On Feb. 25, Paige Meda of the Bourne girls basketball team was named the South Coast Conference Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Being an MVP is not just about how many points a player averages each game, which is why the word “valuable” is in the title. The award is given to players who can affect the game in more ways than one.
“Paige is not just a scorer,” Bourne head coach Stephen Wenzel said. “She’s another coach on the court, she distributes the basketball, she’s keyed on (by other teams), and she’s unselfish.”
All of those aspects of Meda’s game helped Bourne to a 44-36 win over Northbridge in the MIAA Division 4 Sweet 16 on Wednesday.
After she scored seven points in the opening quarter, Meda was held to two points over the next three quarters, and finished with nine points.
Well, good thing basketball is a team sport.
The Blake Show
When your star player is having an off game in the playoffs, somebody else gets the chance to step up.
Say hello to Reaghan Blake.
The two-year varsity starting sophomore is not shy of the big moment. Wenzel said that he asks Blake to do a lot of different things. He noted that she has played every single minute of every single game this season.
“She can handle the basketball, she can shoot threes, and we ask her to play in the paint because she’s so strong,” Wenzel said. “She’s fearless when she gets the ball in her hands.”
Whenever her team needed her, whether it was a basket, rebound, pass, or steal, Blake responded. She finished with a game-high of 19 points.
“I’m very proud of myself, but I really couldn’t do it without my team,” Blake said. “You can’t do the points, passes, rebounds, everything without your team. I’m thankful for them.”
The Lockdown
The Lady Canalmen trailed 30-27 at halftime, which was largely in part to Northbridge’s 5-foot-11-inch junior Molly Gahan. Gahan had 14 points in the first half and scored at will with her size advantage.
Bourne had prepared all week to defend her.
“We knew coming in that number 4 (Gahan) was going to be a beast, and she was,” Wenzel said. “Everything goes through her and being a little bit of an undersized team, we had to play a style of defense that we haven’t played all year long.”
That defense involved surrounding Gohan in the paint every time she touched the ball, whether it was two, three or even four players. This led to only two points for Gohan, and six total team points, in the second half.
“Once she started falling apart, the whole team kind of fell apart,” Blake said.
Starting guard Aubrey France was in foul trouble for the first three quarters, but Wenzel said having her in the end was a big part of that second half lockdown.
“Up top she just adjusts so well to the ball in the air,” Wenzel said. “She understands how to guard all four positions even though she’s a guard. Bringing her in the fourth quarter with four fouls helped shut them down.”
Next Up
The Lady Canalemen are 20-2 on the season, and have won 10 of their last 11 games. Their two losses were by a total of 12 points. Bourne’s first trip to the Elite Eight in program history will be the toughest test of the season.
The second seeded Tyngsborough is next up on the schedule. They are 21-1, with the only flaw being a four-point loss at the hands of Div. 4 top seed Cathedral. Since then, they have won 15 straight games.
If this were a regular season game, it may be different, but this is win or go home playoff basketball. The good news for Bourne is that they are unbeaten on the road at 9-0, so traveling 96 miles away is not a big concern.
“We have nothing to lose. We’re the underdogs. It’s either leave it all there and win or lose,” Meda said.
Contact Courtney Jacobs at cjacobs@capecodonline.com. Follow him on X/Twitter: @CJ_Journalist.
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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Bourne girls basketball beats Northbridge in Sweet 16
