By: Tommy Gillan, Sean Rezendes, and Taylor Belval

Sailor pride runs deep. In an NCAA tournament matchup, life long friends Megan Otto and Shannon Brady will take the court not as teammates, but as rivals. Both juniors, Brady at Bowdoin and Otto at Babson, have seen significant minutes this year leading their respective teams to playoff berths. This Friday, the 6th of March, the girls will be be playing against one another in the Division III NCAA tournament.

The two friends’ basketball careers have striking similarities: they both were four year starters and shared co-captain duties their senior year. Both of these forwards have a similar frame, Otto standing at 5’11’’ and Brady at 6’0’’. Along with high school basketball, the girls were teammates on the AAU Bay State Magic program in the off-season.

Since the first grade, Otto and Brady have been the best of friends, both on and off the court. “They played AAU together, youth basketball together, and they’re still really good friends now,” said Christian Brady, Shannon’s brother and a senior at SHS. Their friendly relationship continued throughout high school as both took the court as forwards for the Sailors’ basketball team.

These two Scituate legends helped lead their team to an undefeated regular season and to the Division 2 semifinal at the TD Garden in 2012. They were going up against another undefeated squad in Reading, MA, and it was an instant classic, a bitter fight to the end. The Sailors ultimately fell in overtime 71-64, the only blemish on the Girl’s otherwise perfect season. Brady put the exclamation point on her high school career with a 28 point 17 rebound performance, according to ESPN Boston.

Their Sailors team was very successful that year, and Otto and Brady both performed impressively on the court as they led their team to the playoffs. Megan is part of SHS’s exclusive 1,000 point club, netting exactly 1,200 points during her high school career. Brady won the Massachusetts Division II South Player of the Year award during her senior year.

Both girls have carried over their unbelievable success into their collegiate careers. This year Brady started 26 of 27 games, and she is the team leader in points per game with 14.6, as well as rebounds per game with 6.5. Her sophomore year she was first team all state, second team All-NESCAC, and an All-American honorable mention. At Babson, Otto has appeared in every game but three over her three year career. Last year she started 18 games averaging 4.7 rebounds a game and had 5 games with 8+ rebounds.

Tonight the girls will be reunited on the court, but only one will move on to the next round. Whatever the outcome, this contest is sure to be a Scituate pride slam dunk!