Lenox Advances Past Greenfield
LENOX, Mass. – Claire O’Brien scored 16 points, and the Lenox girls basketball team Thursday advanced to the Sweet 16 of the Division 5 State Tournament with a 56-36 win over Greenfield.
O’Brien made four of the Millionaires’ 10 3-pointers, and Lenox used an 8-0 first-half run to take control.
O’Brien started that run with a triple to erase Greenfield’s last lead and give her team a 16-14 advantage.
“We worked a lot on passing in and kicking out, and I think we used that a lot this game,” O’Brien said. “I think our quick passes helped us get open shots.”
Evelyn Julieano scored 10 points, and Grace Julieano scored nine points and pulled down seven rebounds.
Tayler Bergeron scored a game-high 23 for the Green Wave, but the Millionaires were finally able to hold her scoreless in the fourth quarter.
Lenox coach Nicole Patella said the Millionaires wanted to make someone else from Greenfield beat them.
“[Bergeron] is a good player,” Patella said. “We tried to double her a little bit. But she’s tough under there. We figured if we doubled and let somebody else shoot it that we were doing OK.”
After O’Brien’s 3 gave Lenox a lead going to the second quarter, Grace Julieano started the period with a bucket in the post. O’Brien connected from the top of the key, and Grace Julieano drew a shooting foul in the post and made one to give Lenox a 21-14 lead.
The Millionaires were up by 10 at half-time after Katie Shove (seven points, seven rebounds) closed the second with a triple to make it 30-20.
Five straight points from Bergeron got the Green Wave within six midway through the third quarter, but Lenox scored 10 straight to put the game out of reach.
Shove hit a 3 with an assist from Evelyn Julieano, Layla Soules drove the left wing for a basket, and O’Brien provided a 3 and a bucket in the post to make it 45-29 in the final minute of the third.
“We talked about making the extra pass in the locker room,” Patella said. “We have a lot of good sets. Obviously, we set up Claire [O’Brien] a lot. … We’ve got to find the opening in the zone and make that extra pass. So they did that much better in the second half, I thought.”
Lenox also did a good job defensively all game, creating extra possessions with 26 forced turnovers. Thursday marked the third time in the last five games that Lenox has held an opponent in the 30s.
Now the 12th-seeded Millionaires (6-13) await the winner of Sunday’s game between No. 5 Lee and either Atlantis Charter and KIPP Charter, who play their snow-delayed preliminary round game on Saturday afternoon.
The Wildcats beat Lenox, 61-33, in the season opener and again, 53-41, on Jan. 22.
“It would feel pretty good to play Lee, to be honest,” O’Brien said. “This is our rival. We always end up playing Lee in states. It’s a big game. We’ve really improved this year, and I think we’re going to give them some great competition. It’s going to be a really good game.”