Bishops too powerful for game Cougars.

Byline: Craig Holt 

WORCESTER - The hustling Quaboag Regional girls' basketball team ran into a tidal wave of talent in the form of Archbishop Williams during yesterday's Division 3 state final. Like a proud prizefighter, the Cougars gave it their best shot.

The Bishops displayed all their weapons, headlined by the towering inside presence of 6-foot-3 sophomore center Valerie Driscoll, who funneled home 18 points. On the perimeter, Archbishop Williams got the most from the pinpoint passing and slick shooting of senior forward Casey Capello and senior guard Christine Duffy, who combined for 30 points in leading the defending champion Bishops to a 69-47 victory at the DCU Center.

Quaboag, 4-3 in state championship games, finishes with a 24-2 record, its only Central Mass. loss coming against Division 1 power Shepherd Hill, which made it to the Central Mass. Tournament final. Archbishop Williams ends its season at 22-2.

The Cougars were sparked by senior forward Macey Gaumond and junior center Meaghan O'Keefe, who both totaled 13 points. O'Keefe hit two 3-pointers and had 10 rebounds.

Gaumond (4 steals) and forward Kaylee McIntyre, co-captains, are Quaboag's only seniors.

"Archbishop Williams has a very good basketball team and they executed really well," Quaboag coach John Vayda said. "When they execute the way they want to, they're tough to stop. I'm very proud of all my girls - they had a tremendous year. Our seniors, Macey and Kaylee, stepped up and were great leaders. They were leaders in practice and games, and kind of carried us. Just a great season by all our players."

The Cougars hung with the Bishops for the entire first quarter, playing well at both ends of the floor. A long, top-of-the-key 3-pointer by sophomore guard Olivia Jankins gave Quaboag a 16-12 lead with less than a minute to go in the period.

Quaboag, however, did not score again until Gaumond broke free from the defense and buried a long trey as the buzzer went off to signal the end of the second quarter, a time span of more than eight minutes.

Meanwhile, baskets by senior guard Courtney McNamara, Duffy and Driscoll gave the slick-passing victors their first lead, 18-16, since the opening minutes. Capello assisted on two of those buckets. With both the lead and momentum, quick-handed Archbishop Williams also toughened up defensively, forcing Quaboag into bad shots and turnovers. The Bishops, who did most of their offensive damage from the perimeter, outscored the Cougars, 20-3, in the quarter and led, 32-19, at the break.

"Our momentum slowed down a little bit in the second quarter and they hit some excellent shots," Gaumond said. "We're not used to seeing a team that can shoot the ball that well and they really shot the lights out. And that's part of what happened in the second half. But we nearly went scoreless in the second quarter. It's hard to bounce back from that."

Quaboag, ignited by O'Keefe's 11 points, battled hard at both ends in the floor in the third quarter.

After trailing by as many as 23, 52-29, the Cougars enjoyed a hot stretch, using a 9-0 spurt to close to 52-38 with less than a minute to go in the period. O'Keefe, who canned two treys in the first 3:39 of the period, capped the run with a traditional three-point play. With Driscoll clogging the middle, O'Keefe, an accomplished post-up player, took her offense out deep.

"It was really hard as (Driscoll) is so big," O'Keefe said. "I tried fronting her on defense, but they managed to get great angles passing over me to her. Our game plan was for me to go outside and take Driscoll away from the basket. I hit a few and missed a few. But we had a great season - we got to the state finals. Nobody should be upset. Someone had to lose. They're a great team. If I wanted to lose to anyone, it would be them."

Archbishop Williams led, 54-38, after three quarters. The Bishops maintained a lead of 15 or more points the rest of the way.

Quaboag's strong basketball tradition will likely continue. Jankins, a playmaking standout and shooter, returns next year, along with backcourt mate Meghan Burns, a sharp-shooting sophomore. The other returning starters include O'Keefe and freshman center Samantha McCann (5 rebounds).

"We're losing Macey and Kaylee - great players and leaders - but we still have a lot of size and our guards are strong," Jankins said. "With four starters coming back, we should have a good team. This was a fun season for all of us. But they were a phenomenal team, the best that we've played all season, by far."

Driscoll finished with 8 rebounds and 4 blocks. Duffy added 8 assists.

NAME: QUABOAG REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

ART: PHOTO

PHOTOG: Quaboag's Macey Gaumond, left, tries to get past the defense of Archbishop Williams' Casey Capello in the second half.

PHOTOG: T&G Staff/PAUL KAPTEYN