Watertown Girls Basketball went into Saturday’s matinee with Arlington Catholic (AC) feeling pretty good about itself. Coach Mike Tempesta’s squad had won seven of nine, including two of the the last three on the road, and that included a convincing wire-to-wire win over the team ahead of Watertown in the Middlesex Freedom, Wakefield, on Tuesday, Feb.11.
Watertown finished league play on Thursday Feb. 13 at Melrose with a win, and finished at 11-5, and in second place behind Wakefield at 13-3. Saturday’s non-league opponent AC came into the game 8-12, and 1-7 in the Catholic Central. Watertown continued to adjust to life without injured senior starter and co-captain Victoria Dicker, who injured her knee versus Burlington on Jan. 31 and is out for the remainder of the season.
So, all that made it hard for the Girls squad to face up to a disappointing home loss at the Middle School Gymnasium to Arlington Catholic, 52-49, in overtime.
The Raiders and AC were forced to play through a choppy first quarter as the officiating crew called things very tight. Senior Alina Garey was forced to the bench with two early fouls, but also stepped up big and took a charge. Senior Caroline Andrade was all over the stat sheet in the first, with rebounds, assists and six points including four of six from the line. More on that in a second, as the foul line became of one of the storylines of the day.
Each team had their fair share of scoring opportunities throughout a second quarter not called nearly as tight by the officials. A late run by the Raiders was highlighted by an Adriana Williams running three-pointer from just inside half court at the buzzer. The senior co-captain had five points in the quarter and the lead at the half for the Raiders was five.
The third quarter was a slog for both teams, as neither could put the hoop in the bucket. Unfortunately for Watertown, Caroline Andrade was the leading culprit. And it’s a shame, as she did everything right in creating scoring chance after scoring chance for herself, only to miss lay-ups and five-footers. She was fouled twice in the act of shooting, but made only one of four from the line. All that said she was the team’s high scorer in the contest with 17.
The fourth quarter was a crazy one. Watertown, who had led throughout, gave up the lead for the first time early in the quarter, and it went back and forth for a bit, but then AC got hot and led by as many as six. After many an empty possessions, Watertown hit a couple of three-pointers, one by Willams and one by Garey, keeping the Raiders in it. But, with clock under 15 seconds AC went to the line to shoot two and make it a two-possession game. They missed both, Watertown got the rebound, streaked to half-court and called time out. Watertown ran a lay off the inbounds, Williams penetrated and found Junior Sophia Setouhi in the left corner, and she calmly nailed her third three-pointer of the afternoon. Tied at 44-44 and on to OT.
Junior Madison Giesta was the story for AC in their 19-point fourth quarter with 10 points, and she contributed four more in the OT. She led all scorers with 25 on the afternoon.
Once again, Watertown’s offense struggled a bit, and it came down to the same scenario as the fourth quarter – AC missed two free throws up three, and Watertown sped to half court and called timeout. This time though, with 4.6 on the clock left in the four-minute overtime, Watertown had less room for error. But they still were able to find Williams in the right corner for a three. It was right on line, but short. Buzzer sounded and AC had a three-point win.
So, in addition to missing a lot of open, short-range shots, Watertown was 12 of 24 from the line. AC wasn’t much better at four of 14, but when you get 10 more opportunities than your opponent and only shoot 50 percent, you are toying with the basketball gods of fate.
Watertown entered the game 15th in the MIAA power rankings for Girls Div. 3. The ranking is calculated by wins and losses, the spread of wins and losses, and the record of opponents. The Div. 3 tournament has 32 slots, and the top 16 are guaranteed at least one home game.
Watertown believes it is a top-16 team, and has one more chance to prove when they end their regular season on Wednesday, Feb. 19 with another non-league home game versus Ursuline. The Div. 3 Bracket is expected to be revealed by the MIAA on Saturday, Feb. 22.