Carver defeats top-seed St. John Paul, return to Div. 4 South girls basketball final

TAUNTON — Thanks to a strong effort on both ends of the floor, Carver is in a sectional final for the second straight season.

Fifth-seeded Carver (18-5) pulled away in the second half to upend No. 1 St. John Paul II, 52-33, in the Div. 4 South semifinals at Rabouin Fieldhouse Thursday night in large part because of its defense. Next up, Carver will play Cathedral in the Div. 4 South title contest at 10 a.m. Saturday back in Taunton.

“Last year, we got a little bit of (experience) and that helped (this year),” said Carver coach John Rozen. “We play in a really good league and there are not a lot of ‘gimme’ games. That helps you build up some resiliency. Our schedule comparatively speaking paid some dividends because we are used to playing through a tough game like this.”

The Carver defense forced nine turnovers in the third period to turn a 22-21 halftime deficit into a 33-28 advantage entering the fourth quarter.

After that, junior Madelyn Mueller stepped up as she scored 13 of her game-high 20 points in the second half with 10 straight at one point to extend the lead to 41-32 midway through the fourth.

Mueller credited the defense’s ability to contain St. John Paul II junior Skylar Gonsalves to just 12 points — all in the first half — for the main reason they were able to pull away late.

“We worked in practice all yesterday — last night — on help defense, closing down Skylar down in the paint,” Mueller said. “Just double- and triple-teaming her. Just getting as many bodies who didn’t have the ball in the paint.”

In the first half, the Lions kept it close even though the Crusaders had multiple five-point leads. Gonsalves had 12 of the 22 points in the first half for St. John Paul II (21-2), but it was Maggie Crofford (13 points) who hit a layup right before the halftime buzzer to make it 22-21 after 16 minutes.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2VMIOm3