By DAN BYRNE
WAKEFIELD– On Tuesday night at the Charbonneau Field House, the Warriors’ girls’ varsity basketball team put their three-game Middlesex League winning streak on the line as they played host to Burlington.
The game kicked off a double header and the Warrior girls set the tone for what would go on to be a big night for Wakefield by vanquishing the Red Devils by 30 points, 62-32.
After the game, Warriors’ head coach Jason Pavey had some quick comments saying, “I thought we came out of the gate, we were just trying to play with a little bit more pace.”
Wakefield lost the opening tap and Burlington got a quick bucket, then stole the ball in the backcourt and made a fast break layup to take a quick 4-0 lead. That would be the last time they saw the lead on the night.
Warriors’ junior guard Brooklyn Calder exercised a 4-0 run by herself to tie the score at 4-4. Wakefield would go on to overpower the Devils for the rest of the first quarter 18-8, and after a helter skelter, run and gun quarter they would take a 22-12 lead into the second.
Wakefield played the game without one senior tri-captain, as Savannah Cummings was out injured, but in her place the remaining two captains stepped up.
Emma Quinn was the leading scorer, as she often is, putting up a game high 23 points. The Red Devils couldn’t make a scheme to slow her down all night long.
“We have one of the best shooters in the league in Emma Quinn and today she was great,” Pavey said.
Fellow senior captain Grace McHugh saw some extra playing-time with Cummings out for the night and made the most of her time depositing 10 points and nabbing 10 boards to go with 3 assists and 3 steals.
“It really all starts with us emphasizing rebounding the basketball and I thought tonight Grace McHugh was unbelievable on the boards,” Pavey noted.
Junior guard Shea Suntken was her usual self for the Warriors on Tuesday as she used her quickness and aggressive style of offense to smite the Devils, scoring 9 of her 13 points in the first half against Burlington.
“Shea was great,” Pavey said of Suntken who also had 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. “Shea is kind of our barometer, she has the energy that is infectious, she was pushing the ball and things started opening up.”
At the halfway point, the lead was 35-17 in favor of the Warriors.
An 18-7 third quarter would extend the lead to 29 and in the 4th quarter, Wakefield outpaced Burlington 9-8.
Freshman guard Keira O’Brien sank a 3 for the final bucket of the game as the Warriors conquered the Red Devils 62-32.
Additionally Pavey said, “Every night, Brooklyn Calder gets the assignment of the toughest kid on the other team, and every night I think she rises to the occasion. I thought she was awesome tonight too.
“Overall, it was just a really, really good team win. It was infectious. I thought the energy was great. There was no real letdown from us for four quarters. We talked about being consistent with our energy, consistent with our execution and I thought we did that tonight.”
When asked about what the win means going forward Pavey responded with, “This is the home stretch. We know we’re in the State Tournament, now we want to try to stay here as long as we can and the only way to do that is you gotta keep winning. We already checked one box off when we qualified. Now it’s about playing here in Wakefield and you can’t do that if you don’t win.”
The Warriors will look to keep winning tonight as they head on the road to face Watertown at 7 p.m.
