Bucs Survive a Late Surge by Shawsheen Rams to Win MIAA Girls Basketball North Division 3 Semi-final, 54-51

Bedford Buccaneers celebrate a tough victory over Shawsheen Tech – Image (c) Jeff JHO Hoyland, 2018 all rights reserved – Click to view larger image

By Jeff JOH Hoyland

Alexandria DiPerri leads the Ram’s attack – Image (c) Jeff JHO Hoyland, 2018 all rights reserved – Click to view larger image

In what was one of the most exciting games of the year, the Bedford Buccaneers Girls Varsity basketball team held off the Shawsheen Rams, 54-52, to advance to the MIAA North Division 3 Finals.

If this game was a Nancy Drew novel, it would be titled “The Night of the Cursed Hoop”. It seemed that one basketball hoop wouldn’t let in any shots, while the other one swallowed everything thrown at it. As an example, Bedford scored more points in the first quarter on the lucky hoop than they did the whole second half on the unlucky one. In total, the lucky one allowed 75 points while the unlucky one allowed 37.

After the first quarter, the Bucs jumped out to a 27-12 point lead, and it looked like it was going to be a blowout. Lauren Legere hit 11 of her 16 points for a team-high. Bedford dominated in every aspect of the game, but that was just the first quarter.

The Ram’s refocused at halftime. With a halftime score of, 37-15 the Bedford scorers went cold, and the Shawsheen shooters got hot.

Ram’s Alexandria DiPerri scored 15 points in the final half to pull Shawsheen as close as three points, but could never manage to take the lead. Shawsheen Tech used its speed and rebounding prowess to mount a slow and steady comeback attempt. It took Lauren Legere’s two late buckets and Joelle DeLia’s free throw to hold off Shawsheen.

Bedford’s, Joelle DeLia finished with 10 points, and Mel Proulx scored 9 points. Shawsheen Tech’s Alexandria DiPerri finished with 19 points, and Shannon Fitzgerald scored 10 points.

Bedford moves on to Saturday’s Division 3 finals at the Tsongas Center, against either Bishop Fenwick or Stoneham who play tonight in Wakefield.

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