Bishop Brady girls basketball holds off Pelham to advance to D2 final
BEDFORD – It was tornado basketball for 32 minutes between the Bishop Brady and Pelham high school girls basketball teams in Thursday’s Division II semifinal.
Both teams did their best to sprint the entire court from opening tip to final horn, and the Giants did enough things right to pick up the 58-50 win and earn a spot in the program’s first-ever state championship game on Sunday.
“Half of these kids come off winning a field hockey championship two years in a row, so they know what it takes to be in the big show,” Bishop Brady coach Sal Alosa said. “Hopefully they can carry the momentum to Sunday for us.”
The Giants never trailed but also couldn’t find a way to pull away from a game Pelham team. Bishop Brady led by as many as 13 points but the Pythons always found a way to claw back.
The numbers make it seem like Pelham should have won convincingly. The Pythons outrebounded Bishop Brady 61-38 and the Giants shot 8 for 40 from beyond the arc. However, a frenzied tempo, and a team-wide ability to pick off passes, kept Bishop Brady ahead.
Defensively, it was the Libbey Hicks show. Hicks had a double-double with 13 points and a dozen steals. In total, the Giants picked up 21 steals throughout the game.
“She’s great with the tip steal,” Bishop Brady senior Ami Rivera said. “She’s working hard to do that so I have to give my all diving on the floor. If she’s working hard I want to work just as hard.”
Rivera led the way offensively for the Giants with a team-high 17 points. She filled the statsheet with seven assists, six rebounds, two steals, and a pair of blocks. As the point guard, Rivera quarterbacked the offense and kept the team flowing amid the pace of the game.
“No offense, and I don’t usually say things, but I think Ami is probably the best player in Division II,” Alosa said. “She does it all.”
Bishop Brady jumped out to an early 12-point lead thanks to a big 12-point first quarter from senior Halle Laramie, who nailed four 3s. Laramie finished with 17 points and six rebounds.
“I let her shoot that long distance because, as you saw, when she’s on it goes in,” Alosa said of Laramie. “She’s that extra person. They can’t double Ami. They can’t double Libbey because they’ll leave Halle open and she’s going to hit shots.”
The Pythons dominated inside but it wasn’t enough against the relentless Brady defense. The Pythons were led by a massive 21-point, 19-rebound performance from freshman Jasmine Becotte.
Pelham also got 16 points from Jordyn Galgay and 16 rebounds from freshman Sophia Joncas off the bench.
“The kids did way better than I ever thought they would be,” Pelham coach Robert Shepard said. “It was a very difficult season. We played 16 kids all year long, and they were terrific.”
