MARBLEHEAD — Magicians girls basketball coach Paul Moran admits it’s still early in the season. But Marblehead, who remains unbeaten after Thursday’s 57-7 win over Salem on the Magicians’ home floor, is certainly on the right track.
“It was our night,” Moran said. “We had things clicking. We have a ways to go. It’s a good start for us. We’re happy and I’m proud of the kids. We have a nice five-day break now so we’ll get back and we’ll be ready to go.
“We’re shooting the ball well, we’re running our offense well. We have a couple things I see out there that we need to change. We’re doing a lot of good things but we can get better. I think we have to get back defensively and get the hands up. I don’t think we’re doing a good enough job there. But we’ll get there.”
Marblehead, 3-0 on the season, featured 11 scorers Thursday. Maddy Lowy reached double-figures with 15 points, knocking down four 3-pointers.
“Maddy’s a senior captain,” Moran said. “She’s a good player, good shooter. She’s already into Virginia. She’s a great kid and a great leader. She’s what makes us go.”
Juniors Leila Walton (nine points), Emily Clough (seven), Maddie Erskine (six) and Fehr Gillett (six) also played well.
Salem sophomore Cassadi O’Leary drew a foul and hit one of two free throw attempts to put the Witches up 1-0 shortly after the opening tip-off. That was Salem’s lone lead of the night as Marblehead took full control from there on out. Lowy opened the Magicians’ scoring with a 3-pointer, Gillett followed with a basket and Clough hit consecutive shots in the paint, forcing Salem into a timeout down 9-1.
Erskine’s lay-up and a pair of free throws gave Marblehead a 13-1 lead at the end of the first quarter.
“We knew, ‘hey, we’re at home’ and we wanted to play well,” Moran said. “We did. But I still give Salem a lot of credit. Those kids played hard and they have a lot to be proud of. Our kids did too. They have a lot to be proud of.”
Salem didn’t score again until O’Leary netted the Witches’ first hoop a few minutes into the second quarter. By then, the Witches were down 17-3 and they trailed 22-5 at recess after the Magicians closed the half on a 5-2 run.
Marblehead kept its foot on the gas in the third quarter to seal the win. Erskine and Lowy took control of the game over the next 2:33, driving an 11-0 Magicians run to stretch the lead to 33-5. Marblehead tacked on a couple more baskets and led 40-5 heading into the fourth quarter.
With the game in hand, Moran turned to his reserves through the final minutes.
“We got everybody in the game,” Moran said. “We were doing a lot of five in, five out so that was good. The girls are happy and the coaches are happy.”
The Magicians host Salem Academy in a non-conference game next Friday (1:30).
