McIntyre’s 21 leads Needham past Newton North, into Division 1 South final

BRIDGEWATER — Newton North didn’t make it easy on Needham in two regular-season losses to the Rockets.

And second-seeded Needham knew beating the No. 6 Tigers for a third time would prove to be an even greater task.

But the Rockets rose up to the challenge, weathering a late rally and receiving a game-high 21 points from Kiara McIntyre to hold on for a 47-45 victory in Tuesday’s Division 1 South semifinal at Monti Gymnasium.

“Every time we’ve played Newton North it’s been a hard game. It’s been a fight,” said McIntyre as Needham (21-2) advances to Saturday’s South final versus the winner of Bridgewater-Raynham and Bishop Feehan. “None of the wins were easy so I knew that this one was going to be a struggle, but we came through.”

Every time Needham tried to pull away in the second half, Newton North (16-7) found a way to answer.

But McIntyre and Caroline Klemm (11 points) tried to fend off the Tigers by accounting for all of Needham’s fourth-quarter points, as a floater from Klemm gave the Rockets a 45-36 lead midway through the final frame.

Michaela O’Neil (16 points) sparked Newton North’s comeback while Thalia Shepard scored two buckets around a long jumper from O’Neil to pull the Tigers within 45-42 with 1:14 left.

Newton North, which grabbed 24 offensive rebounds, couldn’t get the game-tying basket, though, as Abigail Wright thought she tied it up moments later with a trey but was called for a travel.

McIntyre then sank two free throws with 13.3 seconds left and a last-ditch attempt from Newton North was off the mark.

“We had to get the ball to Kiki. We knew we needed the ball in her hands,” said Needham coach Amanda Sheehy of holding off the Tigers. “We tried to dig in defensively, switch everything, take them on the chest. … We get knocked down, we got to get picked back up and that’s what it came down to.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2TmI2KQ