Girls’ hoop (10-0) beats Stoneham, 52-39
Published in the January 22, 2018 edition.
By DAN BYRNE
WAKEFIELD — With half the season still to play, the Wakefield Memorial High School girls’ varsity basketball team has passed every test
HANNAH DZIADYK led the Warriors with 22 points during their win over Stoneham on Friday night. (Jim Vaiknoras Photo)
they’ve faced so far this season.
In the latest Boston Herald Division 2 North rankings, the Warriors are slotted 2nd behind Pentucket (9-1). In the Herald’s overall top 25, Wakefield currently ranks 20th.
After defeating Stoneham Friday night, the Warriors record stands at 10-0.
Wakefield is one of two teams in Division 2 North with 10 or more wins, along with 11-1 Lynn Classical.
On Friday night, the girls overcame their latest test with a 52-39 win over Stoneham at Charbonneau Field House.
Wakefield took a commanding 20-5 lead after the first quarter. Hannah Dziadyk sank three 3-pointers en route to an 11-point first quarter. She had 13 of her game high 22 points in the first half.
Allee Purcell had 5 of her 15 points in the first quarter as well.
Stoneham got some of their offense straightened out and Wakefield’s failure to take good care of the ball led to turnovers, which allowed the Spartans to chip away at the Warriors’ lead in the 2nd quarter. Wakefield was outscored 14-8 in the period.
The scoring woes continued for the Warriors after halftime as they managed to score only 6 points in the 3rd. The Spartans were similarly lackluster on the offensive end and also only managed to put 6 points up on the board.
Heading into the 4th quarter, the Warriors held a 34-25 lead, but neither team looked sharp offensively. That all changed with the dawn of the 4th as Hannah Dziadyk had 8 more points and Allee Purcell had 4 to go along with 2 each from Ally Coggswell, Jaime Greatorex, and Caroline Capistran as the Warriors put 18 points on the board in the final quarter.
Stoneham fought hard and put 14 points up in the 4th quarter including 3-pointers from Julia Plourde and Kaitlyn Driscoll, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Warriors.
At 10-0 with their latest win, Wakefield is one of the first teams to qualify for the State tournament. First year head coach, Jason Pavey spoke following the Warriors latest win.
“Obviously it was a good first half, I’m proud of the way we came out and played,” the coach said. “It was one of their goals, to get back to the tournament, and now it’s a matter of improving seeding, and competing for a league title. It was just one of the goals that we were looking for, so it was nice to get this one out of the way.”
“Stoneham played hard the entire time. We never underestimated them, I know they’re well coached from the stuff I saw on film,” Pavey said.
“I think we were a little flat, our offense went through these periods where it was stagnant,” the coach pointed out, as the team scored 14 points combined in the 2nd and 3rd quarters.
Things were a little harder for the Warriors on Friday as their starting point guard Hailey Lovell missed the game due to illness.
“Not having Hailey made it difficult,” Pavey said. “She’s kind of the engine for us.” He stopped short of blaming the offensive woes on her absence saying, “I give Stoneham a lot of credit for playing good defense, but there is some stuff we have to work on in practice. We can’t make excuses just because one kid didn’t play.”
As always, health is a concern for the coach.
“With all of them, we need them healthy for the long haul,” he said.
“I’m proud of the kids. First half of the year to go 10-0, one of the first teams in the state to qualify for the tournament, that’s a huge achievement,” Pavey added.
“I think the kids are anxious to get back to work and improve on what we did tonight.”
The Warriors will be back in action on Tuesday as they host Arlington at 6 p.m.
