Eagles Fly Into State Tournament

Today, in Sharon, it's one down, one to go.

The Sharon High varsity girls basketball team qualified for the state tournament Tuesday night -- the Eagles' regular-season finale -- by defeating visiting Holliston, 48-37, in the last game of the two-day Dedham Savings Bank Girls Basketball Showcase.

Wednesday night. the Sharon High varsity boys also will reach the state tourney by winning their regular-season wrap-up. The Eagles host Medford at 5 p.m. And it's Senior Night in Sharon.

The seedings for both tournaments will be announced Friday.

Sharon's girls squad is on a roll, head coach Kate Horsmann noted afterward.

"First of all, getting in the tournament's a big thing. We won six of our last seven games, and I always want the seniors to get to the tournament. And they did," she said.

"When you see Aly Handler jump -- she's tiny -- when you see her in there battling on the boards with those huge kids to get those rebounds and to own those boards, you know how much they wanted it too.

"And all of the girls wanted it, not just for themselves."

That meant taking a few hits from Holliston, which out-fouled Sharon, 9 to 2, in the first half.

"They're a very physical team. The referees were blowing their whistles," Horsmann said.

"It hurt them, but it played to our advantage because the girls were able to get to the line and settle down and get our rhythm."

Senior co-captain and forward Liz Wluka put on a show offensively in the third quarter, scoring 11 of her team-high 23 points.

Classmate, fellow co-captain and guard Handler added Sharon's other 6 points of that period -- hitting two 3-pointers.

Handler and classmate and forward Steph Bartas were among those who helped Sharon dominate the defensive boards, limiting Holliston's second chances, Horsmann noted.

"I'm surprised by how many defensive boards we had," she said.

"Just having (Bartas') big body in there boxing out and keeping balls alive, it's somebody else that they have to pay attention to aside from just boxing out Liz.

"Aly Handler was out there crashing the boards. (Senior guard) Franny Santiago was crashing the boards. That made a huge difference."

Sharon led 22-15 at halftime.

Holliston was led by junior Allison LeBel's 9 points -- all on 3-pointers over the final two-plus minutes.

Now Sharon waits for Friday.

"I want to win, but I don't really care about what happens," Horsmann said.

"You can't say the season's been anything but a huge success the way these kids have played. The heart that they've showed has just been great.

"They play tough and they're scrappy, but they're the nicest girls in the world."