STATE CHAMPS (Patriot Ledget #2)

DIV. 2 GIRLS BASKETBALL: Duxbury basks in title

By Matt Cook

The Patriot Ledger

Posted Mar. 15, 2015 @ 9:43 pm
Updated at 9:47 PM

WORCESTER – Duxbury head coach Bob Sullivan had been there before.

On that same court, in that same situation.

 Just in a different century.

 “My daughter actually won it in 1998,” he explained. “I was an assistant coach of that team. I got to do it as a JV coach and watch my daughter win it. In fact, my grandkids were on the floor with me at that game. It was pretty cool.”

 That court was at the DCU Center. That game was the Division 2 girls basketball state final. And on Saturday, Sullivan got to relive that moment with a team of his own as the 2014-15 Green Dragons put the perfect capper on a 26-0 season by beating Medfield, 51-42.

 “I just told that locker room, that’s what Division I athletes do,” he said after the win.

 Winning the crown against Central Sectional champ Medfield (19-6) had some added significance. The Warriors used to be in the South field with Duxbury.

 “We lost to that same team two years ago at UMass-Boston,” Sullivan recalled of the 2012-13 South final – a 47-43 Medfield victory. “These (seniors) were sophomores. They didn’t forget that game.”

 They could not have forgotten Duxbury’s last title, though ... because they were too young to remember it in the first place.

 Seventeen years later, the Dragons are back on top.

 “This was my best game,” said senior captain Molly Quilty. “This is the game. I knew it was from the second we walked on the court. I knew we were going to win it. I love these girls.”

 Duxbury’s only loss since the start of the 2013-14 season came in last year’s Division 2 state semifinals – 40-27 to eventual champ Arlington Catholic.

 But Saturday’s win all but erased that misstep.

 “I don’t think you can get any (more) bitter than what it felt like last year,” said senior captain Catherine Harrison, who had a team-high 15 points on Saturday, including six in the fourth quarter. “This year, we wanted to avenge that, and I’m so happy.”

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Harrison, who will continue her basketball career at Middlebury College, received praise from her coach.

 “I might have raised my voice once or twice at halftime, challenged her a bit, and she responded like she always does,” Sullivan said. “Pretty special kid.”

 Fellow senior captain Jackie Sullivan also put in a solid performance with her 13 points.

 “Jackie is a very, very special player,” said Sullivan. “Division I athlete. She’s brilliant.”

 Medfield certainly didn’t make it easy for Duxbury. The Green Dragons held a vulnerable four-point lead at the half.

 The Warriors then used an 8-2 run in the third to pull within two, but Duxbury led 35-30 with one quarter to go.

 Sullivan hit a pair of free throws to put her team ahead 49-39 with 51.2 seconds left, and the celebration began.

 The seniors left the DCU Center Saturday with the title that has eluded them. And for Harrison, the win was particularly special.

 “This year, I cried on the way to the locker room, and this year is the first time it wasn’t sad,” she said. “It was completely happy tears.”

 Matt Cook may be reached at mcook@ledger.com.