TOURNA-BOUT
Girls' run ends in finals
BY STEVE SHEPPARD INDEPENDENT SPORTS EDITOR
They came home on the boat the next day clutching the MIAA trophy they had earned, but the reward was bittersweet. The consolation honor meant the season was over; their magnificent run ending on a cold March night at Stonehill College, where it was decided that the Saints of Sacred Heart, and not the Whalers of Nantucket, would be moving on to the Division 4 state championship.

From top: Seniors Erin Lindsay (left) and Anna Burnham reflect on a winning season after Friday's loss to Sacred Heart as assistant coach Lori Moran looks on. Cassie Moran, Angela Paterson and Mandy Cahill can't bear to watch as the clock winds down.

The Whalers fell to Sacred Heart, 45-31, last Friday in the South Sectional Division 4 finals, ending their year one game shy of a date at the new Boston Garden and a shot at the coveted state title.

But what a year it was - with the Lady Whalers earning the number two seed and going further in the postseason than any basketball team in island history, cruising to a 20-3 record before Friday's matchup with Sacred Heart, the number one seed in the tournament and the owner of a 21-2 mark.

PHOTOS BY MICHAEL GALVIN/The Independent

The Saints' game plan going in was to shut down the outside shooting of sophomore sensation Angela Paterson and close the inside lanes to freshman standout Shantel Hanniford.

"I'd only seen Nantucket one time, and I knew Paterson was the key to their offense," Sacred Heart coach Martha Murphy said after the game. "We were a little scared of their shooting, and we wanted to keep Hanniford off the boards."

The strategy worked, as Paterson, the leading scorer in the Lighthouse Conference, was held to 12 points and Hanniford to 8.

"We'd played other teams who had athletes," said senior co-captain Anna Burnham, who came off the bench to spark the Whalers with two much-needed baskets in the first half, "but they had more pure basketball players than we usually see."

The game turned on defense, as both teams continually challenged shots and fought for rebounds on both ends of the floor. After the midway point of the first half, with Sacred Heart holding onto a 20-10 lead, the Whalers kept the Saints scoreless for over six minutes, but could only answer with Burnham's two baskets during that time. A Hanniford foul shot with 12 seconds to go in the period brought the Whalers within 9, but a Sacred Heart basket at the buzzer upped the margin to 11 at the half.

Led by Mandy Cahill and Whitney Butler, Nantucket continued to pound the boards in the second half. The Whalers' offensive struggles also lingered, however, as they couldn't cut Sacred Heart's advantage below eight points.

Even without its scoring punch, Nantucket made the Saints earn the victory. "They have a great transition game," Murphy said. "They really pushed us hard."

The hustling Paterson, who drove to the basket when her outside shots refused to fall, accounted for half of Nantucket's offensive output in the second half, but it was not enough to counter the steady scoring of Sacred Heart, which outscored Nantucket, 19-16, in the stanza and rode its lead to the end.

There was one 3-pointer in the game, a dagger by Arielle Eisenstein that gave Sacred Heart a 12-point lead early in the second period.

"We just got stuck around 8 points," said coach Willis Ferreira. "They didn't allow us any second chances. Normally, when we'd give up 45 points we'd score enough to win - we missed shots we usually make."

Aside from Paterson's 12 points, Hanniford's 8 and Burnham's 4, other Whalers scorers were Butler with 4 points and Cahill with 3.

Sacred Heart's Allysa Berry led all scorers with 17 points, with teammate Alexandra Lyons adding 9. The Saints outrebounded the Whalers, 46-32.

"Their defense was outstanding," Burnham noted. "We hadn't seen that before."

Nor had they seen such a large crowd cheering them on. The bleachers were filled with Nantucket fans who came to bear witness to a great season and contribute to the electric atmosphere. "You feel like you've accomplished something when you see all those people in the stands," Burnham said, while Ferreira added: "It was great fun to be in that environment - I'll never forget it."

In the end, the Whalers forged a 20-4 record, the best in school basketball history. Playing in their last games for Nantucket were seniors Callie Moore, Erin Lindsay, Maryanne Bradley and Burnham. We can look forward to most of the team coming back for more next year.

"We're still very young," Ferreira points out. "Our leading scorers are a freshman and sophomore."

He looks ahead, too, to perhaps facing Sacred Heart - the team that has become his nemesis - yet again. The Saints beat Nantucket in the tournament semi-finals in 1999. "It seems we have to go through them to get (to the championship game)," he said.

On Monday afternoon, however, Sacred Heart lost the title game to Boston's New Mission High School, 65-59.

For the Whalers, it was a season of unprecedented accomplishments, and valuable experience.

"We had a great year," Ferreira said. "We're

young; we'll be back." I