Eastbayri.com

SEEKONK — One of the largest crowds of the season turned out to hopefully see Amanda Cavallaro notch the 1,000th point of her career and the Seekonk High School girls’ basketball team came up with its second win of the season.

They got one, but not both.

Visiting and rival Dighton-Rehoboth pulled away early in the fourth quarter en route to a 62-46 victory over the Warriors in a South Coast Conference contest Thursday night, Feb. 9, but Cavallaro did reach the career milestone.

The senior guard did so in quite a dramatic manner, waiting until the final 69 seconds of the game to net the basket that accounted for points Nos. 1,000 and 1,001. She needed 14 to reach the mark going in and finished with a team-best 15 on the night.

“It was a real good night. I’m really happy for Amanda,” said SHS head coach Kate Chiulli. “But it would have been a bit better of a night if we had also gotten the win. But we didn’t, and it doesn’t diminish a good thing like Amanda scoring her 1,000th point.”

Cavallaro became just the eighth hoopster in Seekonk High history to reach the noteworthy career points total and just the fourth female to do so. The last girl to accomplish the feat was Shannon Halpin in the 1999-2000 season.

Thursday, a whole bunch of Cavallaro’s family, friends and classmates were on hand to see her chase the mark. After missing a handful of shots from the field and going scoreless in the first quarter, Cavallaro made a free throw early in the second to get in the scorebook. Her first field goal came on a drive late in the period. She quickly added a steal and layup to finish with five points before the break.

The left-hander then got off to a fast start in the third quarter, draining a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Cavallaro was fouled soon after on a rebound put-back attempt and made one from the stripe.

Late in the quarter, she made four more free throws to reach the cusp of the milestone, but those points would prove the last she would score for nearly eight minutes.

With the fans on edge and time ticking away, Cavallaro took a few more jumpers and drove to the goal a couple of times to no avail. The shots did not fall. The one that finally did was one of those peculiar to hoops, her attempt from the top of the key hitting the back of the rim, bouncing high in the air then dropping in for the career-defining bucket.

While the fans focused on Cavallaro throughout the contest, the Falcons set about finally taking control of a game they led much of the night. The first period ended with the score level at nine. D-R netted the final four points of the first half to take a 26-23 lead to intermission.

A key sequence occurred mid-way through the third when the Falcons scored six consecutive points to build a working lead, 36-31. Four points during the mini run came at the foul line and two following a Seekonk technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The Warriors recovered a bit, eventually tying the score for what would be the final time at 37-all on two of Cavallaro’s free throws.

It was about that time, however, when D-R senior sharp-shooter Emma Klinkhamer caught fire. She drained a 3 from the top with four seconds to go in the third quarter to give the visitors a 40-37 lead heading into the final stanza.

Klinkhamer also nailed a triple from nearly the exact same spot for the first hoop of the fourth then later canned another jumper with a toe on the arc as the Falcons built a 49-40 lead less than two minutes into the period. D-R gradually added to its cushion the rest of the way before settling for the 16-point victory.

Seekonk dropped to 1-16 overall and 1-12 in the SCC with the loss. The Warriors return to action Tuesday night, Feb. 14, in Fairhaven at 6:30.

To view or purchase more SHS/D-R photos click the following link...

http://eastbayri.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1412365&CategoryID=9741