins.
Here’s how the day broke down on the girls side.
Pfeil delivers for Rangers
In a game of spurts that found itself knotted at 41-41 inside of two minutes, everyone in the Lawler Arena including the Natick High girls knew Methuen was going to its prime-time player, Samantha Pfeil.
It mattered little.
Pfeil, a returning Eagle-Tribune Super Teamer headed to Southern New Hampshire next year, slayed Natick with back-to-back NBA-range threes, leading Methuen to the hard-fought 50-44 win.
“I just had to work to get myself open and make my shots,” said Pfeil, who finished with a game-high 24 points and pulled down a dozen rebounds in the win. “We played together, as a team, and I knocked my shots down.
“That was scary (at 41-41). When the first one went down, I was just very happy to see it.”
Methuen sprinted out of the gate with a 15-4 spurt, and it looked like the Rangers would walk in the opener.
But Natick played with grit defensively, and that combined with flashy Ranger sophomore Jasalyn Mora’s foul trouble tightened things up considerably.
Up 25-21 at the break, the Rangers saw that lead evaporate in a hurry with six straight from Natick.
A Rhaelyn Gutierrez three slowed the bleeding, but things stayed tight the rest of the way until Pfeil took matters into her own able hands.
Knights battle, fall
No. 7 North Andover gave second-seeded Pentucket Regional all it could handle before falling, 36-32.
The Panthers, now 3-0, led nearly the whole way, but North Andover just kept coming at them.
Down 18-10 at the half, Knights’ senior Janie Papell shot her team back into it with three threes in a 13-point third quarter. The teams went to the fourth knotted at 27-27.
Pentucket struck first to re-take the lead. A pair of Sydney Rogers free throws sliced the margin to 30-29 late in the fourth before Amelia Crowe’s rebound stickback of an airball right at the shot-clock buzzer pushed it back to 32-29.
Gabby Bellacqua’s runner made it a five-point game at 34-29 before the Knights made one last lunge, after Maria Benvenuto matched the last Panther bucket with a pair of free throws.
Rogers hit one of two at the line to make it 36-32, and somehow got her hands on the rebound.
She drove and carved through three Panthers and scooped a banker that just rolled off with under a minute to go.
With that, Pentucket had survived as the Knights would not score again.
Papell finished with 15 for North Andover, and Rogers had seven.
Margolis on the money
When No. 6 Westford Academy made its run, Cate Margolis had the answers for Andover.
The senior hit three big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to lift the Warriors up and past the Grey Ghosts, 50-35.
Up 33-20 after three quarters, Andover saw the lead drop to eight at 36-28.
But Arissa Dorelas and Margolis nailed back-to-back threes for the Warriors, providing some much-needed breathing room in the win.
Margolis finished with a game-high 15 points, all on threes, to pace the Warriors, and Dorelas had 13.
Ella Vidoni added nine and floor general Michaela Buckley ran things supremely, per usual, in an eight-point night.
Raiders roll over Hillies
As expected, top-seeded Central Catholic had its way with No. 8 Haverhill, 72-23.
Kerri Finneran led a balanced Raider attack with 13 points, all in the first half in which Central built a 38-10 lead. Aniela Kwo and Abby Dick pitched in 10 apiece.
Haverhill’s Sydney Spencer paced the Hillies with a game-high 15 points.
Natick (1-3): Christina Lopas 1-1-4, Katie Stopka 4-0-8, Bridget Pole 2-0-5, Kira Henderson 3-3-9, True Liner 1-4-6, Sammy Collins 0-1-1, Olivia Penn 2-2-7, Katie McMahon 2-0-4, Totals 15-11-44
Methuen (3-0): Mackenzie Corrigan 1-0-2, Sam Pfeil 8-4-24, Jasalyn Mora 7-4-18, Rhaelyn Gutierrez 2-0-6, Totals 18-8-50
3-Pointers: N – Lopas, Pole, Penn; M – Pfeil 4, Gutierrez 2
Haverhill (1-3): Grace Wood 0-1-1, Sydney Spencer 4-5-15, Makallya Cederman 1-0-2, Natalie Libby 0-5-5, Totals 5-11-23
Central (3-1): Addison Beers 1-0-2, Shaelagh Green 2-3-7, Aniela Kwo 4-2-10, Caroline Vient 3-1-8, Abby Yfantopulos 2-1-5, Sam Guertin 4-0-8, Kerri Finneran 4-5-13, Abby Dick 3-3-10, Lilly Phillips 1-0-2, Alana Shanahan 2-2-7, Totals 26-17-72
3-pointers: H – Spencer 2; CC – Vient, Dick, Shanahan
North Andover (1-3): Janie Papell 3-6-15, Daragh Bentley 3-0-6, Maria Benvenuto 0-4-4, Sydney Rogers 2-3-7, Totals 8-13-32
Pentucket (3-0): Sofia Bellacqua 1-1-3, Allie Gagnon 0-1-1, Ava DiBurro 5-0-13, Gabby Bellacqua 2-2-6, Carly Foley 1-0-2, Amelia Crowe 2-2-6, Chloe Dancewicz 2-0-5, Totals 13-6-36
3-pointers: NA — Papell 3; P – DiBurro 3, Dancewicz
Westford (0-4): Abby Baker 1-0-2, Molly Harding 2-1-6, Alexa Coward 2-0-6, Hannah Lupien 2-0-6, Brooke Nielsen 1-0-2, Kaitlyn Pepin 3-0-6, Faith Williams 2-3-7, Totals 13-4-35
Andover (4-1): Arissa Dorelas 5-2-13, Cate Margolis 5-0-15, Michaela Buckley 3-2-8, Gloria Igwe 2-1-5, Ella Vidoni 4-1-9, Totals 19-6-50
3-pointers: W – Harding, Coward 2; A – Dorelas, Margolis 5