PEPPERELL — The Hawthorne Brook and Nissitissit girls basketball teams went toe-to-toe on Wednesday afternoon and both played had over 28 minutes. In the end the difference proved to be Nissitissit’s Mackensey Farina, who led her team to a 33-21 victory with 18 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Complementing Farina’s effort was an aggressive effort from teammate Elena Beauregard, who finished with eight points, five rebounds and three steals. Marissa LaFosse was the defensive catalyst for the Falcons, making seven steals to go along with three points and two rebounds.
Hawthorne Brook took a 2-0 lead when Alicia Silva hauled down an offensive rebound and converted, but Nissitissit bounced back to hold the visitors scoreless over the next four minutes while scoring nine unanswered points. Farina got things started by finishing off a drive before adding a lay-up. After Julia Church’s follow-up basket, a 15-footer by Farina, and a free throw by LaFosse put Nissitissit on top 9-2.
Hawthorne Brook’s Eryn Melanson broke the momentum when she hit a shot from the perimeter, but Molly TenBroeck capped the first quarter scoring with a fast break lay-up to give Nissitissit an 11-4 lead after one quarter.
Hawthorne Brook clawed back into the game when they opened the second quarter with a 6-2 run. Marissa Amichetti (four points, six rebounds) hit a 15-footer, and Julia Murray (four points, eight rebounds) added two free throws and a short jumper to make it 13-10 with four minutes left in the first half.
Nissitissit turned things around and scored the final eight points of the half to extend the lead to 11 at 21-10, Farina and Beauregard each scoring four points.
Hawthorne Brook upped their defensive intensity in the early stages of the third quarter, holding Nissitissit scoreless for more than four minutes. Amichetti finished off a drive, and Olivia Cappucci (five points, five rebounds, three steals) added a free throw to make it 21-13. Cappucci then grabbed an offensive rebound and converted to draw the visitors to within six.
Nissitissit regrouped and pulled away, keyed by Farina and Beauregard. Farina hit a short jumper and finished off a fast break with a lay-up while Beauregard drained a 17-footer and converted a steal into a lay-up to extend the lead to 29-15 and put the game out of reach. LaFosse added a drive to give the Falcons their largest lead of the game.
Hawthorne Brook didn’t quit and fought to the final whistle, scoring the final four points of the game.
Julia Church finished with two points and four rebounds for Nissitissit while Kristina Osborne worked hard off the boards, grabbing five rebounds to help fuel the Falcons’ 35-25 edge off the boards.
Melanson scored two points and grabbed four rebounds for Hawthorne Brook. Emily Valacer added two points while Danielle Priest had three rebounds.
