Bourne Girls' Basketball Dominates Old Rochester

By: Dan Crowley
Published: 02/21/13

 With a share of the South Coast Conference title on the line the Lady Canalmen (17-3, 14-2 SCC) had made up their mind: Old Rochester (15-4, 14-2 SCC) wasn’t beating them again. On January 11 at Old Rochester, the Bulldogs dealt Bourne their first loss of the season by a score of 45-38. It was payback time Tuesday night and the Lady Canalmen let ORR know right out of the gate that this night belonged to Bourne as they pounded the Bulldogs 44-16.

The Lady Canalmen dropped the hammer quickly in the opening quarter. Chelsea Doucette hit a couple of jumpers, Shelby Corsano dropped in two from the free-throw line, Brie Girouard drove to the hoop for a couple and Doucette set up Stacie Tonello for a 3-pointer as BHS stunned the Bulldogs taking a 13-2 lead by the end of the first quarter.
“They can’t run with us,” Coach Mike Tierney said. “We were running right by them.”

Defensively Bourne was on fire. The pressure forced six first-quarter ORR turnovers and both Doucette and Tonello had blocked shots.

As she had done to open the game, Doucette lit up the Bulldogs early in the second quarter. Corsano came away with a steal that she took the length of the floor for a lay-up. Amanda Pomeroy and Corsano knocked down a couple from the line and Pomeroy ended the first half with a final slap when she hit a jumper in the final second to give BHS a 23-9 lead at the break.

Regrouped after the halftime break, but with their heads still spinning, the Bulldogs needed to turn things around quickly and get back into the game. Pomeroy dealt them a quick blow with a 3-pointer from the right side baseline, which she followed up with a jumper. Girouard again got inside for two, Pomeroy hit again and Corsano turned a takeaway into two more points as Bourne ended the third with a 22-point (34-12) lead.

Defensively Bourne was stifling. In the third quarter ORR had one field goal and made one free throw.

With eight minutes left to play and everything crashing down around them, the Bulldogs needed a spark. Instead Corsano opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer from the left side, Amanda Wright hit from the line and then on the next trip down the floor Wright set up Corsano on a drive to the hoop for two more.

Lauren Callahan and Olivia Cotton each put up a couple of points giving Bourne a 30-point lead. With a minute left in the game, ORR managed their first field goal of the fourth quarter.

“That was probably one of our best defensive efforts,” Coach Tierney said. “We played a straight half court man-to-man and they were paralyzed.”

Bourne’s defense forced 22 turnovers. Corsano topped all scorers with 12 points, four rebounds and a 3-pointer. Pomeroy had 11 points, four rebounds and a trey. Doucette added nine points and five rebounds. Girouard hauled down five rebounds and Tonello had eight rebounds. Bourne shot 9-for-17 from the line. The top scorers for Old Rochester were Gabbie Reuter and Michaela Bouvette, who each had four points. As a team the Bulldogs had one 3-pointer and went 3-for-4 from the free-throw line.

“Stacie Tonello just swallowed up Katie Wilbur, who is one of the top scorers in the conference,” the coach added. “Wilbur didn’t score. Stacie was unbelievable.”

The MIAA will announce the seedings and brackets for the state tournament tomorrow.

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