It started and ended well for Lynnfield’s girls basketball team Friday night against visiting North Reading, but the middle was a totally different story.
The Pioneers (9-7), who lost by 30 in the teams’ first meeting of the season last month, came out hot, grabbing a 15-12 lead going into the second quarter against the Hornets (15-2). Shooting woes, turnovers and a stifling defensive effort were just what the Hornets needed to flip the script across the next two quarters en route to a 60-46 win.
“They’re very good and very disciplined and execute extremely well,” said Lynnfield coach Sue Breen. “They took away the screen-and-roll in the second quarter and they adjusted. When they got an offensive rebound, they kicked it back out for a three. Their defense got more physical as the game went on.”
Hornets’ coach Bob Romeo said he knew the rematch would be a challenge.
“We came on the court tonight expecting this would be a battle, especially as the team is well-coached and has a lot of pride in their players and we are in their gym — and it was a battle,” Romeo said. “We broke it open in the second and third quarters. We’re not big, but we play big. We pride ourselves on defense. I tell them defense travels. We weren’t hitting our shots early, but know that if you play good defense, eventually, your shots will fall.”
Trailing 12-11 with less than a minute to go in the first quarter, Lynnfield regained the lead on a pure-hustle play from Chloe Grieves (9 points, 9 rebounds). She went to the floor to secure a loose ball in the paint and dished to Chloe Bergeron (4 rebounds), who laid one in. Hayden Valiton (11 points, 6 rebounds) then stole the ball and sunk a buzzer-beating floater off the glass to close out the quarter.
The Hornets opened the second with a 9-0 run, the final hoop a dagger-like three-ball from Ariana Demetri (game-high 17 points) with about four minutes remaining in the quarter.
The Hornets kept their foot on the gas, closing out the half with a 9-3 run to bump the lead to 30-18.
The second half got off to a promising start for the Pioneers. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Calleigh Caprio (7 points) and Maeve Wertz (3 rebounds), plus a big offensive board and put-back from Olivia Braley (team-high 14 points, 5 rebounds) cut the deficit to 34-26 with about five minutes to go in the quarter.
But North Reading regrouped and went on a 14-3 run to take a commanding 48-29 lead into the final eight minutes.
North Reading took its largest lead of the game, 57-34, after a bucket from Kiersten Higgins (10 points) with 3:20 to go.
Enter Braley, who scored 10 of the Pioneers’ last 12 points to close out the game.
“We just have to have the discipline and strength to hold onto the ball, which we struggled with at times tonight,” Breen said. “We needed to make our layups, but we competed and worked hard, so I’m proud of them. Compared to how we played them in early January, this is a huge improvement.”
