Oliver, senior class helped set a new standard for Norwell High girls basketball
LOWELL — As a fourth grader, Maddie Oliver remembers being in the stands looking up to the players on the Norwell High girls basketball team.
As she played the final basketball game of her high school career, there’s little doubt that plenty of youth basketball players were in the stands for the Division 3 state final hoping to be the next Maddie Oliver.
Oliver, along with seniors Paige Maguire, Reagan Dowd, Holly Panttila and Charlotte Pithie, saw their careers end with a 46-38 loss to St. Mary’s of Lynn in the Div. 3 state final at the Tsongas Center.
“I idolized them all so much,” said Oliver remembering her days in the stand.
Oliver graduates as a 1,000-point scorer whose team compiled an 87-11 record over her four seasons. That included one quarterfinal appearance, a trip to the semifinal and two state finalist spots.
“Those girls, I’ve never met a group of girls that worked harder than them,” said Oliver, who plans to basketball next year, she’s just not quite sure where yet. “Every practice, staying after for extra shots. We all religiously watch film hours a day. We all wanted this so bad.
“I feel like it’s very rare that you find a group of people that willing to put in 100% effort all the time and completely give your body, soul, mind and everything to the game. …That’s what made us be able to go on these runs.”
The No. 3 Clippers (23-2) are still in search of their first state championship. Friday marked title No. 6 for the Spartans.
The marquee matchup in Friday was Oliver against St. Mary’s sophomore Bella Owumi, who already has double-digit Div. I scholarship offers. Owumi finished with a game-high 19 points and 8 rebounds. Oliver tallied 9 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
“Just two of the best players in the state just playing as hard as they can, trying to take it home for their team,” said Norwell coach Matt Marani of the matchup.
The Clippers never led, but always found a way to keep it competitive. An 11-point, second-quarter Spartan lead (23-12) was trimmed to three when Oliver drained a floater late in the third quarter. St. Mary’s responded with the final four points of the third quarter to take a 32-25 lead into the final frame.
In the fourth quarter, freshman Adrienne Dowd (10 points) cut the deficit to five (41-36) with 1:11 remaining after finishing off an offensive rebound, but the Spartans held on for the win.
Adrienne Dowd scored a team-high 10 points, as did her old sister Reagan Dowd.
“I really had no idea that either of them were going to make the team,” said Oliver of the Dowd twins, Adrienne and Amelia, “but Adrienne just had an immediate impact. Her size, her length, her athleticism completely changed the game for us.”
“It’s funny, I don’t know if she knows how big of a moment it was or not, but she had a poise,” said Marani of Adrienne Dowd. “ She’s been doing it all year. We knew we needed more size because St. Mary’s is so big, so I knew she was going to play a good amount today, but I’m very impressed with her.”
Panttila, a senior, routinely found herself on the floor battling for loose balls on Friday.
“She’ll lay it all out on the line,” said Marani of Panttila. “There’s no loose ball she won’t dive. The kid is an incredible athlete with a will. We’ve had games we’ve won just on her offensive rebounding.”
Maguire, Oliver and Reagan Dowd were all senior captains. At a young age, they were dubbed the ‘Norwell triple threat’ by their parents for their obsession with basketball.
That trio spearheaded the Clippers to new heights and ended a 25-year state-final drought with back-to-back trips to the state championship.
“To win 20 games in one season, is incredible,” said Marani. “To win in it all four of their seasons, they’re just otherworldly.”
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Norwell High girls basketball falls to St. Mary's (Lynn) in MIAA final
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