Mystics, Storm and Starzz Roll to Big Wins

(Editor's note: The following information was submitted by the administrators and coaches of the Tewksbury Girls Basketball League.)

JUNIOR DIVISION       

MYSTICS 16, ROCKERS 6

The Mighty Mystics came out flying against the Rockers and played probably the best first half we have seen all season. There is a level of intensity and determination from these girls that will help carry us through the rest of the season. They had a look on their faces that was just focused and they all went out there and did their jobs. The key to this team’s success is the depth we have gotten from the young girls. They have all picked up the attitude that has trickled down from the veterans on this team, just pure toughness. Now we look to a rematch against the Monarchs next week and we know this will be our toughest game of the year. We will have to prepare hard for them this week to get ready. 

Scoring for the Rockers were Hannah Knoops, Sarah Constantion and Sarah Bishop, all with 2 points each.

STORM 33 VS. LYNX 8

Team Storm finally played the complete game they have been working for. From the first assist by Sammy Salvagio, the Storm played their first complete offensive game. They turned intense defensive pressure into easy transition baskets culminating in eight different players scoring. Jessica Cacciola, Brigh Cote, Bailey Carter, Megan Grazcyk, Deyvn Veits, Christine Santos, Stefanie Cunninghan, and Ashley Turri all scored baskets for the Storm. Stephanie Grafeo paced the offense and the defense from the point. The Storm has continued to develop this season and made great strides as a team and individuals. Defensive players of the game were Ashely Turri and Stefanie Cunningham who clogged the middle against Team Lynx’s tremendous front court.

The Lynx played a red hot Storm team and came away with a tough loss on Saturday. The Storm kept the pressure on all game and the Lynx continued their uneven play dropping their 5^th straight decision. However there were some good things that happened that hopefully the Lynx can build on in the coming weeks to come back strong for the rest of the season. Nadia Schena was effective at point guard and was also able to score 4 points in the game. This was Nadia’s 1^st points of the season and was a real breakout game for her. Also scoring for the Lynx was Lily Wyatt with 4 points. Another positive from the game is that 3 of the 4 baskets that the Lynx scored came on passes. The assists came from Kendall Donahoe, Marissa Brangiforte, and Nadia.

STARZZ 16 MONARCHS 6

The Starzz came out guns blazing in the first half. Izzy (Don't call me Isabelle) Pitcher(8 points) knocked down 4 quick ones before departing for her travel game at halftime. Kenzie (Ketchup, cause' she has them seeing red) Kennison (4 points) continues to develop, Rachel (Sticky Fingers) Figucia (2points) broke out of her scoring drought and Marissa (The Locust) Ladderbush (2 points) continues to upset everybody in the building with her relentless defense. Defensive tough as nails award winner this week goes to Jordyn (don't call me Devyn) Cavicchi. As always our supporting cast is the glue that holds it all together. Great Job Devyn (I'm not Jordyn) MacEachern, Daisha (Da' Bomb) Thompson, Amber (smooth as Butter) Buttaro, Isabella (The Icepick) Beyloune, Meaghan (The Mauler) Welch and Sophia (Swishhhhh) Alfano.

Scoring for the Monarchs wereHaley Mignon, Emily Amaral, and Sydney Quinn, all with 2 points each.

COMETS 23 SPARKS 14

It was a hard fought match today as we faced the well rounded and fast paced Sparks! The girls came together as a team and passed really well to eachother and all had great game. Our defensive player of the game is Emily Langone as she scored 6 points for the Comets and held a strong post under the net today! Followed by Michaela Svendsen (6), Allison Couillard(4), Erin Gallella(4), Lizzie Gallella(2) and Caitlin Panessiti chipping in with one. All girls put in a solid effort today and worked hard both on offense and defense. Bridget Burgoyne and Madison Bugley both got their hands on some key loose balls and made some great passes while on offense. Felicia Ragucci was able to set two beautiful picks while on offense that gave way for the Comets to score two big hoops! Leanne Durham and Rachel Conway played their usual 100% on both ends of the court getting in on some rebounds and had super fast feet on defense.

It was a great game today for the Sparks. Emily Zuraski scored 10 points and Kerry Shea and Erin Mader each contributed another 2 points. Clarissa Chisholm and Julia Giamo each pulled down a few rebounds. The girls all did a good job on defense.

INTERMEDIATE DIVISION

JAYHAWKS 23 WOLVERINES 14

The Jayhawks came ready to play against a talented Wolverines team. The Jayhawks had a great first quarter led by Haley Pozzuto with 8 points and Nicole Petherbridge with 3 of her 5 points to start the team off quickly. The Jayhawks have become a great defensive team, and continued to show their defensive strength in this game. Sam Powers did a great job on the boards. Haley Marchant did a good job of getting free and coming to the ball, but the Wolverines defense played her tight. Andrea Doran and Emily Saunders also ran the floor well and kept their head up on offense and defense. Emily Burns put up some more great shots, but they just wouldn't drop. Kacie Ellegood (3 pots) and Meg Braciska (5 points) led the scoring for their lines to keep a comfortable leads in the second and the fourth quarter when the Wolverines press began to wear the Jayhawks down. The girls did a good job on their free throw opportunities hitting the majority of them. Ari Nicosia who has turned into a key scorer for the Jayhawks added 2 more to her totals for the year, as the Jayhawks were able to come away with the win.

Scoring for the Wolverines were Kate Garcia (4 points.), Rebecca Lewis (3points.), Nora Butler (3 points. ) Rachel Langone (2 points.) and Amanda McInnis (2 points.)

WAVES 17 CARDINALS 15

The Waves continued their recent good play with an impressive win over the Cardinals by the score of 17-15. The Cardinals had the lead for most of the game, but the Waves came storming back in the 4^th quarter to win the game. Leading the scoring for the Waves was Kirsten Dick with 9 points. Also contributing 4 points each was Colleen MacNeil and Melissa Markwarth. Defensive player of the game was Tayla LeGrand. This was an overall team effort to be able to shut down the Cardinals offense and to hold them to only 15 points. Congratulations to Christina Noyes, Alicia Moore, Amanda Ford, Elizabeth Markwarth, Lauren Riccardi, and Erika Whynot for their hard work and unselfish play. The victory gets the Waves over .500 for the first time this year and into a 4^th place tie with the Cardinals.

The Cardinals suffered a tough loss against the Waves. The loss results in the Waves and Cardinals being tied for 4^th place entering the last two games of the regular season. Overall it was a solid effort by the Cardinals but they could not pull out the victory despite leading for most of the game. The 1^st and 3^rd quarter squads did their part by outscoring the Waves and scoring 13 of the 15 Cardinals points. However in the 2^nd and 4^th quarter the Cardinals had a lot of nice looking shots by Emily Velozo (2 points) and Taylor Donahoe but in the end they did not want to fall in the net. Other scorers for the Cardinals were Caitlin Carroll and Sam Mercurio with 4, Ashley Figucia with 3, and Sarah Sullivan with 2. Defensive player of the game was Taylor with 6 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.

 HUSKIES 22 COUGARS19

 The Huskies shook off a slow start and squeaked out a win against a tough Cougars team. The Huskies were led on offense by Karalyn Gallella, Stephanie Mchatton, Kayla Marshall and Sara Letourneau. Andrea DeFina once again played a strong game and controlled the rebounds for the Huskies. Lisa DeVito and Nicole Lucia played tough defense underneath and made some nice passes to help their team score. Defensive player of the game was Victoria Mirabito. Good effort by the whole team.

Scoring for the Cougars were Jessica Lehmann (6 points.), Delaney Chisholm (4 points.), Samantha Alman (4 points.) , Kiara Nash (3 points.) and Niamh Cote (2 points.)

WILDCATS 30 FALCONS 18

 First quarter hiccup for the wildcats but got the ball rolling in the second and kept it going. Ally Kelly made an outstanding come back for the wildcats in the second scoring 10 points, alongside several steals and another 2 in the 4th. Teagan Trant put up another 5, Erin Davis and Janina Kennedy each with 4, Shauna Danehy and Katie Dunlevy with 2 and adding one more was Rebeka Politis. Julia Kelly and Audrey Casey had some fantastic passing and Heather Doyle played an awesome defensive game. Great win and all around play by the wildcats.

Scoring for the Falcons were Amanda Aylward with 10 points, and Jamie Burger, Sydney Burlmachi, Cassia Burns and Cassandra Wise, all with 2 points each.

EAGLES 21 TERRIERS 19

The Eagles secured their 1^st win of the season in dramatic fashion by just edging the Terriers 21 – 19. The game was a close battle as the 2 teams matched intensity and baskets throughout 4 quarters with the Eagles just pulling away at the end. Marissa Doherty led the way for the Eagles with 7 points in the game followed closely by Adrianna Favreau who netted 6 points. Shaylee Puleo had 4 points for the game including a big basket to put the Eagles ahead for good in the 4^th quarter. Megan Donahue added a basket to go with 4 steals and 2 rebounds while Alexandra Bourassa had 2 points and 6 rebounds.

Defensive stalwarts for the game included Geena Duffy who played shut down defense while being very active on the offensive end. Jessica Liggiero grabbed 2 rebounds and Jennifer Campbell added a steal and a rebound to her strong defensive effort. Nicole Liggiero helped move the ball while also clamping down on defense and Katherine Adelsberger had 2 steals to go with a rebound and a blocked shot. Samantha Surowiec pressed the length of the court on defense and added a steal to her totals.

Scoring for the Terriers were Meagan Timmins (8 points.), Ashley Colarusso (5 points.), Alexis Brinklow (4 points.) and Rachel Kelly (2 points.)

SENIOR DIVISION

JAZZ 28 MAGIC 27

In a great back and forth game, the Jazz defeated the Magic 28 to 27. Both teams played a tough defensive game. Playing that tough defense for the Jazz were Rebecca Keough (2points), Sam Lopolite, and Danielle Cacciola. A congratulation goes out to Abby Wise, who scored her first basket of the season. Trailing entering the fourth quarter, the combination of Shannon Semenza (10points) and Alysa DeFruscia (14points) was just enough, as the Jazz held onto a one point victory.

It was another nail-biter for the Magic this week as they were edged out by the Jazz in senior league play by one point. The Magic had a number of good shots go half way down and pop out. For the second week in a row it came down to the last shot and even that caught both sides of the rim before it bounced out. A great deal of credit needs to be given to the Jazz as they were short-handed today, but managed enough energy to fight to the finish. The Magic were led in scoring by Shannel Nardone (9points) and Olivia Gallella (8points) and also had good offensive contributions from Nichole Hamel (6points), Meaghan Blaisdell (2points) and Kertina Nardone (2points). The defense was solid all day as well for the Magic particularly by Eva Barinelli, Michelle Creedon, Samantha Teague and Rachel Eatherton. It came down to missed opportunities on offense and boxing out on defense this week. The Magic will be looking to turn it around next week verse the Pacers.

SPURS 28 SONICS 20

The Sonics battled hard against the Spurs but the offensive Mo Jo was just not to be found. Toni Joy was the Sonics offense and she was top scorer with 16 points, 6 of those scored at the line. The Spurs somehow stopped Shannon Smith allowing her a miserly 2 points, probably handing her a career game low. Jenn Cobuccio popped in 2 points from the top of the key. The Sonics moved and passed the ball well getting off lots of nice shots but most of the time the ball would not drop in.

The Sonics D played well only letting up 28 points. Mariah Wentzell did a great job of keeping the Spurs out of the paint and Erica Dirk was tenacious causing many turnovers earning them both defensive players of the game. Alexis Chaet did a great job battling under the boards. Monica Aronson did a great job of keeping the ball out of the key and Marissa Conlin was in the face of any Spur bringing the ball down court. Great game Spurs, better luck next week Sonics!!!

Scoring for the Spurs were Haley Golini (9 points.), Ashley Colbert (4 points.), Devlin Frost (4 points.) Shannon McLaughlin (4 points.), June Garcia (4 points.)and Jamie Cohen (2 points.)

BLAZERS 32 PACERS 25

The Pacers played a tough game against the Blazers but in the end came up a little short. High scorer for the Pacers was Haley Acconcia with 9 points followed by Mackenze Pierce with 8 points., many of which were down low in the paint. Amanda Brown had 6 points. most of which were on the fast break while Danielle Newhall who had several rebounds rounded out the scoring with 2 points. Jenn Maddaleni had a great game defensively with several steals and jump ball tie-ups was named defensive player of the game.

Scoring for the Blazers were Bridget Casey (8 points.), Ariana Calouro (6 points.), Ashley Kelly (6 points.)Brooke Patterson (5 points.),Caleigh Finneral (4 points.) Ally Braciska (2 points.) and Amanda Lane (2 points.).