When Pentucket eventually gets to looking back at the film from its 2024 Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic experience, there’s going to be a clear and obvious positive to take away.
This defense is elite.
Across the opening two rounds of the popular holiday tournament, the Panthers held two solid opponents — Westford Academy and Bridgewater-Raynham — to a combined 57 points. In eight total quarters, only once did the Panthers allow those teams to score in double figures (Westford’s 10-point fourth quarter during Friday’s opener).
The only problem: Pentucket can’t consistently put the ball in the hoop.
Pentucket, making its third straight appearance in the tournament semifinals, would unfortunately drop to the third-place game for the third straight year. The offense went cold in the second half once again on Saturday, and the No. 3 Panthers couldn’t hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime in a loss to No. 2 Bridgewater-Raynham, 31-28.
“It’s been rough offensively,” said Pentucket coach John McNamara. “(Bridgewater-Raynham) is a veteran team, they’re more physical than us, and I think they just got to a lot of loose balls. They made big plays, and we struggled offensively. Our defense has been great, it’s keeping us in games, but it’s hard to win when you can’t generate consistent offense.”
Pentucket (3-1) only scored eight points in the second half … all coming on free throws.
Amelia Crowe’s 3-point attempt at the buzzer not only would have sent the game into OT, but it would have been the Panthers’ one and only made field goal after halftime. Her shot from the right wing was on line, but hit short off the front iron. The junior would still lead the Panthers on Saturday with 11 points, while Kate Conover chipped in 6.
But down the stretch, Bridgewater-Rayham (4-0) made the clutch plays.
Trailing by a point with 30 seconds left, the Trojans gave the ball to forward Camden Strandberg and let her go to work. The junior backed her way into the paint, then spun to the right before making the go-ahead layup to put her team up 29-28. She then grabbed her sixth rebound following a Pentucket miss, and calmly drained both free throws with eight seconds left to finish with a game-high 13 points.
Bridgewater-Rayhman, which also got 12 points from senior captain Olivia Roy, will play No. 1 seed Central Catholic in Sunday’s final.
Meanwhile, Pentucket — in search of its third straight bronze medal — will play No. 5 Natick in the third-place game at 2:15 p.m. on Sunday.
If there is a second positive for the Panthers to take, it is their free throw shooting. The team went a combined 15-of-20 from the charity stripe during Saturday’s semifinal, with Chloe Dancewicz and Devyn Walsh hitting four clutch ones in a row to tie the game at 27-27 after trailing by four.
And despite the loss, that defense can still carry the Panthers a long way in the CAL this year.
“It’ll keep us in games, that’s for sure,” said McNamara.
FIRST ROUND: Pentucket 35, Westford Academy 26
For the third year in a row, the Pentucket girls will be competing in the semifinals of the Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic tournament.
The tape from Friday’s opener probably won’t be used in any instructional video for beginners, but the No. 3 Panthers did what they do best to pick up the win. Amelia Crowe led the way with 13 points, which included the dagger 3-pointer with three minutes left, and the Panthers smothered No. 6 Westford Acadmey, 35-26, to move on to Saturday’s semifinal round.
And there, Pentucket will play either No. 2 Bridgewater-Raynham, or No. 7 North Andover (2:30 p.m.).
“We played really good defense, but our offense was rushed,” said Pentucket coach John McNamara. “Just too many mistakes on offense, and we let (Westford) hang around. It wasn’t the best second half from us, but we played unbelievable defense to start the game.”
It was closer than the Panthers (3-0) wanted, but they did withstand some adversity.
Cruising along for the majority of the game, Pentucket saw its lead cut to single digits (31-22) on an and-1 from Kaitlyn Pepin midway through the fourth. But about 90 seconds later, Crowe (13 points) came open off a screen, and drained the triple to push the lead back to 34-22. That pretty much acted as the dagger, and some clutch rebounds from Chloe Dancewicz down the stretch helped the Panthers salt it away.
Sofia Bellacqua had 7 points and 7 steals for Pentucket, and Kate Conover chipped in 5 points while grabbing 8 rebounds. The Panthers led 12-4 after the first quarter, and 20-7 at halftime.
“Overall we played great defense and we worked hard,” said McNamara. “We probably deserved to win by more, but our offense let us down a little. That’s something we’ll have to work on.”
Pentucket 35, Westford Academy 26
Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic first round
Pentucket (35): Lexie Thompson 1-0-3, Sofia Bellacqua 3-0-7, Kate Conover 1-3-5, Allie Gagnon 1-3-5, Carly Foley 0-0-0, Amelia Crowe 6-0-13, Devyn Walsh 0-0-0, Chloe Dancewicz 1-0-2. Totals 13-6-35
Westford Academy (26): Jayaraman 0-0-0, Keefe 1-0-2, Philbrick 0-1-1, Trehan 1-0-2, Lupan 1-0-3, Smith 0-0-0, Pillsbury 2-1-5, Nelson 0-0-0, Pepin 4-3-11, Pavao 1-0-2. Totals 8-5-26
3-pointers: P — Thompson, Bellacqua, Crowe; WA — Lupan
Pentucket (3-0): 12 8 9 6 — 35
Westford Academy (2-1): 4 3 9 10 — 26
Bridgewater-Raynham 31, Pentucket 28
Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic second round
Pentucket (28): Sofia Bellacqua 1-0-3, Kate Conover 2-2-6, Allie Gagnon 0-2-2, Amelia Crowe 2-6-11, Devyn Walsh 0-4-4, Chloe Dancewicz 0-2-2, Lexie Thompson 0-0-0, Carly Foley 0-0-0. Totals 5-16-28
Bridgewater-Raynham (31): Lila Polansky 0-0-0, Brenna Woodbury 1-0-3, Olivia Roy 5-1-12, Jenna Micciantuono 1-0-2, Camden Strandberg 5-2-13, Libby Cronin 0-1-1, Ally Piecwicz 0-0-0, Kate Lambert 0-0-0. Totals 12-4-31
3-pointers: P — Bellacqua, Crowe; BR — Woodbury, Roy, Strandberg
Pentucket (3-1): 10 10 2 6 — 28
Bridgewater-Raynham (4-0): 8 9 6 8 — 31