Warriors suffer second straight loss, drop 51-43 game
GRACE HURLEY, a junior guard (#15), dribbles the ball up the court during a recent game. Hurley scored four points for the Warriors in their 51-43 road loss against Arlington yesterday afternoon. (Donna Larsson File Photo)
By DAN BYRNE
ARLINGTON — On Monday afternoon, the Wakefield Memorial High School varsity girls’ basketball team went on the road to face Arlington in a Middlesex League crossover game against the Spy Ponders from the Liberty division.
The chances were there for Head Coach Meg O’Connell’s side but the shots just weren’t going down and the Warriors suffered their second consecutive defeat, falling by a 51-43 final score at Arlington High School.
The loss drops the Warriors’ overall record to 6-4 on the year.
“I felt like we had some good opportunities they just wouldn’t fall,” the coach said after the game. “On the flip side, Arlington knocked down a lot of threes and outside shots.”
In the first, Wakefield got out to an early lead and things were looking good for the visitors. Mia Joyce had a three-pointer and went 2-for-2 from the free-throw line for her five points in this one. Gabrielle Joly and Nicole Galli had baskets and Amanda Boulter had a three for Wakefield’s scoring in the first.
After one quarter the Warriors led by a 12-6 score.
In the second each team started to find their rhythm offensively, as Arlington cut into the Warriors’ six point lead by outscoring its guest, 16-12, in the quarter and Wakefield’s lead was down to just two points as the Warriors led at halftime, 24-22.
Boulter had another three in the second and Daniella Iannuzzi had a three-pointer of her own at the halftime buzzer to put the Warriors on top going into the locker room. Iannuzzi added two points she scored on an offensive rebound and a put back and a free throw later for her six points.
Arlington edged in front midway through the second quarter behind a 6-0 run sparked by a basket by Eleanor Demaree which she then followed with a steal and a basket immediately after scoring. Roseallie Flinn had a basket to put the Spy Ponders in front for the first time at 20-19.
Wakefield responded and Iannuzzi found the bottom of the net just before the half to give the visitors momentum for the second half.
The third quarter was a nightmare for Coach O’Connell’s side, as the Warriors managed to only score four points, while giving up 11. Arlington took control in the third as Wakefield couldn’t get anything to fall through the cylinder.
“They were screening us and we weren’t communicating and switching effectively,” said Coach O’Connell of her teams struggle to adjust defensively.
Arlington’s point guard Grace Carter was unstoppable in the second half. She had nine of Arlington’s 11 in the third quarter to help extend her team’s lead to 33-28.
“We were concerned about all their guards, they’re all good shooters and any one of them has the ability to go off,” said Coach O’Connell. “She (Carter) was able to get those open shots and she knocked them down.”
In the fourth it was all Arlington as the Spy Ponders’ opened the quarter on a 7-0 run. Carter went off for 11 more points to finish with a game high 25 points for the home team.
Down 11 points with 6:30 remaining Coach O’Connell called for a timeout and Wakefield went on to outscore Arlington 15-12 after the timeout but it was too little too late.
“We have to be more consistent,” the coach said after the game, “You can’t go a quarter and a half with minimal scoring and think you’re just going to make up for it in the last two minutes.”
Boulter had two more three-pointers and Jillian Raso had seven of her eight points in the fourth including a trey.
In the end, Wakefield just couldn’t get the big shot to go down at the clutch moment. One of Boulter’s three-pointers came as the final buzzer sounded, making it a 51-43 final.
“The effort has been there, I love the effort,” Coach O’Connell said about her team’s never-say-die attitude, “I know with the effort we’ll be able to make the adjustments we need to make. We just have to keep working, look at the game film and see what adjustments we can make. We have to keep working on executing a little bit more and keep improving in certain areas.”
Wakefield will have rest of the week to gear up for its next game as it hosts Winchester on Friday night at 5:30 p.m. at the Charbonneau Field House.
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Arlington 51, WAKEFIELD 43
At Arlington High School
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WAKEFIELD (43) — Boulter 4 0 12; Iannuzzi 2 1 6; Galli 2 1 5; Derendal 0 1 1; Raso 3 1 8; Joly 1 0 2; Rossino 0 0 0; Hurley 1 2 4; Joyce 1 2 5; Butler 0 0 0. Totals 14 8 43.
Arlington (51) — Lushi 0 0 0; Ammondson 1 0 3; Demaree 2 0 4; Defeo 3 2 8; Finn 2 0 4; DeCourcey 3 1 7; Carter 6 10 25. Totals 17 13 51.
Score by Quarters — WAKEFIELD 12-12-4-15 — 43. Arlington 6-16-11-18 — 51,
Three-point FGs — WAK, Boulter 4, Iannuzzi 1, Raso 1, Joyce 1. Arl, Carter 3, Ammondson 1.
