Warriors edge Watertown in M.L. Freedom division showdown
HAILEY LOVELL, a junior (#22), scored eight points for the Warriors in their big road win against Watertown on Friday night. Wakefield is now in first place in the Middlesex League Freedom division all by itself. (Donna Larsson File Photo)
Published in the January 23, 2017 edition
By DAN MARGARITA
WATERTOWN — The Wakefield Memorial High girls’ basketball team traveled to Watertown on Friday night and came away with a 45-42 victory over the Red Raiders in a highly anticipated match-up between the two Middlesex League Freedom division first place teams at Kelley Gymnasium.
The Warriors increased their league record to 7-1 in the league (9-1 overall) as they took sole possession of first place in the M.L. Freedom division standings.
Watertown, the defending league champs, fell to 6-2 in the M.L. Freedom division (7-2 overall).
It was Watertown that jumped out to a quick lead, going up 6-0 before Wakefield got a point via a free throw from Hailey Lovell.
“We had to just settle down. I think there was a lot of excitement heading into this game in terms of a slow start. Sometimes the energy can almost be too much for that sort of thing. We just have to settle ourselves down and they just competed hard and they just fought,” said Wakefield coach Meg O’Connell.
After that, Wakefield came clawing back with a basket from Brianna Smith and a three-pointer from Hannah Dziadyk to offset Watertown’s baskets, and at the end of the first quarter, Wakefield trailed 11-6.
Wakefield started off the second quarter with a 5-0 run, all courtesy of Lovell to make it 13-11. Watertown had its own 4-0 run but then Allyson Coggswell sandwiched a pair of field goals around a three-pointer by Dziadyk. The latter basket by Coggswell gave Wakefield its first lead, 18-17.
Another basket by Smith and a free throw by Dziadyk put Wakefield up 21-17. But Watertown scored twice to send the teams into halftime tied, 21-21.
“We played Melrose and Watertown and these are two great teams. So, we’ve got to give them credit on the defensive end,” O’Connell noted.
The teams traded baskets to start the second half, with Allee Purcell and Olivia Dziadyk accounting for the Wakefield offense.
The Watertown went on an 8-0 run to take the lead, and at the end of three quarters, it was 34-28 in Watertown’s favor.
Olivia Dziadyk opened the fourth quarter with a basket that started a 9-2 Wakefield run, which included a three-pointer by Hannah Dziadyk to give Wakefield a 37-36 lead.
Both teams spent a lot of time at the free throw line in the fourth quarter and both teams struggled from the stripe.
“Free throw shooting, that’s something that basketball players need to work on every single day. Free throws, layups, rebounding, those things win games. We will be working on our free throw shooting forever, for the rest of our careers,” noted O’Connell.
Dziadyk hit another three-point field goal and Lovell had a steal and resulting layup to put Wakefield up 42-40.
Though Wakefield had struggled for much of the game from the free throw line, it was Olivia Dziadyk who came up big late in the game to go 3-for-4 from the stripe. Her successful pair of field goals with 23 seconds on the game clock sealed the victory for Wakefield.
The Warriors return home tomorrow night at 6p.m. when they host Winchester at the Charbonneau Field House.
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WAKEFIELD 45, Watertown 42
At Kelley Gymnasium, Watertown
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WAKEFIELD (45) — Smith 2 0 4; Coggswell 2 0 4; Lovell 3 2 8; O. Dziadyk 3 3 9; Purcell 1 5 7; H. Dziadyk 4 1 13. Totals 15 11 45.
Watertown (42) — J. McMahon 1 0 2; C. McMahon 4 3 12; Petrillo 1 0 2; Catsoulis 3 0 6; Murphy 7 6 20. Totals 16 9 42.
Score by Quarters — WAKEFIELD 6-15-7-17 — 45. Watertown 11-10-13-8 — 42.
Three-point FGs — Wak, H.Dziadyk 4. Wat, C.McMahon 1.
