Following an impressive 15-5 mark, along with
an 8-0 mark en route to another Greater Boston League title, the
Highlanders delivered an impressive 66-48 first round win over Beverly
before succumbing to Andover in a 56-41 defeat in the Division 1 North
quarterfinal match. Also recording a milestone victory was veteran
coach Brian Harris, who posted his 300th career win in the Highlanders'
win over Beverly. Overall, Harris has delivered a 246-136 mark at
Somerville while boasting a 54-50 mark at Arlington Catholic.

"I
really didn't think about it (300th career win)," said Harris. "All I
knew was that we had two days to prepare for our game against Andover,
and we had to cram in a lot of information in one practice. If we had a
couple of more days to prepare, and study them, then who knows what
would've happened."

Top performances included sophomore
sensation Kelsey Garrity, who delivered a career high 25 points in an
overtime loss to Notre Dame of Hingham. Notre Dame of Hingham captured
the Division 2 Eastern Mass Championship and later vied for the state
title, which took place last weekend.

"In beginning of the year
we had hopes to make a statement for ourselves," said Garrity. "We have
always been the underdogs and never really hit our high standards. From
game one, all of us wanted to start out with a bang, but going down 0-2
right away just shocked us. Then we won our tournament and our
confidence flew back up."

Just when the season had appeared to
have turned the corner, the Highlanders continued to suffer roadblocks
along the way. During one game following the Christmas break, senior
Jill Liberatore suffered a season ending torn anterior cruciate
ligament in her knee while Jennie Vallesio sprained her ankle, forcing
her to miss the bulk of the regular season. As a result, the
Highlanders were searching for answers.

Despite the injuries,
the Highlanders overcame adversity and managed an impressive run,
including an 11 game winning streak to end the regular season,
including a season sweep of top ranked Lynn English.

"We hit
some rocks in the season losing our starting shooting guard to a freak
accident and our backup point guard to a really bad ankle injury in the
same game," said Garrity. "We really had no clue where that would take
us. We pulled it all together and won 11 straight. We just pulled our
selves together – we never put our heads down – we where there for each
other, worked hard in practice and didn't worry about the changes."

Finishing
the regular season on a high note, the Highlanders were seeded fifth
and cruised to a 66-48 win first round home win over Beverly.

"When
tournament time came coach Harris deserved his 300th win," said
Garrity. "I think that we were the perfect team to give him that win.
We had a lot of momentum going for us heading into the Andover game,
and we were hoping We felt really strong – when Andover came I really
thought we were going to shock Massachusetts, but it just wasn't meant
to be. We did everything we could do, but in the end we came up short.
I think from my 8 years of playing basketball that that game was the
moment I was waiting for."

While the Highlanders' season may
have fallen well short of a Division 1 state title, it's certainly been
a season to remember for both the players and the coaching staff.

"The
girls just kept working harder and harder every day in practice," said
Harris. "They kept working through the sicknesses and the injuries, and
did a fabulous job. They showed commitment to the team, and they left
it all out on the court."

With a whopping 12 seniors lost to the
cap and gown, the Highlanders will aim to regroup come next year when
they'll once again be favored to defend the Greater Boston League
title.

One key asset for the Highlanders' success over the
next two years will be Garrity, who averaged 18 points and six assists
per game while earning all-star status in the process and developing
into one of the league's top point guards.