Southwick girls basketball wins Round of 32 tournament game for first time in school history

SOUTHWICK – History lessons aren’t often easy to digest but one local sports team figured out that if they work together toward one common goal, they can continue to alter their place in the record books.
No. 6 Southwick Regional High School rallied from a 20-8 halftime deficit to defeat No. 27 O’Bryant, 41-33, for its first state Division 4 Round of 32 win in school history on Sunday at James E. Vincent Gymnasium.
It was a markedly different game than the one played two years ago between the two teams in the preliminary round, a game that saw Southwick walk away with a convincing 58-18 victory.
“They were definitely not the same team,” Southwick girls basketball coach Tiara Johnson said in describing O’Bryant. “They came into the tournament 17-1 so I knew that they were a good team and they were going to put up a fight. I just had very much faith in my girls and my players.”
Southwick (16-5) went on a 12-0, third quarter run to take its first lead of the game and pulled away late with baskets from several different players. The Rams’ Madelyn Burkholder led all scorers with 12 points; Avery Burkholder, Hazel Olsen and Lily Coleman scored nine points apiece; and Alyssa Hanifan had one very important two.
It was a very ominous start though for Southwick, which lost the opening tip-off, committed several turnovers in the early going and fell behind by double digits.
Boosted by 3-point shots from Lailah Bleach and Aissatou Bangura and an and one from Amira Mohamed combined with an effective full court press helped O’Bryant (18-2) build a 13-3 lead.
Defense dominated the second quarter as both teams combined for just two total baskets over the eight-minute span with both coming from Brianna Thach, who made an and-one and soon followed that up with a nice spin move in the lane for two more and a 20-8 advantage.
Despite being saddled with two fouls, Southwick senior guard Avery Burkholder made a key block with about five minutes remaining in the half to keep the Rams within shouting distance.
“I think we were getting some good shots [in the first half] – shots that were falling yesterday in our shootaround, shots that were falling all week,” coach Johnson said. “I told the girls at halftime, ‘Ladies keep shooting the ball. We know that we can shoot. We know that we can get inside the paint. We are getting good looks. They’re just not falling. Keep shooting and we’ll be good.’”
“Defensively, we knew it was going to be a dogfight,” Johnson said. “We definitely knew that and as I’ve said time and time again, our offense comes from our defense. We were getting a lot of stops, but we had a lot of rushed shots. … We didn’t need to rush them.”
Southwick finally settled down and settled in for the stretch run. The Rams’ comeback began early in the third quarter when Avery Burkholder broke a nearly 10-minute scoring drought between both sides with a 3-pointer, making it a single digit deficit at 20-11.
O’Bryant pushed the lead back to double digits with two free throws from Mohamed. Southwick responded with back-to-back 3-pointers from Coleman and Avery Burkholder.
O’Bryant had a chance to extend its lead with a pair of free throws but missed both. Coleman came through for Southwick on the other end by making both of her free throw attempts to close the gap to three, 22-19.
Olsen sank a short baseline jumper for Southwick to make it a one-point game. Hanifan gave the Rams their first lead of the game with a key bucket from under the hoop with nine seconds remaining in the quarter. The basket completed her team’s 12-0 run as they entered the final quarter up 23-22.
Both teams traded baskets for the first three minutes of the fourth quarter.
Melissa Cuevas hit a contested layup for O’Bryant. Avery Burkholder nailed a corner three. Courtney Idemudia converted an and one. Olsen made a layup. Mohamed hit a jump shot.
Back and forth they went until Southwick strung together consecutive baskets beginning with a 3-pointer from Madelyn Burkholder. Then Coleman hit a running floater in the lane for a four-point advantage. Avery Burkholder followed with a corner three for a 36-29 lead with 3:51 remaining.
O’Bryant cut its deficit to five with two free throws from Cuevas. Southwick countered with a 3-point dagger from Madelyn Burkholder with just over two minutes left in the quarter. Idemudia made a bucket to pull her team within six. Bangura used a strong low post move for two to account for the final points of the game with just over a minute remaining. The Rams defense did the rest.
O’Bryant missed a 3-pointer with about 30 seconds remaining. Southwick rebounded the ball and essentially ran out the final seconds on the clock.
“We thought we were just rushing [in the first half] … and we were also pressing,” Avery Burkholder said. “I went into the second half positive. We were coming out of the first half a little negative, but you leave that behind. We just forgot about that and we came out strong.”
Southwick advances to play No. 22 Greater Lawrence (13-9) in the Round of 16 on March 4 at James E. Vincent Gymnasium at 6 p.m.
“We have to be ready to play,” coach Johnson said. “I tell the girls all the time that we are the sixth seed. Teams are going to try to come in here to upset us. We have to be confident in ourselves, that we’re the team that does have to show why we are a six seed. I think the biggest thing is coming in with confidence and poise and execution.”
One of the team’s leaders said the Rams are well-equipped to advance far in the tournament.
“This entire season has been special,” said Avery Burkholder, who scored her 1,000th career point this season in front of a home crowd that featured WNBA pioneer Rebecca Lobo, a Southwick native who also offered Burkholder congratulations after the game. “We’re just really excited to keep it going forward and keep playing together.”
She said the keys to her team’s success are simple.
“It would mean a lot to just keep playing with these girls,” Burkholder said. “I’ve grown up with them. We’ve all played together our whole life. It would be really special. I think we have all the tools to do that; we just need to execute.”