The Woburn student section reminded junior guard Marissa Gattuso of what her team was about to accomplish as she stepped to the free throw line with 19.8 seconds remaining in the Division 1 North final Saturday at Whittier Tech in Haverhill.
With the crowd chanting “TD Garden,’’ Gattuso knocked down one of two foul shots to cap a 28-point performance and give the second-seeded Tanners a 13-point lead on fourth-seeded Revere. The two teams traded free throws in the game’s final seconds, but Woburn came away with a 58-46 victory to claim the sectional crown and earn a date with South champion Bishop Feehan Monday at TD Garden.
“Marissa has been great all year long,’’ Woburn coach Steve Sullivan said. “She’s a tremendous player, she’s such a big presence on the floor.’’
Senior guard Nicole Pacheco added 10 points for Woburn (22-2) and sophomore forward Kelsey Qualey had 8.
Sophomore guard Pamela Gonzalez led Revere (20-6) with 12 points and senior forward Maritza Scott and sophomore forward Valentina Pepic added 10 apiece.
Even without senior center Elle Brennan, who was forced to sit most of the game after picking up two early fouls, Woburn never trailed, holding a 13-6 advantage after one quarter.
“Honestly, after losing Elle . . . everybody had to step up,’’ Pacheco said. “I think me and Marissa really were like ‘Let’s go, if she’s going to be out we’re going to do this not only for her but for the team.’?’’
Pacheco opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer, but Revere used a 12-5 run to cut the deficit to 4. Woburn junior forward Mya Blazejowksi scored to end the half, giving the Tanners a 6-point cushion heading into the locker room.
“We just had to keep pushing, we couldn’t let them come back,’’ Gattuso said. “We had to keep the pace up.’’
Revere brought the score within 3 points three times in the third quarter, but Woburn found a way to pull ahead every time.
“They’re mentally hard-nosed, mentally tough, and they just kept digging in,’’ Sullivan said. “All year long they’ve just sort of refused to lose and that’s kind of the attitude that started with the captains and it’s filtered right down through the team.’’
The Tanners led by 8 heading into the final frame and continued to surge in the fourth quarter before sealing the win at the charity stripe.
“Division 1 North champs, an outstanding accomplishment,’’ Sullivan said. “And then we’ll go take our chances Monday night with a very, very, very good Bishop Feehan team.’’
Division 1 Central
Natick 62, Wachusett 55 — At Fitchburg State, senior Justine Graziano matched her career-high with 36 points as the Red Hawks (15-8) advanced to the state semifinals against Chicopee Comp on Tuesday at DCU Center.
Division 2 North
Watertown 46, Belmont 41 — After an underwhelming first half, the Red Raiders battled back to win the sectional final in Woburn.
“It was really about digging in, communicating defensively, and being physical,’’ Watertown coach Patrick Ferdinand said about the comeback.
“[Belmont] did a really good job of hitting stuff early on but I think we had to stay true to what we were doing and stay in it.’’
Junior forward Shannon Murphy led Watertown’s surge with 10 second-half points and finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Katelyn Rourke added 11 points and Felicia Korte finished with 9. Rourke and Korte each sunk a pair of clutch free throws in the fourth to put the game away.
“It’s about mental toughness,’’ Ferdinand said of the late free throws. “[It’s about] understanding the moment and settling yourself down.’’
Belmont led by as much as 7 in the first half and Watertown didn’t take their first lead until there were just three minutes left in the third quarter when the Raiders went up 29-26.
“We did a good job with the pick and rolls, hedging it, trapping it sometimes. It really came down to finding our matchups in transition and trying to throw the ball there.’’
Watertown (20-3) will play Oliver Ames in the state semifinals at TD Garden Tuesday.
“We lost [at the Garden] to Duxbury last year,’’ Murphy said. “So we are very excited to be back.’’
Division 2 South
Oliver Ames 34, Hingham 33 — Kaitlyn McCarthy was in the third grade when coach Elaine Clement-Holbrook guided Oliver Ames to a state championship in 2006. She vividly remembers when Clement-Holbrook and the rest of the team came to her middle school, showing off their shiny new trophy.
Now McCarthy has a chance to bring another title back to Oliver Ames. After helping the Tigers to a thrilling victory over Hingham at Durfee High School, McCarthy and her squad will play Watertown in the state semifinals at TD Garden on Tuesday.
“I remember that distinctly,’’ McCarthy, a senior guard, said.“ I was like, ‘I want to be on that team one day. I want to play for Coach Holbrook.’?’’
Hingham senior Sydney Blasetti hit a 3-pointer to bring the Harborwoman within a point in the closing seconds, then Oliver Ames turned the ball over with seven seconds remaining, giving Hingham a chance to win.
Blasetti’s sister, sophomore Haley (13 points), got a good look from the right block, but the shot glanced off the side of the rim and the Tigers emerged victorious.
“I was thinking the final score would be 5-4, just by the nature of the fact that it was two of the better defensive teams [in D2],’’ Holbrook said.
Junior guard Francesca Calabraro led the way with 7 points for Oliver Ames.
Calabraro and McCarthy hit back-to-back 3s with a little over three minutes remaining to put the Tigers up, 34-26, providing Oliver Ames with the cushion it needed.
“That’s the thing that gave us that sigh of relief because we really didn’t see that in the first half,’’ Holbrook said. “That was a pretty amazing finish.
Division 2 Central
Notre Dame (Worcester) 58, Medfield 53 — Maggie McCarthy scored 15 points, but the third-seeded Warriors (17-6) fell to the top-seeded Rebels at Fitchburg State.
Division 3 North
Bishop Fenwick 65, North Reading 47 — Colleen Corcoran scored 14 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead the Crusaders to the title at Whittier Tech in Haverhill.
Bishop Fenwick (21-4) fell behind, 14-9, with just over six minutes remaining in the second quarter but ripped off 17 straight points to build a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
The Crusaders will play Archbishop Williams in the state semifinals Tuesday.
“I think we started off slow because we were nervous,’’ coach Adam DeBaggis said. “It was more about calming them down. There was no X’s and O’s that we needed to talk about.’’
Fenwick forced the Hornets (20-3) into 20 turnovers on the evening and took advantage with a flurry of easy layups in transition. DeBaggis tasked Corcoran with tagging North Reading’s Jessica Lezon, a 6-foot-5 senior who finished with a game-high 15 points.
But with Corcoran on Lezon, the Yale-bound center didn’t score her first bucket until 2:14 to go in the second quarter.
“[Corcoran] is really like the beating heart of our team,’’ DeBaggis said. “The last four years, it has meant a lot. She plays like that in practice, too.’’
Senior guard Sydney Brennan scored 11 points for Bishop Fenwick.
Division 3 South
Archbishop Williams 57, Coyle-Cassidy 35 — The defending Division 3 champion Bishops are one step closer to repeating after beating the Warriors in the sectional final at New Bedford High School.
Victoria Dean finished with 16 points for Archbishop Williams (16-7) and sophomore Asiah Dingle also scored 16.
It will be the Bishops fourth straight appearance at TD Garden. They play Bishop Fenwick on Tuesday in the EMass final.
The Bishops jumped out to a 20-6 lead after one quarter with half of those points coming from senior Victoria Dean and never looked back.
Archbishop Williams coach Matt Mahoney said defense has been his team’s key to winning all year, pointing to keeping Coyle-Cassidy to single-digit scoring in three quarters and holding Coyle-Cassidy senior Nicole Bostick to a mere 3-pointer in the fourth.
Senior Grace Orfanello led Coyle-Cassidy with 16 points.
Division 4 Central
Millis 52, Douglas 31 — Katie Golden scored 17 points at Fitchburg State to help the 10th-seeded Mohawks wrap up their third consecutive sectional title.
Globe correspondents Matt MacCormack, Brandon Blom, Griffin Connolly, and Andrew Penacho contributed to this report.
