LYNN — English girls basketball coach Mackenzie Charles said it best after Thursday’s 52-44 win over Marblehead at Paul Cavanagh Field House.
“I thought we did a good job of staying poised,” Charles said. “In the past when teams would make little runs or put some wild baskets up, we’d get rattled or become unsure of what we were doing. I thought we stayed composed, even when we gave up baskets we knew we shouldn’t have. We stayed calm and confident in ourselves.”
The Bulldogs, who improved to 8-1, never trailed in the second half. Whenever Marblehead showed signs of climbing back, the Bulldogs knocked in a clutch shot to limit the Magicians’ momentum.
With Magicians junior Emily Clough (18 points) commanding the paint, English turned to its outside game. Mashayla Johnson swished six 3-pointers en route to a game-high 20 points. Kylia Reynoso hit three 3-pointers and finished with 17 points.
“We played (Marblehead) tough,” Charles said. “(Clough) really hurt us in the paint. We were letting her get too deep. If she gets too deep, those are easy layups for her. But we showed some grit. We toughed it out. We had some good possessions, hit some outside shots and found a way to win a game. That’s really what it’s about.”
Marblehead fell to 9-2.
“Unfortunately we haven’t done a good job closing out,” Marblehead coach Paul Moran said. “If we’re going to continue to get better and move on, we have to do a better job at that. It gives us something to work on, so that’s great.
“All the credit to English,” Moran added. “They’re having a good season for a reason. They’re well coached and they have a good team.”
Consecutive 3-pointers from Johnson at the close of the first quarter put English ahead 9-5. Marblehead took the lead, 10-9, at the start of the second quarter, with Maddy Lowy’s 3-pointer and Clough’s free throw line jumper. Back-to-back 3’s from Reynoso put English up 17-13. Johnson closed the half with back-to-back 3’s of her own, the latter of which beat the buzzer, guiding English to a 23-17 halftime edge.
Marblehead closed the gap to 24-21 to start the third quarter but Johnson doubled her team’s lead with a 3-pointer. When the Magicians cut English’s lead to 33-30 just a few minutes later, Johnson banked in another 3 to keep the Bulldogs on the right track. Maylin Echevarria’s hook shot at the buzzer put English up 40-32 going into the fourth quarter.
Maddie Erskine went coast-to-coast for a layup for the first points of the fourth quarter. Leila Walton (14 points) followed with a pair of free throws, bringing Marblehead to within two possessions at 40-36. Again, the Bulldogs fired back with a 3-pointer, this time from Reynoso.
“We’ve been shooting a lot in practice and we’ve been shooting well in practice,” Charles said. “The things you do in practice are going to happen in games. That was really important because it was going to be tough getting to the hoop with (Clough) in the paint. (Moran) plays a really tight 2-3 defense. It was really important for us to hit outside shots. We’re finding different ways to win games.”
Jessica Ruiz’s mid-range jumper cushioned English’s lead to 47-36 and the Bulldogs held a late Marblehead surge for the win.
“I can’t complain about the effort,” Moran said. “The kids worked really hard. We just have to get smarter. And we will.”
Marblehead travels to Danvers Tuesday (7).
“Danvers is well coached,” Moran said. “We’ll have our work cut out. This is the tough part of our season.”
English hosts crosstown rival Classical Tuesday (7).
