Sharon
The Phoenix regrouped, however, finding a way to turn things around en route to amassing a 9-11 record. The comeback yielded Sharon that home playoff contest, and the hosts made the most of it by defeating Mid Vermont Christian, 43-31, on Tuesday.
Tournament games pitting the No. 8 seed vs. No. 9 — as was the case on Tuesday — can make for compelling contests, and the first-round affair in the VPA Division-IV tournament didn’t disappoint.
Sharon got off to a quick start, mounting a 16-7 run to open the game, but the Eagles blocked four shots in the first half to help close the deficit to four points at halftime.
The Eagles began the second half auspiciously when Sydney Goodwin found Eagles centerpiece Rachel Seale with a quick dump-down pass underneath. Seale, a 6-foot-1 junior, thus began a trend of inside scoring after settling for mostly foul-line jumpers early on.
“My outside shot didn’t drop in the first and second quarter,” Seale said. “And I was like, ‘All right, I’m going to start doing layups,’ so I did layups the rest of the game.”
The Eagles proceeded to hang around but hampered their own efforts by committing three consecutive offensive charges in the third quarter.
The Phoenix followed up the staunch defensive spurt with a big layup by Mallory Lloyd, who made a steal in the backcourt and went coast-to-coast to put her team up by seven at the 2:26 mark. Jocelyn Johnson scored the game’s next hoop on a deep 2-pointer in the waning seconds of the third quarter to give Sharon Academy a 28-19 lead. MVCS didn’t get any closer than nine points from then on.
Sharon won the rebounding battle, 28-24, despite being outsized by the visitors.
MVCS, which finished its season by losing seven of its final nine games, was led by Seale’s game-high 16 points.
The junior standout, who averaged just over 16 points per game on the season, finished just five points shy of 1,000 for her career.
“I have next year,” she said.
Sharon coach Gregg Nalette spoke to the strategy involved with trying to contain Seale.
“Staying connected with her, three-quartering her all they way around, (is important),” he said. “Trying to keep the ball from her down post and helping from the weak side. Eliza (Masteller) did a great job on her, and Emma (Sawyer) came in off the bench and gave great minutes on her as well.”
Sharon was led by Lloyd and Johnson, who both chipped in 11 points.
Johnson, a senior guard who aided her team’s first-half rally, said the Phoenix knew it would be difficult facing the Eagles (8-11) for a third time this season.
“We beat them twice in the regular season, and both games were phenomenal,” Johnson said. “We were worried that we wouldn’t be able to keep up the intensity, but the (Phoenix) came out with amazing energy.”
Sharon Academy’s midseason turnaround was important for the big picture, according to Nalette.
“Something we’ve talked about really from the beginning is leaving a legacy,” Nalette said. “It’s a credit to these guys for their work every day and willingness to just stay together and push forward.”
Tuesday’s victory marked Sharon’s first home playoff game since 2008 and only the third tournament win in program history.
“The most we’ve won while I’ve been here is eight games, and this year we won nine,” said Sharon’s Grace Dorman, who finished with nine points. “We were out to do something momentous this year, and we’ve accomplished that, I think. But there’s still more things to do.”
The Phoenix will travel to No. 1 Mount St. Joseph (19-1) for Friday’s quarterfinal game.