The Winthrop High girls basketball team’s hopes for a spot in the state tourney came down to the final game of the season in the consolation contest of the Viking Classic Basketball Tournament last Wednesday against Hull.
The Lady Vikings had dropped a contest at Hull a few weeks previously and knew that they would have to play their best to defeat the Lady Pirates, a team which had qualified for the state tourney.
However, with Winthrop’s leading scorer and rebounder, Johnna Fisher under the weather and on the sidelines to start the game, the Lady Vikings’ hopes for a victory appeared dim when Hull jumped out to a 14-5 advantage after the first period.
“We knew Johnna wasn’t feeling well, so we weren’t sure what she could give us,†said Oyola. “But shortly into the second period we decided we had to give it a shot.â€
The entry of Fisher into the fray instantaneously changed the momentum of the game. Winthrop sliced the nine point deficit to three, 26-23, at the half, and outscored Hull after the intermission to grab a 43-40 advantage at the third buzzer.
However, the visitors from the south side of Boston Harbor hung tough and battled hard in the fourth frame to leave matters deadlocked at 56-56 in regulation.
Thus,Winthrop’s season came down to a final five minutes of overtime (barring a potential further OT session) and Oyola’s crew showed the fortitude needed to earn a ticket for a Journey to the Tourney. Fisher was immense in OT, as she had been all game, and ended up with 25 points and 18 rebounds despite having missed the entire first period. Johnna also was clutch from the free throw line, hitting on six of her nine attempts from the charity stripe.
Angelina Favaloro turned in what was her best performance of the year, tingling the twice for 17 points and grabbing four rebounds. Angie hit on 4 of 5 from three point land, including one in OT and another as the shot clock was expiring in the fourth period.
Freshman Theresa Jones saw a lot of action (26 minutes) and contributed six points and five rebounds. Temison Meggison chipped in with six points and snared eight boards, while point guard Alyssa Mackey came through with a fine all around effort, scoring seven points, grabbing seven rebounds, and dishing out four assists. Liana Ferullo added three points and Taylor Duplin and Brittany Lento each sank a free throw to round out the Winthrop score sheet.
Oyola and his crew earned the 13th seed in the D-3 North Sectional and were set to take on fourth seeded Ipswich, a well balanced team which features some sharp shooters and a girl who is almost at 1000 career points, last night (Wednesday) at Ipswich as the Sun Transcript was going to press.