TURNERS FALLS – A late surge, including eight visits to the free throw line in the fourth quarter, propelled visiting No. 20 St. Bernard’s over No. 13 Turners Falls Friday night in the MIAA Division 5 girls basketball Round of 32.
Led by senior Katie Boissoneau’s 23 points – with 13 coming in the final quarter – the Bernardians pulled away late as they knocked out the Thunder, 50-37, despite a valiant effort from Turners’ lone senior Emily Young, who scored 11 fourth-quarter points.
Thunder coach Jim Cadran said St. Bernard’s man-to-man defense, which Turners has not seen much of this year, was able to curb his team’s offense any time they got within striking range.
“That’s a good team down there. They played good defense, that’s something we probably don’t see all year long.” Cadran said. “Every time we got within two points or tied, they made a basket. It was an uphill fight all night long … I thought we battled for the whole game.”
Heading into halftime with a 19-14 deficit, Turners Falls jumped out of the gate with a 6-0 run on two quick baskets from freshman Madison Liimatainen. St. Bernard’s, however, quickly regained the lead and never relinquished it from there.
Cadran said his tem was able to gain some ground coming out of halftime after making some adjustments to the offense, but their opponents adapted quickly.
“We tried to get more cutting and passing,” Cadran said. “But they were quick, they switched on defense every time and they rebounded the ball well.”
Turners struck first blood on Liimatainen’s layup, and the score remained 2-0 for several minutes until St. Bernard’s senior Lindsey LeBlanc drained a 3-pointer, a lead the Bernardians held until the third quarter.
The Bernardians led the pace from there, coasting through the first quarter on a 9-2 run and taking that 9-2 advantage into the second frame.
From there, the Thunder scuffled offensively as several field goal attempts from the block went begging. The Bernadians were not without offensive struggles too, but were able to scratch out 11 points spread across the offense. Turners junior Morgan Dobias helped keep her team in it with five points in the quarter as St. Bernard’s held a 19-14 lead going into the break.
After falling behind three minutes into the third quarter, the Bernardians were able to secure a 30-24 lead heading into the fourth and that was the closest the Thunder got down the stretch.
The loss ends a successful Turners Falls girls basketball season, which saw the team capture its first league title in nearly 40 years. Cadran said with a young team, the future remains bright.
“We won the league championship for the first time in 39 years, we made Western Mass. and we got this far in the state,” Cadran said. “We had a fantastic season.”
Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.