PEABODY — English girls basketball coach Mackenzie Charles has preached “defense first” to his Bulldogs since they first came together in the preseason a few weeks ago.
Thursday’s 37-19 win at Peabody proved the Bulldogs are buying into the message.
The Bulldogs were aggressive from the opening tip-off, holding Peabody to just seven points through the first three quarters.
“We want to play good defense,” Charles said. “We play good, hard-nosed, man-to-man defense. That’s what we want to do every night. I expect us to have some offensive nights like (Thursday), but if we play good defense we’ll beat a lot of teams. That’s the name of the game for us.”
Kylia Reynoso led the way for the Bulldogs with 12 points, four rebounds and five steals. Jessica Ruiz wasn’t far behind with eight points and six rebounds. Maylin Echevarria and Juliana Perry each scored four points.
Peabody struggled to find any offensive rhythm. Amber Kiricoples led the Tanners with four points and six rebounds. Taylor Bettencourt and Emily Carney each scored three points.
“It was a tough night from start to finish,” Tanners coach Stan McKeen said. “We got out-rebounded. We got pushed off the ball. The shooting has horrendous. It’s a new team. I realize that we’re learning.
“English is a good team. They’re aggressive and fast. (Reynoso) is phenomenal, she can do everything. We tried to switch it up with man, some zone, then back to man. We played a little better in the fourth quarter but missed too many shots and turned the ball over too much.”
English got a quick basket from Echevarria to jump out to a 2-0 lead, but neither team found the basket again until midway through the first quarter.
Reynoso got the Bulldogs going again with a steal to set up a basket from Rayvin Rapley and Perry hit a 3-pointer on the Bulldogs ‘next possession to stretch their lead to 7-0.
The Tanners got on the board with a free throw from Bettencourt and a layup by Kiricoples to cut the lead to 9-3 but English took over from there. The Bulldogs went on a six-point run midway through the second quarter and took a 17-5 lead into the break.
Ruiz came out on fire for the Bulldogs in the second half. The senior forward grabbed a rebound and scored six consecutive points to stretch English’s lead to 23-5. Mashayla Johnson capped the run with a 3-pointer to put the Bulldogs ahead 26-5 before Peabody got back on the board.
The Tanners started the fourth quarter on a 5-0 run and showed some improvement but it was too little, too late and English finished the 37-19 win.
“We didn’t start the game with great energy,” Charles said. “Once our energy picked up in the third quarter we were really able to open up the lead. We have to bring it, all 14 girls have to bring it every single night. We can be a really good team. Once we get to that stage I think we’ll be really good.”
Peabody (1-1) hosts Danvers Monday (2:30). The Bulldogs (2-0) have plenty of time off before playing against Tech in the opening round of the Walter J. Boverini Tournament next Friday.
“We’re going to work,” Charles said. “We’re going to get better on defense. We have to get better at in-game situations, taking the last shot. We had a lot of mistakes (Thursday). We have to play cleaner basketball. It just wasn’t the basketball we want to show to people that come to see us play. We’re going to clean all that stuff up.”
