Sagay and Tambling Power MCC into Championship
BOSTON – Manchester CC (23-1) received 17 points from both Ericka Sagay (Bloomfield) and Callie Tambling (Manchester) to beat Massasoit CC (10-15) 86-54 in the NJCAA Region 21 DIII semi-final Saturday night at the Reggie Lewis Center.
MCC will defend its title against host Roxbury CC (26-2) in the championship game Sunday at 2 PM. Roxbury beat Quinsigamond CC 78-50 in Saturday’s other semi-final.
Tambling added 10 rebounds and five assists for the Cougars, who won their 12th straight and third straight tournament game over two seasons. 10 of her points came in a second half outburst that included three from outside the arc. Seven of Tambling’s points came in the first two minutes of the second half.
Massasoit’s Alison Hardiman led all scorers with 24 points and set a school record for points in a season with her 666th on a foul shot with 51 seconds left in the game.
Elise Chase (Vernon) and Jazlynn Canino (East Hartford) had 13 rebounds apiece while Kasiana Goodman (Waterbury) had 14 points. Chase also had 12 points and five boards.
MCC took a 39-24 lead into halftime but had trouble finding the net over the first 20 minutes.
“There were probably some jitters because of the atmosphere,” Robert Turner Jr. after collecting his 99th victory as MCC’s head coach. “I think we settled down in the second half. We shot a lot better but overall it still wasn’t good. The first half was horrible.”
A year ago, Manchester was the No. 1 seed in the tournament and beat Roxbury in the championship game 79-61 to move on to the National Championship tournament. This year the stakes are the same, but Roxbury is the overwhelming favorite. The Tigers beat Manchester in its own gym by 57 points on December 21st and will be playing on their home court on Sunday.
“They are a very good team, they are very deep and they are very aggressive,” Turner said of Roxbury before boarding the bus for Manchester. “And we are going to have to match their intensity and hope we can make it a game. If we don’t match their intensity, we are definitely going to have some problems.”
MCC jumped out to an 8-0 lead but Massasoit, with just five players in uniform, pulled within three points and stayed within five points over the first 10 minutes of the game. Goodman and Sagay started wearing the Warriors down under the post and the Cougars started pulling away.
In the second half, the only drama that remained was whether Hardiman would break the scoring record. Playing with just four players after Jamie Gauthier fouled out, Hardiman’s three teammates had trouble finding her. She eventually went to the line and hit her first shot to tie the record. The record breaker spun around the rim several times and hung suspended for what seemed like an eternity before falling into the twine.
For Manchester, the feel-good story of the night was the return of Tyra Brooks (Waterbury), who had been out since January 8th with what appeared to be a season-ending injury. The sophomore guard had six points and four rebounds and played well coming off the bench.
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