Fenway avenged a 5-point loss to New Mission in the Boston City League championship last month by outlasting its city rival, 50-45, for the Division 4 North girls’ basketball title Saturday at Emmanuel College.
“I’m so proud of these girls,’’ said Fenway coach John Rice. “This win, for me, is one of my biggest wins in my career. It’s just such a rivalry, such competitiveness.’’
The Panthers (16-7) will play Cathedral in a state semifinal Tuesday (2:15 p.m.) at TD Garden.
After leading most of the way, the Panthers staved off a final push from New Mission (18-7) with clutch free throw shooting from junior Shania Tarver (12 points), who made 5 of 6 in the final 2:30.
“I had to hold my head for the team, I’m a leader,’’ Tarver said.
“So me calming down and keeping my composure, that brought the team to victory.’’
Fenway also got standout performances from junior Me’Ara Carter (11 points, 10 rebounds) and freshman Nattaly David (12 points).
Senior Taneja Jones-Drayton (11 points) kept the Titans in the game.
“It’s been a long four years, I’ve probably lost like six months total sleep thinking about that kid,’’ Rice said of Jones-Drayton. “That kid’s the best player in the city.’’
In the end, it wasn’t enough to overcome a sloppy first half of shooting for New Mission (18-7), which connected on just five of its 31 attempts in the first 16 minutes.
Division 1 North final
Andover 54, Woburn 45 —Seniors Jillian Webber (24 points, 20 rebounds) and Alyssa Casey (20 points, 12 rebounds) terrorized the Tanners (20-4) in the paint and on the glass to help the Golden Warriors post their 22nd straight win for the North sectional title at Whittier Regional in Haverhill.
“We controlled the tempo, which they wanted to do, we controlled the game,’’ Andover coach E.J. Perry said. “Every girl stepped up.’’
Andover (22-1) will play South champion Braintree (20-4) in the state semifinals Tuesday at TD Garden.
Woburn cut the Golden Warriors’ lead to 1 with two minutes left. But Casey snagged an offensive rebound, converted a put-back and drew a foul. She sank the free throw, and Webber hit a jumper on the ensuing possession to put the game out of reach.
Woburn senior Mya Blazejowski knocked down four 3-pointers for 12 pointsand star guard Marissa Gattuso, defended by freshman Shea Krekorian most of the way, had 9.
Two years ago, Andover lost to Braintree at the Garden.
“This year, we got to the Garden, we want to win at the Garden,’’ Webber said.
Division 2 South final
Foxborough 47, Westwood 38 — Led by the junior tandem of Ashley Sampson and Grace Tamulionis, top-seeded Foxborough came alive late to defeat Westwood for the title at Brockton High.
Sampson, the Hockomock League MVP, powered her way to 19 points and 10 rebounds and Tamulionis contributed 11 points to help Foxborough advance to the state semifinals to face Arlington Catholic (18-6) Monday night (5:45) at TD Garden.
Two years ago, as freshmen, the two led Foxborough in scoring in a 55-45 loss to Duxbury in the Division 2 South final.
On Saturday, they combined for 10 points during a 10-2 run in the fourth quarter, pacing the Warriors to a 41-36 lead that they would never relinquish.
“The fact that they’re familiar with this gym and this environment helped them a little bit,’’ said Foxborough coach Lisa Downs. “They settled into the game as it progressed and really started to feel more confident.’’
Sampson, who is 9 points away from 1,000 in her career, kept the Warriors in the game early by netting 10 of the teams’ first 16 points, as Foxborough trailed 24-21 at the half.
“We never once questioned if we were in the game, whether we were down by 4 or up by 2. They just showed so much heart out there,’’ Downs said about her players.
Seniors Christina Bonfiglio (14 points, 7 rebounds) and Carly Sugrue (13 points) led Westwood (17-8) in the program’s first sectional finals appearance since 2004.
Division 2 North final
Arlington Catholic 49, Hamilton-Wenham 38 — Sophomore Erin Donlan led all scorers with 21 points and senior Lena Perez chipped in 15 for the Cougars, who held on in the fourth quarter after squandering an early 20-point lead to win the sectional title and a date against South champion Foxborough in the state semifinals Monday at TD Garden.
The Generals erupted for an 18-3 run to take a 33-32 lead with 6:48 to play, but Arlington Catholic outscored Hamilton-Wenham, 17-8, in the fourthm, getting nine points from Donlan, to secure the win.
“The only way we were going to win is if we kept calm,’’ Perez said. “We always find a way to keep it together.’’
“It’s human nature to relax,’’ said Arlington Catholic head coach Dave Brady. “It says a lot about our perseverance that we were able to stick with it and pull this one out.’’
Donlan led all scorers with 21 points while Perez added 15 for the Cougars.
Kirschner paced the Generals with 17 points and Jacqueline Fibbe tacked on nine on 3 three-pointers.
Division 3 South final
Archbishop Williams 62, Fontbonne Academy 56 — Junior guard Asiah Dingle (21 points, nine assists) and sophomore Bridgette O’Reilly (11 points) paced the fifth-seeded Bishops (21-3) and helped them withstand a late run by the Ducks (20-4) — who pulled within 56-52 with 4:41 remaining — to capture their fifth straight South title.
“We had to fight for this one,’’ said Dingle, whose team faces North champion Amesbury in the state semifinals Monday (2:15 p.m.) at TD Garden.
Junior Annabelle Larnard (18 points) and freshman Tasha Lima (20 points) helped engineer the Fontbonne comeback, but Dingle hit her free throws late to preserve the win.
“Luckily, our kids survived,’’ said Bishops coach Matt Mahoney. “We put the ball in Asiah’s hands and said ‘Do what you have to do.’’’
Division 3 North final
Amesbury 66, Bishop Fenwick 50 — Sophomore forward Flannery O’Connor had a game-high 20 points to lead the Indians (21-1) over Fenwick (16-9) at Wakefield High.
O’Connor was a force inside, but Amesbury coach Matt Willis said the difference was his team’s seven field goals from beyond the arc.
“Three-point shooting has been our weak point all year and we really started focusing on shooting in the second half of the year,’’ Willis said. “You can only take so many things away so if you want to take [O’Connor] away, we needed to hit some perimeter shots to loosen it up.’’
Amesbury led 36-19 at the half and did not let the Crusaders cut the lead under single digits the rest of the way. Senior Madison Napoli (three 3-pointers) added 13 points and her youngster sister, Allison, a sophomore, had 10, including a pair of treys.
“We just didn’t want this season to end. We’ve having a lot of fun out there,’’ Willis said.
Senior guard Samantha Mancinelli (17 points) hit four 3-pointers for Fenwick, the defending sectional champion.
Division 2 Central final
Medfield 49, Hopkinton 42 — Senior Maggie McCarthy, who awoke Saturday with a 102.6-degree fever, overcame her illness to sink several key free throws for the Hillers in their win over Tri-Valley League rival Hopkinton at WPI’s Harrington Auditorium.
“That’s what it’s all about,’’ said McCarthy, who finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists to help Medfield (21-2) secure a state semifinal date against West champion Pittsfield (16-7) Monday at the DCU Center.
Division 4 Central final
Millis 53, Douglas 27 — Sophomore forward Abby Clark, who this time last year was a junior varsity call-up at the end of the bench, scored 16 of her 21 points in the first half, knocking down four 3-pointers, to help lead Millis to its fourth straight Division 4 Central title in a matchup against Douglas at WPI.
Millis (16-8) will face four-time West champion Quaboag Regional in a state semifinal on Tuesday (2:15) at Worcester’s DCU Center.
“I’m really excited that I was able to be a part of the team this year, and was able to help,’’ said the 5-foot-11-inch Clark.
“I think we’re going to make it to Springfield again this year. We have to keep pushing ourselves. We deserve this, because we work so hard every single day. We’ve earned it.’’
The Mohawks won the three previous meetings by an average margin of 15 points. Last year, Millis won, 58-41, before falling to Cathedral in the state final.
“Every year is different,’’ said Millis coach David Fallon. “The journey to get here is not always the same. You have to build it every year and the kids have to buy in. It’s not too complicated.
“We really push our kids hard. Now, it’s a common expectation if we get to the tournament, we have a lot of opportunities.’’
The Mohawks’ stifling defense held the Tigers (19-5) to just 3 points in the third quarter and two field goals in the second half, both coming in the fourth quarter. Millis led by 29 in the final period.
Globe correspondents James Duffy (Haverhill), P.J. Wright (Wakefield), Nate Weitzer (Brockton), Trevor Hass (Taunton), Brendan Hall (WPI), and Steve Farley (WPI) contributed.
