Eight has been more than enough

By BILL DOYLE

CFP CORRESPONDENT

 

      WORCESTER - The day after the Our Lady of the Angels School captured the 7th and 8th grade championship in the Venerini Academy Grade Girls Basketball League, the players received a standing ovation at the school.

      As the players carried the trophy to Principal Corey Maloney, students lined both sides of the hallway of the school, applauded and chanted, “OLA, OLA.”

      “It kind of touched all of us,” said eighth-grade guard Tess Hunter, “because we didn’t expect it because we never had anything like that before, even with our past championship wins. But it kind of represented the school because we’re a very, tight bonded community.”

      OLA posted a video of the celebration on the school’s Facebook page.

      The team of girls aged 12, 13 and 14 finished 13-0 in the league. After a 10-0 regular-season record, OLA went 3-0 in the playoffs, including a 43-10 conquest of Notre Dame Academy in the championship game on March 3 in front of a standing room crowd.

      “Our defense is relentless,” said OLA coach Sean Quinlivan. “We’re really good at intercepting passes, stealing the ball, limiting them to one shot, boxing out. We do everything well as a team, which makes it easier for me.”

      St. Peter Central Catholic played the toughest against OLA during the regular season and led by seven points at halftime in the opening round of the playoffs.

      “We were put up against the wall, but we came back slowly,” Mr. Quinlivan said.

      Tess and fellow guard Kate McGowan are OLA’s top two scorers and they get the bulk of their points by driving to the basket. Forward Abby Quinlivan, who is the coach’s daughter, and center Norah O’Coin are the team’s top two rebounders. Rachael Dinsdale and Carli Leong rotate as the other starter and provide tough defense. All six are eighth-graders.

      Seventh-graders Geniah Jordan and Fresca Danquah round out the team and are also known for their defense.

      OLA has only eight girls in the eighth grade and just seven in the seventh grade and eight of those 15 girls play on the basketball team. Everyone who tried out made the team.

With only eight players, OLA has two to four fewer than its opponents, but eight has been more than enough. 

      “We only had a handful of girls to pick from to start with,” Mr. Quinlivan said. “It’s crazy that we’ve been able to assemble such talent with such small numbers.”

      Kate said the team has built up its stamina with conditioning drills to begin each practice and that it uses all of its timeouts to stay fresh.

      The core of the team has played together since the fifth grade and won the fifth and sixth grade championship in the St. Bernadette League in Northborough two years ago just before the pandemic shut everything down. That year, OLA suffered its only regular-season loss to St. Mary of Shrewsbury on a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but earned revenge by defeating St. Mary in the title game.

      Only COVID has been able to stop OLA. Games were canceled last year because of the pandemic so these girls have won the last two league championships in which they played.

      “I’m sure everybody wanted to play last year,” Mr. Quinlivan said. “They’re the best kids around. I’m sure they didn’t want to take a year off, but with the pandemic you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. They were itching to get back this year and defend their title.”

      “It was kind of surprising that we had time off and how rusty we could have been from taking a year off,” Kate said, “but we worked really hard in practice. We were really tired after practice, but we pushed through.”

      “They have a strong work ethic and they’re winners,” Mr. Quinlivan said.

      Christine Dinsdale teaches eighth grade at OLA so she has her daughter and five of her teammates in class. She organized the school celebration.

      “It was awesome,” she said. “It was fantastic. I couldn’t be prouder of all of them. They worked so hard. It was great.”

      The OLA girls continued their winning ways by capturing the New England Qualifying Tournament last weekend at St. John’s High School where Mr. Quinlivan used to be a reserve on the basketball team. OLA defeated Notre Dame Academy, 24-22, in the championship game after defeating St. Anna and St. Leo, both of Leominster, and St. Bernadette of Northborough earlier in the tournament.

      OLA earned the right to compete in the New England Tournament in Burlington, Vermont, April 1-2.

      Abby enjoys being coached by her father.

      “He’s a really good coach, he’s nice to everybody,” Abby said.

      “I’m tough on her,” her father said. “I like to see her do better sometimes because I know she can. I’m probably toughest on her, but I like coaching her.”

      “I’m used to it,” Abby said.

      Abby plays while battling arthritis in her jaw and joints. Medication helps, but can make her nauseous.

      “It makes me proud that she can tough it out,” Mr. Quinlivan said. “They’re a bunch of tough kids. They wouldn’t let her sit out.”

      “Even if it hurts, you just power through it,” Abby said.

      Dan McGowan, Kate’s dad, is the assistant coach. Kate’s mother, Liane McGowan, helped Mr. Quinlivan coach OLA to the sixth-grade championship and she played for a St. Mary’s of Worcester team that went 30-0 and captured the New England championship when she was in seventh grade. She went on to co-captain the girls’ basketball teams at St. Mary’s High School and Anna Maria College. This year, she helped coach her son Daniel’s fifth-sixth grade team.

      Now, Kate has a chance to win a New England title just like her mother did.

      “Whether they win or lose, I’m proud of their effort,” Mrs. McGowan said, “but it is a pretty unique experience with your kid as a parent and as a coach.”