Patch Belmont, MA --
It will be like looking into a mirror Tuesday night as seventh-seed Belmont High School Girls' Basketball team will be heading to neutral-site Burlington High School to take on the sixth-seed North Andover Scarlet Knights in the semifinals of the Division 2 North Sectionals.
The game – tip off is scheduled at 7 p.m. – will see two teams that play a similar game and had comparable seasons.
Tuesday's game was set up after Head Coach Melissa Hart's Belmont (13-9) team doubled up second-ranked Boston Latin Academy, 55-26, Friday, while North Andover (14-8) came back from a deep hole to beat third-ranked hosts Arlington Catholic, 57-43.
Each team started the year on a roll – Belmont 7-1, North Andover 9-1 – before they both went on multi-game losing streaks only to rebound by winning just enough to enter the playoffs.
Both teams rely on a strong defense to set up their offenses; Belmont is led by senior guard *Amari Bradshaw* and the Knights by *Pam Coufos*. Under the basket, expect Marauders power forward *Olivia Lyons* – the senior played only two minutes in their playoff win at Latin Academy Friday – will be battling North Andover's* Michaela Mello* for rebounds and second-chance shots while Belmont's* Katie Leinbach*, who scored 28 points and grabbed 21 rebounds against Latin Friday and had 19 vs. Charlestown will lead the Belmont offense against Scarlet Knight's star *Morgan Lumb* (who will be playing hoops next year at Division 1 Hartford) who scored 15 and 22 points in her previous two playoff games.
While Belmont likes to play a tight 2-3 zone and score from the inside, North Andover will launch the three pointers – the scored six in their Sunday playoff win against favorite Arlington Catholic – and play a tight, intense defense style looking to create mistakes and turnovers (their guards Coufos and *Leah Chittick* each had five steals Sunday.)
Belmont has been on a roll in the last three games, dominating Division 1 tournament team Lexington in their final regular season game and winning both playoff games without trailing, while North Andover has had to struggle in both their tournament games, winning a tight match with Tewksbury High and trailing Arlington Catholic 19-3 early in the game Sunday before storming back to win 57-43.
The teams have had only one common opponent: Belmont beat Stoneham easily, 64-38, while North Andover prepped for the playoffs with a 45-33 win over the Spartans. Reported by Patch 4 hours ago.
It will be like looking into a mirror Tuesday night as seventh-seed Belmont High School Girls' Basketball team will be heading to neutral-site Burlington High School to take on the sixth-seed North Andover Scarlet Knights in the semifinals of the Division 2 North Sectionals.
The game – tip off is scheduled at 7 p.m. – will see two teams that play a similar game and had comparable seasons.
Tuesday's game was set up after Head Coach Melissa Hart's Belmont (13-9) team doubled up second-ranked Boston Latin Academy, 55-26, Friday, while North Andover (14-8) came back from a deep hole to beat third-ranked hosts Arlington Catholic, 57-43.
Each team started the year on a roll – Belmont 7-1, North Andover 9-1 – before they both went on multi-game losing streaks only to rebound by winning just enough to enter the playoffs.
Both teams rely on a strong defense to set up their offenses; Belmont is led by senior guard *Amari Bradshaw* and the Knights by *Pam Coufos*. Under the basket, expect Marauders power forward *Olivia Lyons* – the senior played only two minutes in their playoff win at Latin Academy Friday – will be battling North Andover's* Michaela Mello* for rebounds and second-chance shots while Belmont's* Katie Leinbach*, who scored 28 points and grabbed 21 rebounds against Latin Friday and had 19 vs. Charlestown will lead the Belmont offense against Scarlet Knight's star *Morgan Lumb* (who will be playing hoops next year at Division 1 Hartford) who scored 15 and 22 points in her previous two playoff games.
While Belmont likes to play a tight 2-3 zone and score from the inside, North Andover will launch the three pointers – the scored six in their Sunday playoff win against favorite Arlington Catholic – and play a tight, intense defense style looking to create mistakes and turnovers (their guards Coufos and *Leah Chittick* each had five steals Sunday.)
Belmont has been on a roll in the last three games, dominating Division 1 tournament team Lexington in their final regular season game and winning both playoff games without trailing, while North Andover has had to struggle in both their tournament games, winning a tight match with Tewksbury High and trailing Arlington Catholic 19-3 early in the game Sunday before storming back to win 57-43.
The teams have had only one common opponent: Belmont beat Stoneham easily, 64-38, while North Andover prepped for the playoffs with a 45-33 win over the Spartans. Reported by Patch 4 hours ago.