NORTH ANDOVER – The Pentucket Regional girls had the dream start to the Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic on Saturday afternoon, bursting to a 16-0 lead.
The Panthers put it on cruise control from there, never losing the advantage to prevail over North Andover, 43-32.
Sunday afternoon at 2:30, back here at Merrimack College, Pentucket will face either Central Catholic or Natick High in the tourney semis.
“We scored a lot of points in the paint. Our post players were active, got a lot of rebounds, and kind of carried us when we weren’t playing our best,” said Pentucket coach John McNamara.
Chloe Dancewicz led the way with 15 points, while Devin Walsh and Amelia Crowe pitched in 11 apiece to pace the Panthers.
Gritty North Andover showed tons of fight, grinding back into it at 23-19 in the second quarter and 26-19 at the half.
While the Pentucket lead hovered in double figures, McNamara would have liked a little more cushion along the way.
Pentucket’s seasoning and experience showed through, though.
“You have to have that instinct when you’re looking to finish the game off instead of making it a fourth-quarter game,” the coach said. Credit to (North Andover), they worked their tails off. They cut it to four.
‘We have to handle the pressure better. When North Andover picked up the intensity, it got us out of our game.”
Pentucket 43, North Andover 32
NA (32): Mary McSweeney 0-1-1, Sophia Bowman 3-2-9, Courtney Fritts 2-3-7, Morgan Ayers 1-2-4, Arianna DiTullio 2-2-7, Lara Uluoglu 1-1-4, Totals 9-11-32
Pentucket (43): Sofia Bellacqua 0-1-1, Allie Gagnon 1-1-3, Bella Hernandez 0-2-2, Amelia Crowe 4-2-11, Devyn Walsh 5-1-11, Chloe Dancewicz 6-2-15, Totals 16-9-43
3-pointers: NA – Bowman, DiTullio, Uluoglu; P – Crowe, Dancewicz