His team was frustrated, missing layups and trailing by double digits. So, Bishop Brady girls’ basketball coach Sal Alosa called a timeout, he let his players do the talking.
“They just came over to the huddle and they started talking, they said, ‘Let’s wake up and play,’ and I kind of just let them go,” Alosa said. “They weren’t going to accept how things were going and they expressed that.”
The Giants woke up and expressed themselves with buckets on Sunday night in Northwood, dropping 31 points in the second quarter alone to run away with a 67-39 Division II quarterfinal win against Coe-Brown.
“We’re down to four and we’re still here and that’s the greatest thing right now,” Alosa said.
Brady (15-2) will now face Pelham (13-0) in Thursday’s 5 p.m. semifinal at Bedford High School. The Pythons pulled out a 60-59 quarterfinal win against Hollis Brookline in the quarterfinals after taking of Manchester West, 54-26, in the previous round.
The Giants had to play an extra game in the random-draw, open tournament, beating Sanborn (72-56) and Timberlane (61-38) on their way to Sunday’s quarters, where senior Ami Rivera led the way with 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists against Coe-Brown (5-12).
Libbey Hicks finished with 19 points, including four deep 3-pointers during Brady’s devastating second quarter. Isabella Rivera (eight points, six rebounds) and Halle Laramie (five points, eight rebounds, five assists) also stuffed the stat sheet for the Giants.
The Bears built an early 15-5 lead as Molly Ewing went to work inside, Valentia White was hitting from outside and Jennifer Bettencourt earned points from the free throw line. Brady missing on the other end, but that started to change at the end of the first quarter and Coe-Brown’s lead was down to just one, 16-15, after one. Not only did the Giants keep hitting shots in the second, they also held the Bears to only two points in the quarter and took a 46-18 lead into halftime.
“Everything was falling, everything was going our way, and these kids just soak that up,” Alosa said. “But as our AD (Tony Johnson) said to me, even when they were down they played with poise and confidence, and I totally agree. They have that mentality to go after it and they just keep going and going and going.”
And now they’re going to the final four for the third time in four years, and hoping to go one step further than they did in 2018 and 2020 when they lost in the semifinals.
“The kids are hungry and they’re playing well,” Alosa said. “I hope they can keep it up and get to that final stage on Sunday, they deserve that.”
Bedford 66, Concord 51
Key players: Bedford – Isabella King (19 points), Lana McCarthy (16 points); Concord – Ava Woodman (21 points), Sofia Payne (9 points), Elizabeth Blinn (10 points)
Highlights: The Crimson Tide kept things close in the early stages of this D-I quarterfinal in Bedford, but a mix of turnovers and missed shots led a six-point second quarter and a 36-16 halftime lead for the Bulldogs.
Coach’s quote: “We struggled in the first half and really couldn’t get much going offensively. We compounded this by having some defensive breakdowns and letting up offensive rebounds. In the second half, our girls showed a lot of heart and pride and never gave up. The word that can be used to describe our season is perseverance. We struggled to start the year. With such a young group you need a preseason to figure out exactly what you have and build the chemistry you need. We really didn’t start figuring it all out until the middle of the schedule. It was so much fun to watch our girls grow, improve and learn to trust each other on the court. We have so much to be excited about moving forward. I am very proud of our only senior, Jordyn Lengle. We came in to CHS together four years ago and she has been a huge part of this program’s improvement. Her pride, and her ability to rally us together, will certainly be missed.” – Concord’s Tim LaTorra
Records: Bedford 10-2; Concord 7-7