Wahconah Girls Top Mahar Behind Gamberoni's 21
CHESHIRE, Mass. -- Maria Gamberoni scored 21 points and made eight second-half steals Saturday to lead the Wahconah girls basketball team to a 45-44 win over Mahar in the Coaches Vs. Cancer Showcase at Hoosac Valley High School.
Senior Julia O'Connor (nine points, eight rebounds) had four steals, and teamed up with Gamberoni to make the biggest stop of the game in the closing seconds.
It was the freshman Gamberoni who really turned some heads, running the point at one of the end of the floor and wreaking havoc on Mahar's offense at the other.
"She made a big jump coming into this year," Wahconah coach Liz Kay said of Gamberoni. "I've seen her play for several years, but she played AAU in the spring for a high-level team. And I don't know if you've ever seen an AAU game, but I can tell you right now, they're physical.
"So she's used to playing physical basketball, where you might not get that experience in middle school otherwise. And I've handed her the reins. She has my full confidence. She knows she's not coming out."
After trailing early, Wahconah used a 16-0 run that spanned the second and third quarters to take a 29-25 lead when Kelly McMahon (seven points) hit a pullup jumper early in the third.
But Mahar refused to go away, and in the fourth quarter, the biggest Wahconah lead came when McMahon set up Gamberoni for a 3-pointer in the corner on the right wing to make it 45-40 with less than three minutes on the clock.
Mahar answered with a Hannah Paul putback and a 6-footer from Micalyn Mailloux to get within a point with 1:20 on the clock.
The teams then traded empty possessions until Wahconah went to the line for a one-and-one with 7.5 seconds on the clock.
McMahon missed the front end, and Mahar grabbed the rebound and rushed into the front court.
But Gamberoni and O'Connor trapped a Senator on the sideline and forced a loose ball out of bounds off Mahar with 1.6 seconds left.
After a timeout, O'Connor inbounded the ball to Gamberoni, who dribbled out the game.
In the first half, Mahar took a 25-13 lead on a Maeve Powell 3-pointer midway through the second quarter, but Wahconah finished the half on a 10-0 run to make it a one-possession game.
Noelle Furlong got things started with a triple on a pass from Gamberoni, and Cassie Tobler finished the run with a bucket in the post off a pass from Abbie Steinman.
In the second half, Tobler tied it, and Gamberoni scored in transition to give Wahconah a 27-25 lead.
It was 29-29 when Wahconah went on a 6-0 spurt to take the lead for good.
First O'Connor scored on back-to-back possessions in transition, and then Gamberoni drove the baseline for two to make it 35-29.
Wahconah (8-2) hosts Taconic on Tuesday.