Girls Basketball vs. Sandwich

GAME RECAP: Sandwich at Marshfield (January 30, 2009)

Final Score: Marshfield 62, Sandwich 47

Wow. That pretty much summarizes the night for Marshfield’s sophomore sensation Nicole Beresford, who posted the kind of stat line LeBron James himself would be proud of (36 points, 16 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 assists, 1 block). Beresford was unstoppable out of the gate, racking 15 points in the first quarter alone, and she contributed steadily through the rest of the game, earning 9 of her 19 second-half points at the foul line.

Emerging star Erin Doherty, a freshman forward for the Rams, posted a double-double in her third straight home game (10 points, 12 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 steals, 1 assist). Her success is made all the more impressive because she’s not yet a starter for the Rams, but she’s still managed to become the team’s third-leading scorer (behind Beresford and junior forward Kendra Kerr) and second-leading rebounder (just behind Beresford), despite playing only about two and a half quarters in most games.

Kendra Kerr also played strong for the Rams (9 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals), and the team’s senior captains and backcourt tandem of Lindsey Morrison (9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals) and Jenn Dowd (7 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals) funneled the offense to the Rams’ top scorers while playing their usual brand of stifling defense.

Other top contributors for the Rams included senior forward Carley Lenahan (5 points, 2 blocks, 2 rebounds) and senior guard Ashley Cox (2 points, 2 blocks, 1 assist, 1 rebound).

As expected, there was no quit in the Sandwich team all night long. Despite being down by 17 with 3:41 left in the first half, the Blue Knights took advantage of Beresford’s lengthy second quarter stint on the Marshfield bench (due to foul trouble) by clawing their way back to within 6 at the break.

In the second half, the Knights kept pressuring all the way into the final minutes of the game. They were within 9 with just over two minutes remaining, but a missed layup and putback that would have tightened the margin to 7 was the final turning point, as the Rams pulled away one last time, leading to the 62-47 final score.

Leading the way for Sandwich were seniors Amy Jordan (11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block) and Melissa Morrissey (9 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block, 1 assist). Other top contributors included senior Sarah Sprague (6 points) and sophomores Kenny Antonowicz (5 points, 6 assists), Frani Davis (7 points), and Emily Kent (6 points).

The win pushed Marshfield one step closer to the ACL title, as they remain undefeated in league play (12-2 overall). The deciding game for the Rams will almost undoubtedly be their road game next Friday in Falmouth against a Clippers team with only 1 league loss (at the hands of the Rams). In the end, that game might simply differentiate whether Marshfield takes the title outright or has to share it with Falmouth, but it’s an important distinction for the Rams, who aren’t looking to share the crown with anyone else. Up first is a long road trip down to Nauset on Tuesday to take on the Warriors.

Dan Bargar and Kyle Dapkas called the game for MSB, and their commentary is featured in the highlight reel below. In addition MSB correspondent and Rams senior captain Lindsey Morrison filed a post-game field report for us with fellow captain Jenn Dowd and team star Nicole Beresford.

HIGHLIGHT REEL:

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FIELD REPORT:

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Girls Basketball vs. Plymouth North

GAME RECAP: Plymouth North at Marshfield (January 27, 2009)

Final Score: Marshfied 72, Plymouth North 40

The Marshfield High School girls basketball team has found great success so far this season. Heading into the final weeks of their regular season schedule, the team has compiled an 11-2 record, including their latest victory, 72-40, over a visiting Plymouth North team.

Leading the way for the Rams on Tuesday was the usual suspect, sophomore Nicole Beresford, who recorded a double-double against the Eagles (20 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 assists). The other double-double in the game was posted by the young lady who has to be the best sixth-player in the ACL, freshman Erin Doherty, who came off the bench to record 15 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal. Junior Kendra Kerr also scored her typical double-digit total, chipping in with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists, and 1 block. Senior Carley Lenahan also helped the team’s cause with 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Excellent defensive performances were put forth by senior captains and back-court mates Jenn Dowd (2 points, 6 assists, 4 steals, 1 rebound) and Lindsey Morrison (2 points, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 rebound).

The other most noteworthy stat line of the night came from sophomore Kim Robbins, who only played in the final four minutes of the game when the outcome was no longer in question and the starters for both teams were on the bench; however, even in light of those circumstances, it was still highly impressive to see her spend four minutes on the court and record 9 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 points.

Clearly, the Rams’ future looks bright; their top three offensive players (Beresford, Kerr, and Doherty) will all return next year, and their backup guards, junior Francesca Miceli and sophomore Kelly Fitzgerald, have continued to improve throughout the year. Of course, everybody’s focus is fixed sharply and exclusively on this year’s campaign, but  it’s nice for fans to know that there’s plenty of promise and potential for long-term success in the MHS girls hoop program.

As far as the Eagles performance went on Tuesday, the North squad played even with Marshfield through the first quarter, and stayed competitive until halftime, but the Rams pulled away for good in the third quarter. However, Plymouth North saw strong performances by Jazzmin Silva (12 points, 5 assists, 5 steals, 2 rebounds), Antonia Capella (12 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal), and Shana Follette (6 points, 6 steals, 5 rebounds, 4 assists).

Looking down the short-term road, the Marshfield girls will get an idea of how good they truly are over the next couple of weeks. Their upcoming schedule includes a rematch on the road against Somerville, who sits atop the Greater Boston League standings, as well as home-and-away games against a strong Fontbonne team, whose top player, Alexis Peters, averages 17.1 points per game. On Friday night, Marshfield will host a Sandwich team that won last year’s league title and currently sits in 3rd place in the ACL standings. The girls also still have to travel over the bridge on February 6th to take on a Falmouth team whose only league loss was to the Rams, 57-45, although the Clippers were without their experienced point guard in the first match-up on January 13th; her healthy presence back in the lineup, along with a Friday night home-court advantage for the Clippers, will make that game a much more formidable challenge than the first clash between the two teams. Once all these games have played themselves out, the Rams should feel battle-tested heading into the state tournament, but Marshfield fans are hoping they can get to that tournament with a league title on their resume.

A highlight reel from Tuesday’s game is available below, along with a post-game field report from MSB correspondent Brittany Viall.

HIGHLIGHT REEL:

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FIELD REPORT:

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Prom Anti-Drinking Video 2007

This video was put together by Cam Macfarlane (’07), Jenn Cannon (’07), Mike DuBois (’07) and several others who helped in various ways. Of course, we are thankful to the Marshfield police and fire departments for their help in making this video (obviously we couldn’t have done it without them).

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Boys Hockey vs. Sandwich

After a frustrating start to the season, the Marshfield boys hockey team is hoping to re-establish themselves as contenders in the Division 1 picture as the post-season approaches. Undoubtedly, they took a couple of major steps toward that goal this week by beating #2 ranked Hingham on Wednesday, 4-3, and then defending Division 2 state champion Sandwich on Saturday, 5-2.

Sophomore Ryan Connors, who leads the team in goals and points (9 goals, 8 assists), scored a goal in both big wins for the Rams, and his goal against Sandwich was the first tally of the game, coming off assists by seniors Tim Graham and Dave Gomez.

Later in the first period, junior Conor Mahoney scored his first goal of the season, assisted by senior captain Bryan Hernon and senior defenseman Mike Valenti, and the Rams went back to the locker room with a 2-0 lead.

The second period saw Marshfield build upon their lead, as senior captain Mike Sweeney took a pass from junior defenseman Pat Lema and broke loose up the left side past a Sandwich defender; Sweeney quickly gathered himself and sniped a shot past the Sandwich goalie, giving the Rams a 3-0 advantage.

Of course, Sandwich wasn’t about to concede anything to their ACL rival hosts, and they finally solved the Marshfield defense later in the second frame when Sean Gallagher was able to put a shot past Rams goalie Will Lundberg, who played an excellent game in net.

Perhaps the most critical sequence of the game came later in the second period when two Marshfield penalties in quick succession led to a 5-on-3 Sandwich advantage for over a minute. However, the Rams played stout under pressure–Hernon even broke loose up the ice on a breakaway opportunity (leading to a nice save by the Sandwich goalie)–and the power play opportunity proved fruitless for the Blue Knights.

With momentum up for grabs just before the second intermission, junior defender Eric Wiedemann intercepted a clear attempt near the Sandwich goal and fired a quick shot from a tough angle; the shot zipped through the legs of Mahoney, who was blocking the sight line of Sandwich’s goalie, and the traffic kept the netminder from picking up the shot until it was making its way through his five-hole for another score, allowing Marshfield to close out the period with a 4-1 lead.

Sandwich kept fighting throughout the final frame, and they scored a beautiful goal when Craig Brubaker, the star of last year’s state championship game, buried a shot past Lundberg, keeping hope alive for the Knights.

A series of Marshfield penalties late in the period chipped in to help the Sandwich cause (and frustrate Marshfield head coach Dan Connolly), but with the goalie pulled in the final minute of the game, freshman defender Brennan Quakenbush picked off a Sandwich pass and flipped a shot into the empty net from center ice, closing out the scoring at 5-2 in favor of the Rams.

Commentators Dan Bargar and Mike Dalton called the game for MSB, and their take on the action is featured in the highlight reel below. A post game field-report is also available, courtesy of MSB correspondent Matty DiGrigoli.

Highlight Reel:

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Field Report:

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Girls Hockey vs. Hingham

Despite a game effort from the Lady Rams on Saturday night, the Hingham girls hockey team took a 5-1 victory over host Marshfield.

Freshman Emily Matthews scored the first goal of the game, giving Marshfield a brief lead, but Hingham answered shortly thereafter with two quick goals, leading to a 2-1 advantage for Hingham going into the second period.

Marshfield’s defense fought diligently all night long, and they were able to fend off the Harborwomen for most of the second frame, but with 3:31 to go in the period, a Hingham forward slipped a shot past the outstretched leg of Rams goalie Tori Clark. To make matters worse for Marshfield, another Hingham forward took caught hold of the face-off, split the Marshfield defenders, and blasted another quick shot past Clark, scoring Hingham’s fourth goal just 6 seconds after they’d scored their third goal.

The 4-1 score held until midway through the final period, when Hingham scored their final tally of the night, leading to the 5-1 final.

Despite the final score, the most noteworthy performance of the night for Marshfield was turned in by junior netminder Clark, who put forth arguably her best performance of the season, making some fantastic stops to limit the most prolific offensive attack Marshfield has faced this year.

The goals from the game are available on the highlight reel below:

Goals from the game:

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