T'hawks roll behind Conti; Algonquin outlasts Colonials in Mid-Wach A battle.

Byline: Steve Farley

NORTHBORO - Algonquin wasn't hurting too badly when it played without starting center Liz Conti, who missed the first three games this season with a shoulder injury.

However, after Conti produced her second straight double-double in the Tomahawks' 45-33 win over No. 2 Shrewsbury last night, Algonquin coach Ron Jones is pretty happy the 5-foot-10 junior center is back in the lineup. Conti tossed in a game-high 17 points and hauled in 12 rebounds.

Classmate Theresa Logan, the Mid-Wach A leading scorer (18.5 points per game), dropped in 15 points, 11 of them in the second half for the Tomahawks, who improved to 6-1, 2-1 in the Mid-Wach A.

The Colonials, who had a five-game winning streak snapped, fell to 7-2 and 1-1.

"It's a very big win," said Conti, who is still recovering from a stress fracture in her right shoulder. "I think it's (Algonquin's early season success) because we wanted to prove to everyone that we wanted to come out here and show everybody we can play. We've been working really hard in practice and that's helped us prepare ourselves better for the games. Give Shrewsbury credit. We always play them neck and neck in the tournament. We split (during the regular season) last year. (Kelly) McKenna was very tough down low for me to handle."

After squandering an eight-point lead in the second quarter, Algonquin trailed, 23-19, at halftime, but managed to hold Shrewsbury to just 10 second-half points. The Tomahawks outscored the Colonials, 13-4, in the third quarter and 13-6 in the fourth.

"We like to pride ourselves in our defense," Jones said, "but some of that had to do with (Shrewsbury) missing shots."

Shrewsbury actually scored more points in the second period (17), than the first, third and fourth periods combined (16).

"They killed us (under the boards) and we missed lots and lots of shots," said Colonials coach Erin Largess. "Thirty-three points is not enough to beat anyone. (Algonquin) is athletic. They're quick. They know what to do. They stopped us tonight. It's (the loss) about growing pains. We definitely need to learn something from it. You've got to move on, and you've got to bounce back or you'll lose the next game."

"I'm very pleased with the effort," Jones said. "It was a hard-fought game. The game was closer than the score. It's one of those games that could've gone either way. It was the first opponent we could really challenge ourselves against a really good team. We are not real big, but we stress (rebounding). We have to. Even our guards rebounded tonight."

Shrewsbury struggled mightily from the floor, scoring only four points in the third period. Tied at 27-27 after an Erin Kinback basket with 2:45 left in the quarter, Algonquin scored five straight points on two free throws by Logan, another free throw by Mary Farrell and a putback by Logan to take a 32-37 lead after 24 minutes.

The Colonials regained the lead for the last time in the final period on a deep jumper by Kinback, eventually followed by back-to-back putbacks by McKenna (team-high 12 points) and Bridget Hally. Hally's field goal with 3:55 to go put Shrewsbury on top, 33-32.

The Tomahawks, though, outscored Shrewsbury, 13-0, the rest of the way, cleaning up under the glass time and time again and hitting enough free throws to seal it. Conti, who scored six points during the stretch, knocked down Algonquin's only three field goals. Logan added five points, all from the free-throw line. Algonquin finished 17 for 26 from the stripe.

NAME: ALGONQUIN REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL; SHREWSBURY HIGH SCHOOL