Rose and Farrell to play in All-Star Game Thursday in Norwell

Junior Kyra Rose and senior Lauren Farrell will represent the Lady Dogs in the Girls South Shore League All-Star game on Thursday at 5 pm in Norwell.

Kyra Rose fights off Archbishop Williams center in the semifinals at Massasoit. Patriot Ledger photo.

Kyra Rose led the Lady Dogs in scoring once again this year with a  15.8 ppg. average and 347 total points.  As great a scorer as she is, she also excels at finding and setting up her teammates with her accurate and often uncanny passes. She had 5.7 assists per game and averaged 8.5 rebounds per game. Rose has 961 career points in three years as a starter for the girls.

Lauren Farrell drives to the hoop against Bishop Stang in quarterfinal game in Rockland. photo by Rockland High Sports

Senior Lauren Farrell has been in the starting five for the Lady Dogs for two years.  A consistent, reliable guard/forward Farrell averaged 4.77 ppg. (105 total for the year) and shot 62% from the free throw line.  She averaged 3.5 rebounds per game and 2.3 assists.  Lauren could be counted on to take the ball to the hoop and to come up with the big steal when needed.  Her reliability and consistency will be hard to replace next year.

Erika Ochenduszko goes to the hoop against Archbishop Williams. photo by Kelley Reale

Freshman Erika Ochenduszko will participate in the three point shooting contest for the Lady Dogs at half-time of the game.  Erika had a great rookie season, averaging 8.9 ppg. (196 total).

Kyra Rose will compete in the free throw shooting contest at 4:15 pm.

Good luck to the Lady Dogs at the All-Star festivities. See you in Norwell!

Lady Dogs Don’t Go Easy in Semifinal Round

If it had been a sixteen minute game, it would have gone down as THE greatest moment in the history of RHS Lady Bulldog basketball.

Starting with Bulldog Nation’s singing of the National Anthem and the awesome support of those cheering for an upset, it looked like the upset could happen.  Maybe those feisty underdogs from Rockland, the D3 public school,  could really pull off a win against the obscenely loaded line-up from Archbishop Williams, the D1 look-a-like private school.

Bulldog Nation supports the Lady Dogs

If you weren’t there on Wednesday night, March 4 at Massasoit, here’s what happened.

Playing with the fearlessness and confidence that two previous tournament wins against Coyle and Stang had given them, the Rockland girls came out with intensity against Archbishop Williams, putting the Lady Bishops on their heels and taking an early eight point lead.   Freshman Danielle O’Brien hit three threes in the first quarter and Maddie Olsen hit one, while the rest of the team went inside against the taller Bishop forwards, drawing important fouls and converting on the foul line.  The Bishops tried to fight back and went up by one, but Kyra Rose got two at the buzzer and the Lady Dogs were ahead 26-25 at the end of the half with Bulldog Nation in a frenzy of enthusiasm.

Coming out in the 2nd half, the Lady Bishops, with their new found respect for Rockland’s talent and grit, went to their Division 1 college recruits,  Gilmer and Williams.  While Rockland kept the pressure on, fast break baskets and Bulldog shots that would not fall  keyed the Lady Bishops’ runs and stymied any hopes of an upset for the Lady Dogs. The final score was 62 to 44.

Junior Kyra Rose finished the night and another great year with 20 points; freshman Erika Ochenduszko had seven and O’Brien had nine.

Seniors Kara Penney, Molly McDonough, Lauren Farrell and Kallie Morss. photo by Kelley Reale

To say the seniors should hold their heads high is an understatement.  What Kara Penney, Lauren Farrell, Kallie Morss and Molly McDonough provided to the girls basketball program with their four year commitment was a trip back to the South Sectional Semifinals after a 15 year drought.  Even more the seniors were fun to be around; they are a great group who have endured a lot of heartache this year but who left it all on the floor every day in practices and games.  They will be missed.

Coach Mitchell had this to say to a reporter after the game: “I could not be happier with the effort they put in, day in and day out. They are a great group of kids, on and off the court. For the season to come to an end is tough, but we’ll be back.”

 

Celebrating their win against Bishop Stang

 

 

 

March Madness at RHS: Rockland Girls In Semifinals

The Rockland girls basketball team will be at Massasoit in Brockton on Wednesday night at 6 pm as they face Archbishop Williams in the Division 3 South Sectional Semifinals.

To become one of the top four in D3 South the girls had to defeat a tough team from Bishop Stang High School on Friday night, Feb. 27. The final score was 51-40.  It was a great game and the Lady Dogs sparkled on defense once again, perhaps inspired by their home court advantage, an advantage well earned with the number three seed in the tournament. Team manager Adiza Alasa was instrumental in keeping  the crowd pumped up throughout the game.

The first half looked like it would be all Rockland as they jumped out to an 11-4 lead but Stang chipped away and the score at half-time was 15-12. Despite the fact that the Lady Dogs had allowed Stang to get close, they were buoyed by the fact that they had only allowed 12 first half points and were determined to continue the trend in the second half.

Junior Caroline Kilduff was a force on the boards against Bishop Stang. photos Rockland High Sports

In the second half the Dogs owned the boards and no one was better than junior Caroline Kilduff who had eight third quarter points, most on offensive rebounds.  She had ten points in all, and Kyra Rose stepped up as well with 16 points including nine out of ten free throws in the second half as the Lady Spartans tried to climb back into the game.  Maddie Olsen led the team defensively helped out by Lauren Farrell, Molly McDonough, Danielle O’Brien and Kallie Morss.  Erika Ochenduszko had another strong game as well.

Sophomore Maddie Olsen gets to the hoop against Stang.

This is Rockland’s first appearance in the South Semifinals since 2000, the year they went on to capture the State Title.  Coach Mitchell will surely tell the girls what to expect as she captained that team.

Heading in to this game, our Lady Dogs will look to be just as stingy on defense as they have been in the first two rounds; the word is that Bulldog Nation will be out in full force to bring the important “home court advantage” to Massasoit at 6 pm.

Good luck Lady Dogs!