Bridgewater-Raynham rides hot shooting night past New Bedford

NEW BEDFORD — Everyone that has seen Bridgewater-Raynham play, knows that Natalia Hall-Rosa is the Trojans’ go-to player.

“Natalia is special,” said New Bedford head coach Jordan Pina. “We tried our best to limit her, but then No. 24 (Jenna Micciantuono) goes off. Our MO is to make someone else beat us and someone else beat us tonight. They’re a really good team.”

Behind a career night from sophomore forward Jenna Micciantuono, Bridgewater-Raynham beat New Bedford 65-46 at the Beardsworth-Gonsalves Gymnasium on Friday to capture the season sweep in Southeast Conference action.

Micciantuono connected on four 3-pointers for 16 points with many of her baskets coming in key stretches of the second and third quarters. She also had a game-high 10 rebounds.

“We knew all along she had that kind of game potentially in her so to see her really come out and shine was great,” said Bridgewater-Raynham head coach Cheryl Seavey. “We kept saying to be patient and all the pieces would come together. Do your job and rise to the occasion when that moment is there and that was tonight.

“It was a case of her continually doing her job and rising to the occasion. She hit so many key shots.”

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Hall-Rosa finished with a team-high 18 points for B-R but seven other players got into the scorebook.

“This was a case of multiple kids showing up in very big ways,” Seavey said. “That’s something that we preach to these kids all along. There is going to be so much focus on Natalia and Reese (Bartlett). Who else is going to step up and take a piece? That’s what you saw tonight is other kids stepping up and taking a piece and proving they can perform under pressure.”

New Bedford came out strong, matching the Trojans point for point in the opening five minutes.

“Everytime we come down here we know it’s going to be a battle,” Seavey said. “This team is well coached. I give my hat off to coach Pina and his staff because they have their kids ready to play.”

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The Whalers took a four-point lead on a three-point play by senior Vanessa Bucha early in the second quarter, but B-R chipped away and eventually went up by seven at the intermission, taking advantage of foul trouble by New Bedford junior Lexi Thompson, who was on the bench with two fouls during B-R’s 14-3 run.

“When she’s out, Vanessa has to play the one and it messes up what we like to do,” Pina said. “It messes up the pace we want to play at too because Lexi pushes the pressure and she’s downhill every single time.”

The Whalers pulled within 35-31 early in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Bucha, but B-R went on a 19-6 run for the rest of the quarter to put the game out of reach. The Trojans connected on five of their nine 3-pointers in the third.

“We have to play perfect for 32 minutes,” Pina said. “In the first half we played perfect for 14 out of the 16, but you take those two minutes off and it goes from us up four to down seven. It’s a team you can’t have many if any mental lapses against. They made us pay.

“It’s a game we try to get up for every year because you have to play your best game of the year to beat them. Cheryl does a good job of getting them ready. We came out with as much energy as I thought we needed to to come out with a win. We just ran out of gas there.”

Bucha had 11 of her game-high 21 points in the first half while Thompson finished with 18 points.

“They both played really well,” Pina said. “Vanessa set the tone right away by being aggressive.”

WHAT IT MEANS: The Whalers fall to 10-4 (1-4 SEC) with two of their losses this season coming against Bridgewater-Raynham. … They host Dartmouth on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the nightcap of a boys-girls doubleheader. “I hope we can learn from this moving forward,” Pina said. “We are going to see teams just as tough if not tougher in the tournament. We have to find a way to finish the season strong. We have a tough Dartmouth game on Tuesday. That’s one if we didn’t get this one, that we circled that we’ve got to get Dartmouth.” … The Trojans improve to 11-3, 5-0 in the SEC. They visit Westford Academy on Tuesday.

SEAVEY ON NEW BEDFORD: “They have always been right there on the cusp ever since the SEC was formed but what you’re seeing now is a team that is very united and together. That’s definitely coming from Jordan’s leadership with this program. Competition in the SEC is not a bad thing for any of us. It helps all of us in our power rankings as we’re making that next push toward the tournament.”

PINA: “We haven’t beaten them yet in my career, but we are getting close. We have to find a way to play almost mistake-free basketball and hope that they make a few mistakes. We’re getting there. Games are not won in the first quarter or the first half. You have to play a full 32 minutes. We’re getting closer.”

STATS: Bridgewater-Raynham shot 49% (27 of 55) from the field and 40% (2 of 5) from the free throw line with 12 turnovers. ... New Bedford shot 34% (16 of 47) from the field and 69% (9 of 13) from the foul line with 14 turnovers.

BRIDGEWATER-RAYNHAM 65, NEW BEDFORD 46

Bridgewater-Raynham

Natalia Hall-Rosa 18, Elizabeth Cronin 2, Brenna Woodbury 10 (2), Reese Bartlett 9 (3), Janne Micciantuono 16 (4), Olivia Roy 6, Kaitlyn Hess 2, Emily Lincoln 2.

New Bedford

Vanessa Bucha 21 (2), Lexi Thompson 18, Hayleigh Chenard 2, Zaria Anderson 2, Ava Kaplan 3 (1).

Bridgewater-Raynham;15;18;21;10 — 65

New Bedford;16;10;11;9 — 46

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Bridgewater-Raynham beats New Bedford in girls basketball