WA girls’ basketball crushed in a game against Newton South
December 22, 2019
On Friday, December 20, Westford Academy girls’ varsity basketball played Newton South, losing in an anti-climactic game, in which Newton-South took the win, 30-42.
Starting the game, Newton South scored the first basket. Weak offensive and defensive skills on the part of WA filled the first quarter, allowing the quarter to end with a score of 0-10, with Newton South in the lead. Some key players made great attempts to change the score.
#10, senior Alexandria Giovino, made strong passes to her teammates. Giovino made a few notable rebounds during the first quarter, along with #32, sophomore Kate Barnes, whose rebounds were also helpful for Westford Academy.
At the end of the first quarter, WA had three fouls, while Newton South had six. #22, freshman Alana Saunders, created many of the fouls on Newton South with her never ambition.
Westford Academy improved during the second quarter, picking up their offensive skills. #25, junior Sara Cannuscio, makes the first two points for WA, with two successful free-throw shots. Throughout this quarter, WA showed more persistence, with excellent defense from #20, sophomore Carly Davey, and #4, junior Elizabeth Nolan. After Giovino made the score 4-18, the WA’s game stagnated, with discouragement filling the team.
With less than five minutes on the clock, Giovino and Saunders led the team through multiple significant baskets, changing the score 11-23 by the end of the second quarter. At the end of the first half, WA had five fouls, and Newton South had eight. Many of Newton South’s fouls were made on Barnes and Cannuscio, allowing them to take successful free–throws.
Commencing the third quarter, Davey made the first basket of the half. Showing more motivation in this quarter, WA picked up their technique. Significantly, quite a few baskets were made by Barnes. Halfway into the third quarter, the score was 11-25. WA and Newton South lagged in this quarter, showing their tiring spirits. An insignificant amount of fouls were made, two by WA and three by Newton South, by the end of the game.
The third quarter ended with a score of 15-29, Newton South still incredibly in the lead.
However, even though WA was down by almost twice the score of Newton South, WA started to demonstrate greater force during the fourth quarter. Slowly, WA increased its score, with significant baskets from Barnes. With less than two minutes on the clock, the score was 21-30. Using a sudden burst of energy, Westford Academy brought the score up to 30-42 by the end of the game.
Throughout the second half, WA paced themselves, scoring points in a rhythmic fashion. However, this pickup in drive did not account for Newton South, who also improved their offensive skills.
Westford Academy showed better offensive skills than defensive skills, with great passes, rebounds, and attempts at baskets from Barnes, Nolan, Giovino, Davey, and Saunders. Nonetheless, ultimately, WA ended up losing hard to the Newton South team, who was able to think quickly and apply more drive to their game.
Many spectators lost interest in the game during the second and third quarters, defeated by the constant scoring by Newton South. Sophomore Samantha Greene felt that the team tried their best, however, it fell short compared to Newton South.
“The game was disappointing for Westford Academy. I wish there was more suspense. I think that the Westford girls worked really hard, but Newton South had a better outcome,” Greene said.
Along with the spectators, the team was saddened by the loss. Barnes thought that the team could have done better.
“I thought overall I did not play as good as I could. The game went bad in my opinion. I think we can work on our overall mental skills by not getting scared by the other team. However, I thought my teammates played good,” Barnes said.
Head coach Russell Coward felt that the girls needed to work on keeping their confidence all throughout the game.
“We’ve got a young team. I think with a young team comes the learning of special skills that need to be acquired through experience. I am proud of my girls, but for the next game, I want to see them communicating and pushing harder than they did today,” Coward said.
