The Old Rochester Regional High School girls basketball team hosted Arlington Catholic on February 27 in the first round of the MIAA Division 3 state tournament. Entering the game, the 13th-seeded Bulldogs (15-6) wanted to make sure they were ready, as they had lost in the opening round last year. But this time they took care of business, winning 72-60.
“The girls have done a tremendous job of preparing. We wanted to come in with an aggressive mentality and run offense, play really good defense, and not turn the ball over,” said ORR Head Coach Rick Regan.
Old Rochester did just that.
Halfway through the first quarter, the Bulldogs jumped to an 8-2 lead with multiple buckets in the paint. It was back and forth through the rest of the quarter, with ORR on top 19-14 by the end of it. The Bulldogs were up 27-18 at 4:20 seconds left in the half, but 20th-seeded Arlington (10-13) was not backing down. The Cougars went on a 10-0 run to end the half with a 1-point lead.
Old Rochester made some changes at halftime and started the third quarter hot with an 8-0 run. The Bulldogs were shooting the three at an unreal rate in the third, and it ultimately gave them a lead of 48-41 going into the fourth quarter. It was a big momentum boost from the second quarter.
“We switched up a little bit on defense. We went diamond and 1 on number five (Nora Simpson) to take her out (of the offense) a little bit,” said Regan. “(Simpson) got really hot at the end of the first half. We thought that (strategy) kind of changed the game a little bit, and it got us moving offensively because then we could get in transition.”
Old Rochester shot 52% from three this game, making 12 shots from beyond the arc.
“The focus is to move the basketball, and if the three is open, we take it. But we love getting the ball inside, especially with Hannah Thorell and Emma Johnson. But when we have shooters that are hot, we love to get them.”
The Bulldogs were an underdog in Tuesday night’s Round of 16 game at fourth-seeded Medway (16-5).
Caroline Brogioli scored six 3-pointers last game against New Bedford, and Emerson Gonet scored six against Arlington Catholic, both tying the school record for threes made in a game. Johnson had 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. Brogioli had 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists, as Emerson had 18 points, all off of three-pointers.
ORR Boys Basketball
The Bulldogs faced Tantasqua Regional in the Division 3 state tournament on February 28 and won, 58-47. Gavin Martin had a great game, scoring 25 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and had 8 steals on the defensive end. Brody Hiles and Grady Oliveira each had 10 points, and Hunter Horsey had 9. Old Rochester was down 29-23 at halftime but outscored Number 13 Tantasqua by 17 points in the second half to bring home the victory. The 20th-seeded Bulldogs took a 12-9 record into Wednesday’s Round of 16 home game against Norton in the round of 16. Norton, seeded 36th, won two tournament games on the road by a total of three points to reach the Round of 16, most recently upsetting fourth-seeded Shawsheen Valley Tech (18-3). For those who see this article on March 5 at wanderer.com, the ORR-Norton game tips off at 6:00 pm.
Old Colony Boys Basketball
The Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School boys basketball team has done it again, traveling far from Rochester to win its opening game in the Division 5 state tournament. The 17th-seeded Cougars handed 16th seeded Notre Dame Cristo Rey of Methuen its second loss of the season in a 67-59 decision that gave Old Colony its 21st win against 2 losses. The Round of 16 task was more daunting, as the Cougars traveled 128 miles to Northfield on Tuesday to take on top-seeded Pioneer Valley (21-0), which won its opening-round game by 50 points.
Sports Roundup
By Aiden Comorosky