The Andrew Lawson Invitational gave 20 different Unified, MIAA and NEPSAC boys and girls programs the unique opportunity to play under the TD Garden lights on Saturday.
Included in the day's slate was a top-10 NEPSAC girls matchup between Tabor, our No. 1 team, and No. 9 Dexter Southfield. The Seawolves showed everyone why they deserve all the hype, taking early command and rolling to a 62-49 win.
The large court suited Tabor (10-0) well, allowing their lethal transition offense to thrive. Their length and versatility on defense also frustrated Dexter Southfield (5-9) for most of the contest.
""Every game, our gameplan is just have full-court pressure, and I definitely think it caught them off guard," Tabor senior Ava Black said. We were able to (get in) transition and kind of knock them out first, which helped a lot."
Tabor simply has depth no other NEPSAC school can match. Just look at the first substitution every game: all five starters for five bench players.
"It's unique. I've not had this before. I've had depth, but nothing like this before," Tabor coach Will Becker said. "... It's a special group of kids, and they've been great about buying in and using that as a weapon and a strength."
Among the many stars on the court, here were five standouts from the matchup.
Ava Black, Tabor
Class of 2025, 5-11 guard/forward
Hometown: Auburn, N.H.
Black's game-high 17 points undersell how much she dominated on both ends of the floor. The Vanderbilt commit canned a spot-up, NBA-range 3-pointer in the first half and made one out of a handoff to start the second. She was also fearless attacking the basket and hit a couple of remarkable layups and floaters through contact. It's great to see Black playing so confidently, even as she wears that bulky brace following her PCL injury recovery.
"In warm-ups, I was hitting everything, so I felt great coming into the game," she said.
Black was also a deterrent at the rim with her length and physical strength, and she picked up an on-ball steal with active hands guarding the perimeter.
Lily Davis, Tabor
Class of 2028, 5-6 guard
Hometown: Waterford, Conn.
Among the rest of Tabor's contributors, I really liked Davis (5 points) and the spark she provided as backup point guard. She's already creating advantages off the dribble with her handle, burst and ability to get low and under defenders. There was one quick sequence where Davis zoomed coast-to-coast through Dexter's beleaguered press for a layup. Davis looks to score when she drives, but she made some solid passing reads out of those attacks, including a nice dump-off to Corinne Lomax for an easy score. I'm impressed by her aggressiveness as an impact player on our top-ranked NEPSAC team.
Lauren Fitzgerald, Tabor
Class of 2027, 6-0 forward
Hometown: North Attleboro, Mass.
Fitzgerald helped the Seawolves get out to a fast start with seven first-half points and finished with nine, a testament to her impact off the bench and the overall balanced effort. She hit a 3-pointer to start, cut well without the basketball and ran hard in transition. I appreciated some of Fitzgerald's help rotations from the weak side too, part of an overall great job Tabor did at keeping Dexter Southfield from half-court scoring at the rim.
Ella Peper, Dexter Southfield
Class of 2028, 6-4 forward
Hometown: Newton, Mass.
This was Peper's second appearance at TD Garden. The freshman phenom said afterwards that she felt more comfortable and it showed from the moment she drilled her first 3-pointer. Peper wound up with 13 points and really benefitted from the large court, which allowed her to run a few one-girl fast breaks. I also thought she was smart with how she attacked closeouts and kept her head up, hitting cutters quickly for assists and potential assists. This was one my favorite Peper games from a decision-making and vision perspective, and that's a super important growth area for her.
Brooke Nunnally-Gardner, Dexter Southfield
Class of 2026, 6-0 forward
Hometown: Stoughton, Mass.
Nunnally-Gardner dug in late in the contest to help turn a 20-plus-point blowout into a more competitive defeat. She tied Peper for the team lead with 13 points, many in typical Nunnally-Gardner fashion: post work and relentless effort on the offensive boards. I do think, particularly in the second half, Nunnally-Gardner and point guard Izzy Adams showed growing synergy, with Adams hitting Nunnally-Gardner on a few impressive fastball passes for inside scores. Nunnally-Gardner passed the ball well herself, including hitting Kam Derba for 3 on a corner kick-out assist.
