PEABODY — The Peabody girls basketball team started Monday night’s game against Danvers the way it had hoped.
But after a great first quarter for the Tanners, the Falcons took control for the final three periods on their way to a 48-37 win at Peabody Veterans Memorial Field House.
Peabody junior forward Catherine Manning led the Tanners with 16 points, half of which came from the charity stripe. Tanners junior forward Liz Zaiters finished with 11 points and senior guard Jordan Muse added six points.
For Danvers, senior Siobhan Moriarty scored 16 points. Senior Elizabeth Montanari finished with 13 points and senior Sarah Unczur added 11 points in the winning effort.
“That’s a young Peabody team that we just played tonight,” Danvers coach Pat Veilleux said. “We’ve come here probably 12 times since I’ve been here and we’ve only won one game. This is a huge win for us. It doesn’t have to be pretty but we’ll take the win.”
Both team’s offenses were flowing nicely for stretches in the first quarter. After the Falcons took a quick 2-0 lead, Zaiters took command of the paint with a trio of buckets. Kristina Rossignoll netted a three and the Tanners led 16-12 at the end of the first quarter.
“We had a good start in the first quarter,” Peabody coach Stan McKeen said. “Turnovers really hurt us in the second quarter. We kept it to mostly a 7 or 8-point game in the second half but we never could get over the hump.”
A spell of turnovers kept both teams off the scoreboard for the first three minutes of the second period. Unczur ended the scoreless drought with a lay-in to whittle Peabody’s lead down to 2-points at 16-14. From there, the Falcons took over the quarter with an 11-4 run to claim a 25-20 lead at halftime.
“I thought we played pretty good in the second quarter,” Veilleux said. “Peabody started out petal to the metal and conversely we were getting every shot we were looking for. They were around us just enough to alter our shots. We’re a big team and we have to be more tenacious.”
A lay-up and a pair of free throws swished by Manning was all the offense the Tanners generated in the second quarter.
“Catherine was a force under the hoop, no question,” McKeen said. “Liz and Jordan both played good games but we’re still searching for replacements from last season’s team. We’re looking to get a fit towards working together.”
A bucket from Unczur and a 3-pointer drained by Moriarty put Danvers ahead by double-digits, 30-20, to start the third quarter. A 3-pointer from Muse brought Peabody to within five with 2:19 left in the quarter. The Tanners trailed 36-29 at the end of three.
Peabody stayed within striking distance with trips to the charity stripe in the fourth quarter, but the Tanners struggled to put the ball in the net. Montanari knocked home a jumper with 2:10 remaining to put Danvers ahead 42-33. That would essentially ice the game as Danvers sealed the 48-37 win with free throw makes in the final two minutes.
“We had opportunities, but there’s not a lot of varsity experience on our team,” McKeen said. “We knew Danvers was going to be a good team. They have size and that was a difference because we’re not a very big team. We struggled with rebounding in the first half.
“We have to move the ball a lot quicker than what we did tonight,” McKeen added. “We have to a better job making free throws. We missed a lot of free throws and that’s a big part of a close game.”
Danvers (2-0) will look for its third win in a row on Thursday night at Medford. The Tanners (0-2) aim to bounce back on Thursday night at Malden.
