Pembroke Academy girls’ basketball team remains undefeated after playoff opener

The Spartans went undefeated in the regular season and when they opened the playoffs on Saturday night they showed everyone why.

After a week-long layoff due to receiving a first-round bye, the Spartans came onto their home floor shot out of a cannon, playing a nearly flawless first half.

They moved the ball, they shot well from 3-point range and forced turnovers to take a 19-point lead at halftime and the No. 1 Pembroke Academy girls’ basketball team (19-0) bested the No. 8 Coe-Brown Northwood Academy Bears (13-7), 58-41, in Saturday night’s quarterfinal.

Junior guard Anne Phillips (20 points, three rebounds, three assists, three steals), senior forward Hailey Steinmetz (12 points, six rebounds, three assists) and senior guard Ava Strazzeri (seven points) all connected on triples in the first quarter to give Pembroke an 18-5 lead at the end of the first quarter, and senior guard Kate Stephens (15 points, five assists, four rebounds, three steals, two blocks) scored a pair of 3s in the second quarter to lead the Spartans to a 28-9 lead at halftime.

“To be able to come in with a week off and build momentum right out of the gate, that’s huge,” Pembroke head coach Noah Cummings said. “When you haven’t played and you’re trying to get into the playoff groove, it can be a slow start sometimes. The girls came out and showed they were ready to play against a strong Coe-Brown team.”

Pembroke had nine assists and shot 10-for-22 (45%) from the field, while the Bears didn’t get a single assist and shot just 3-for-21 (14%) over the first 16 minutes.

“All year long we’ve had a very high assists to field goals made ratio. These girls are so unselfish,” Cummings said. “They care about each other. All they want to do is win. So when you have that in mind, it doesn’t matter who is scoring. Everyone is trying to find the best shot.”

That depth and balance, combined with near-perfect execution, made the Spartans impossible to stop in the first half, which isn’t what the Bears faced when they last met on Feb. 19 (Pembroke won 51-41).

“We saw a senior led team, undefeated, come out with energy,” Coe-Brown head coach Joe Vachon said. “When we came here the last time it wasn’t like that. (Pembroke) took control. I had to challenge (my players) at halftime. All I wanted was for them to come out fighting and leave here with respect. I think they got it.”

Coe-Brown earned that respect by winning the majority of battles on the boards in the second half and forcing turnovers to start scoring in transition, although the Spartans still extended their lead to 44-22 through three quarters.

The Bears continued grabbing rebounds in the fourth quarter and their deficit started to shrink. Shots that weren’t landing in the first half started to connect. Coe-Brown shot 13-for-30 (43%) in the second half, a higher percentage than the Spartans (9-for-26, 35%) over the final 16 minutes of action.

Junior Brooke Main (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Tara Houle, and senior Madison Taylor (eight points, four rebounds, three assists) all hit 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and helped cut Pembroke’s lead down to 14, 48-34, midway through the frame. Freshman Ava Schaeffer (eight points, five rebounds) and junior Jaymee Bartlett (six points, six rebounds) were also key contributors.

But the Bears had to start fouling late and the Spartans shot a combined 14-for-17 from the line to start pulling away again. Phillips shot a perfect 6-for-6 from the line in the fourth quarter and scored 10 of her team’s 14 fourth-quarter points to prevent any hope of a comeback.

For the Bears, Taylor scored all eight of her points in her final quarter as a Bear. Taylor, the team’s only senior, and junior Emma Lapierre were the only two players who entered this season with any varsity basketball experience. Coe-Brown will return more experienced next season, but it didn’t make the ending of this one any easier.

“That locker room was tough (after the game). Maddy has given everything to our program,” Vachon said. “Not a lot of dry eyes in there. That locker room is never easy.”

Meanwhile, the Spartans advance to the semifinals, where they will face No. 4 Pelham (16-4). Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday night at Exeter High School.

“We have nine players all the time who are able to contribute,” Cummings said. “They play every night, they’ve been ready all year. They work super hard in practice. Everybody’s ready to compete every night. It showed tonight. That’s why we can beat these good teams.”

The Spartans are a deep and talented group, and perhaps most importantly, they believe in each other.

“I’ve played with some of these girls since I was five years old,” Steinmetz said. “Playing with them now in my senior year, making it this far, we all care about each other so much. We’re all going to support each other, anyone can get hot at any given moment.”