On Friday, March 4th, WA Girls’ Varsity Basketball team faced off against the Franklin Panthers at home. From tip-off at 7pm, to the final buzzer, the girls fought hard and ended up winning with a final score of 51-44.

The game seemed to be a relatively even matchup as WA finished their regular season with an overall record of 14-6 and Franklin finished with an overall record of 13-7. Both teams were also close in tournament rankings as they were in the same bracket. WA had the fourth seed and Franklin the fifth seed.

The game started off with the Ghosts winning the tip-off and putting the first two points on the board with a shot by junior Angela Alibrandi. Although the girls got off to a quick start, Franklin responded. The rest of the first quarter was rather back and forth as both teams grabbed a fair amount of rebounds. Toward the end of the quarter,  however, senior captain Maddie Russell hit a big jump shot, which energized the Westford crowd.

By the end of the first quarter, WA held a slim lead of 12-9.

The second quarter was full of more back and forth play with both teams hitting multiple three-pointers at the right moments. This quarter also had a few travel violations against WA, giving the Panthers several scoring opportunities. However, these opportunities were fruitless as Franklin was only able to put two points on the board after several scoreless possessions.

WA responded with about a minute left in the half, when sophomore Emily Bramanti was fouled on a layup. This layup managed to fall, giving her a free throw attempt, which she sank, tying the game at 23-23.

By the end of the first half, the game was still tied with a score of 23-23.

After a quick halftime, Franklin came back looking reenergized. The Panthers’ offense emerged in this quarter as they scored several points in just a few minutes to give themselves a reasonable lead. This forced the Ghosts to call a timeout with about three minutes left in the third in an attempt to slow down Franklin’s momentum.

This timeout proved to be an effective one, as the girls returned to the game reenergized. Bramanti, as well as Alibrandi,  managed to sink a three-pointer bringing WA within two points of the tough Franklin offense.

By the end of the third, WA trailed closely behind Franklin with a score of 38-36.

The girls continued their intense play as they carried their late third quarter momentum all the way to the final buzzer. Clutch three-pointers from sophomore Alllie Mullhern and junior Amanda Smith helped lead the team to their eventual 51-44 victory.

Although it wasn’t easy, Head Coach Russell Coward was happy with how the team fought back after trailing in the  third quarter.

“I wasn’t happy with how we played in the third quarter to get down, but obviously they showed a lot of heart and resilience, and they played great, they came back, and I was very pleased with it,” said Coward.

The Ghosts will now go on to play Wachusett on Sunday at 5:45 p.m. at WPI.