The girls' varsity basketball team earned a trip of "the ship" (tournament finals) by defeating Lexington Christian Academy last week. The New England Prep School Athletic Association's championship game was scheduled for Sunday afternoon at Noble and Greenough School. The end-of-term faculty meeting was rescheduled for next month, and Proctor Nation showed up in force at Dedham, Massachusetts to cheer on the Hornets against a fine, highly-successful team from Hamden Hall School (CT), who also wear green and white, and who also have "hornets" as their mascot. We knew the hornets were going to win this one....This is JoJo:

Proctor got a lot of shots off in this game, and if most of them fell, the game would not have been so close through the first three-quarters of the contest. Here's Angelica with initiating one of her devastating baseline drives.

The Hornets...I mean Hamden Hall...hung tough and actually held a lead in the second half, despite the fact that the height advantage went to the Hornets...I mean Proctor...with Kate and Eliza blocking shots. This is Kate:

Eliza, who is a little superstitious, is knocking on wood here.

In the second half, Pinky Fifield was unmatched by the Hornets from Connecticut. Her intensity and focus resulted in baskets, steals, blocked shots and great game sense.

With seven minutes to go, the Hornets pulled ahead by a dozen, and when the horn sounded, the New Champions were wearing more white than green.

What followed was euphoria and love.

For coach Noreen Fifield, who came to Proctor specifically to make this happen, this season is an extraordinary triumph. Here, the team thanks Proctor fans across the gym.

Thanks to my friend Vaughn Winchell for contributing his fine photography to this page.