In the end, the defense made the difference.
That seems ironic, after the Bedford High School Buccaneers yielded 19 fourth-quarter points. And the Waltham Hawks were poised to steal a win in the BHS gym Friday night, trailing 52-51 with 6.3 seconds on the clock and inbounding the ball from under the Bedford basket.
The Hawks never got a chance to attempt that shot. They couldn’t get the ball in bounds, as the Bedford defense reached deep and clamped down for a five-second violation.
Waltham fouled sophomore Cassie Morrison with five seconds to play, and the sophomore sank one of two. The Hawks rebounded the miss and called time, but 3.7 second weren’t nearly enough to get even a look at the basket.
The Buccaneers, now 2-0, visit Weston on Tuesday.
Bedford led wire to wire, by as much as 10 near the end of the third quarter, but the Bucs played half the game without two of their stars, and it caught up in the fourth.
Senior forward Katherine Vaughan, a 2020-21 Dual Cunty League all-star, came down awkwardly after an offensive rebound and a putback just 48 seconds into the second half. After her right ankle was taped, Vaughan found a seat next to Head Coach Ashley Kepaa, but she did not return to action. Vaughn hit six out of eight from the line in the first half.
Junior Marin Greaney, meanwhile, had a first-quarter for the ages: seven points, four blocks, and three steals. Again, that was in the first quarter. But Greaney picked up her second foul less than a minute into the second quarter, her third at the end of the quarter, and her fourth just 75 seconds into the third quarter. Kepaa kept her out until there were five-and-a-half minutes in the game, and Greaney fouled out at 2:02.
A three-point field goal by senior Julia Dearing near the end of the half propelled Bedford to a 29-22 lead, and the Bucs added a point to the differential after three quarters, holding Waltham to 10 points in the third. But after less than a minute into the fourth quarter, the Hawks trailed by just two.
So who stepped up for the short-handed Buccaneers? The sophomores.
- Morrisson led all Bedford scorers with 12, and several of her baskets were at crucial moments. With a little over two minutes to play in the third quarter, she stole a pass, laid the ball in, and converted a free throw to put Bedford ahead 40-30. “Cassie was fantastic,” proclaimed Head Coach Ashley Kepaa.
- Bridget Sheahan played extended minutes and was a force on the boards with seven rebounds. Like Morrison, she showed great poise from the field, scoring nine points.
- Mackenzie and Madison Tierney came off the bench to combine for four offensive rebounds.
“We played with a ton of challenges, and I’m so proud of the way our underclassmen performed,” said Kepaa. “They didn’t hesitate. There wasn’t time for nerves. They simply got the job done for us.”
She added, “It’s huge to have that kind of depth off the bench from our sophomore class.”
Junior point guard Sydney Poor was all over the floor on defense, finishing with five steals. Dearing led all rebounders with nine. Greaney finished with 11 points and Vaughn had eight.
Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763
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