Jessica Knight powers Archbishop Williams girls past Norwell in Div. 3

NORWELL — Top-seeded Norwell tried to be the resistance juggernaut Archbishop Williams has rarely seen over the years in the early rounds of the state tournament.

The No. 8 Bishops had other ideas.

Senior center Jessica Knight turned in a dominant performance by tallying a game-high 32 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks as Archbishop Williams ran away with a 58-37 road win Friday in a Division 3 South quarterfinal.

“I knew coming in Norwell was going to be tough, especially at home,” said Archbishop Williams coach Matt Mahoney as the Bishops advance to Sunday’s semifinal against Ursuline. “We knew we were in for a battle. … The girls came in confident though.”

For Archbishop Williams (15-7), it was its 29th consecutive win in the sectional — 24 of those victories have come by double digits — as the seven-time defending Div. 3 South champions have ended Norwell’s season now four times over the last eight years.

“You still got to go through Archies and the private schools have an advantage and it’s going to be tough for all us public schools to do it,” said Norwell coach Matt Marani.

Knight had assistance from Ariana Hay (11 points) along with Grace Cuddy and Meg Marcel to build a 41-24 lead midway through the third quarter.

Norwell (19-3) fought back as a 3-pointer from Ellie Phillips closed the gap to nine with two minutes left in the stanza, but then the 6-foot-2 Knight took over again and couldn’t be contained down low despite facing constant double- and triple-teams.

Knight scored the Bishops’ final seven points of the third quarter and after a bucket from Hay to start the final frame, Knight completed her third traditional 3-point play of the contest and added another basket from in the paint to put the game out of reach.

“We’ve really picked up our game,” Knight said. “We’re playing together as a team. We’re all working hard.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3aaotek