The Westford Academy Girls’ Basketball team came out on top against the Newton South High School Girls’ Basketball team (NS) 56-45 in a home game on Tuesday, Feb. 10. The strong offensive performance of WA during the game brought their season record to 13-4.
The game started with WA in possession of the ball, but the first basket was a three-pointer made by NS. The teams went basket for basket until the Ghosts secured an 11-9 lead and NS called the first timeout of the game. Coming out of the timeout, the Ghosts kept their lead and ended the first quarter with a score of 23-15.
WA scored more points in the first quarter than in any other, because as the game progressed, both teams amped up their defense. According to head coach Camille Desrochers, defense is something the team has been working to improve on this season.
“[Defense is] something that we have worked a lot on during practice all year, and it is something we are still working on,” Desrochers said. “Any amount of points is too many points for me.”
NS started in possession of the ball at the beginning of the second quarter, but senior captain Kaitlyn Pepin made the first basket with a layup. According to Desrochers, Pepin has proven her offensive intensity throughout this season.
“Pepin is averaging 10 points and six rebounds a game […] and has been a very key part to our offense this year,” Desrochers said.
Throughout the second quarter, WA took control of the game with several effective plays. WA was able to defend multiple layup attempts from NS, only affording them two three-point baskets, while the Ghosts made five layups and one three-pointer. This allowed WA to end the quarter with a 36-21 lead.
WA started the second half of the match strong with two layups. NS tried to gain some traction with a layup and a free throw point, but senior captain Olivia Pillsbury scored four points for the Ghosts with another two consecutive layups, making the score 44-27 for WA.
NS fought back with a three-pointer before Pepin responded with a free throw and a layup. Still, NS tried to close the gap, scoring a layup and quickly regaining possession for a three-pointer by their senior captain Chloe Khozozzian. While this added five points to NS’s total, it only marginally closed the gap between the two teams, and the Ghosts ended the quarter with a lead of 50-39.
Both teams spent most of the final quarter in a fight for possession. WA called two timeouts to strategize and prevent NS from closing the gap any further. In the fourth quarter, Pepin scored all of the baskets made by WA, making the Ghosts victorious with a final score of 56-45.
Pepin was the lead scorer across both teams with 16 points, all of which were layups except for two free throw points. While NS scored more high-value baskets with 10 three-pointers compared to WA’s four, WA scored more points overall by making 21 layups over the course of the game compared to NS’s six.
“I was pleased with the adjustments we made,” Desrochers said. “[NS] is a good shooting team, and it is hard to defend a team that has that many threats. We did a nice job, we did what we needed to do, and hopefully we continue to.”
