On Friday, Dec. 15, WA Girls’ Basketball lost to Malden Catholic with a final score of 44-31 at home.
Malden Catholic started the game off in the first quarter with a large lead, an obstacle for WA as they were unable to catch up, though it did not go untried. In the first quarter, WA head coach Russell Coward called two time-outs, hoping to regroup on both the offensive and defensive ends. However, the first quarter ended with a score of 18-2 for Malden Catholic.
During the second quarter, WA was still unable to close in on Malden Catholic’s lead, and with ineffective offensive plays by WA, Malden Catholic was able to increase it. However, key players during this quarter were sophomores Brooke Nielsen, Hannah Lupien, Kaitlyn Pepin, and junior Diya Jayaraman, who were able to block several of Malden’s advances and increase WA’s score. Jayaraman made an impressive shot with seconds left on the clock to finish off the second quarter with a score of 30-10 in favor of Malden Catholic.
Going into the second half, it was essential for WA to step up their defense and take control of the game. The halftime break helped the team strategize their next steps, because once the third quarter kicked off, WA enacted several tactical plays.
WA was able to improve their play on the offensive end during the third quarter, but not by much. Malden Catholic still continued to increase their lead, even though WA zeroed in on their defense. Players such as junior Faith Williams and Pepin were able to successfully block several shot attempts from Malden Catholic.
Something switched for WA going into the fourth quarter, because the team went in with much more focus and aggression. WA was able to increase their score by 13 points in this quarter, with impressive shots by Williams and Jayaraman, hitting several shots from both corners. The final score of the game was 44-31 in favor of Malden Catholic.
Though this was a rocky start to the team’s season, Coward believes that this can be changed with more experience for their team.
“We still have a very young team and not that experienced. So, playing a good team like Malden Catholic, it’s got some kids who are good basketball players,” Coward said. “We could tell they were really nervous, they were just throwing up shots, but in the second half it kind of calmed down, had some confidence, [and] made some good plays.”
Their next game against Wachusett will take place on Tuesday Dec. 19 at Wachusett Regional High School at 6 p.m.
