Concord, NH - This afternoon the third seeded Seawolves faced off against the top seeded Saints of CSJ in an attempt to claim the YSCC championship title. The Lady Seawolves trailed by as many 16 points in the second half of today's game and despite an impressive comeback, going ahead by one point with 2:48 remaining, the Saints were able to come away with a hard fought 72-67 triumph.
The opening ten minutes of the first half saw the teams exchanging baskets and the score knotted at 23-23. The Saints dominated the second twenty minutes, outscoring SMCC 17-6 with just over a minute remaining in the half but shooting guard Abigail Nielsen (North Yarmouth, ME) drilled a deep three at the buzzer to close the Saints' lead to single digits, entering the break down 40-32.
The momentum the Seawolves took into the locker room was short-lived as the Saints scored six unanswered points to kick off second half action. The Saints built up their largest lead of the game, 50-34, with 17:10 left to play. Just when it looked like there was little hope for the Seawolves, Nielsen converted on a layup that spurred a 6-0 SMCC run, shaving the lead back to ten points. CSJ's Chontavia Kennedy ended the SMCC offensive streak with a layup but Amira Jones (Chicopee, MA) responded with a layup of her own which was followed by nothing-but-net three pointer from shooting guard Samantha Griffin (Union, ME) cutting the lead to 52-45.
CSJ was able to expand the lead back to twelve, 59-47, with ten minutes left to play but the Seawolves would not give up. SMCC proceeded to score 11 straight points, eight of those coming from Jones to cut the lead to just a single point 59-58. A layup by Jordan Turner (Casco, ME) at the 4:22 mark knotted the game at 61-61 and with just under three minutes remaining Nielsen hit her second three of the game to give the Seawolves the lead, 64-63, for the first time in the second half. Unfortunately the Seawolves struggled to generate offense in the final two and half minutes and were plagued with turnovers that allowed CSJ to secure the YSCC championship with a 72-67 win.
Jones led the Seawolves with a game-highs in both points with 21 and rebounds with 15. For her efforts she was honored as the Offensive Player of the YSCC Elite 8 Tournament. Turner ended the game with nine points, nine rebounds and four assists and Nielsen netted eight points and forward Alicia Hoyt (Steep Falls, ME) neared a double-double for the Seawolves scoring nine points and grabbing eight rebounds.
Leading the way for the Saints were tournament MVP ,Kennedy, and Defensive Player of the tournament, Regina Steele, who each netted 17 points. Steele also added 15 rebounds and seven blocked shots. Shooting guard Jazz Laracuente scored a team high 18 points for the Saints.
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