No. 5 Bishop Feehan girls slow pace, take down King Philip in Div. 1 playoff game

ATTLEBORO — The breakneck pace King Philip’s girls basketball team likes to play is designed to wear down opponents.

But fifth-seeded Bishop Feehan — facing No. 12 King Philip for a third time this season Wednesday night in a Division 1 South first round matchup — was well prepared for it and never faded in the up-tempo environment to claim a 58-46 victory.

“They really did a good job of embracing the pace and kind of taking advantage of it,” said Feehan coach Amy Dolores as the Shamrocks advanced to the quarterfinals against Newton South.

After splitting the regular season series, which included a loss to KP (12-9) two weeks ago, Feehan (16-5) wasn’t fazed by the all-out, full-court press KP employed, as the Shamrocks never trailed in the contest and received a big effort from a trio of underclassmen.

Kyla Cunningham posted a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds while Lydia Mordarski scored a team-high 16 points and Haley Coupal chipped in with 10 points.

“We knew they were capable of this all season,” Dolores said. “It was great to see them put it together on the big stage.”

KP’s defense did cause 20 turnovers and Faye Veilleux scored a game-high 19 points, but the Warriors struggled offensively, hitting just 5-of-28 shots from deep.

That allowed Feehan to build on a 25-17 halftime lead as a trey from Mordarski and a Cunningham layup right before the third-quarter buzzer sounded gave Feehan a 39-26 advantage. The Warriors only got as close as nine the rest of the way, with the Shamrocks hitting 12-of-14 free throws in the fourth quarter.

“A lot of them were ready for the moment and they just really held it together and stuck together as a team,” Dolores said.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2PrPMZW