LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield girls basketball team survived a slow start and — thanks to another dominant effort from senior captain Tori Morelli (14 points, 15 rebounds) and a rock-solid game by junior Ava Buonfiglio (seven rebounds, five points, two steals) coming in off the bench — had just enough game to beat visiting Manchester-Essex, 43-33, Tuesday night at Lynnfield High.
“It was kind of a scary one, but we managed to pull it out,” said Lynnfield coach Peter Bocchino. “Tori is on a roll and had another monster game, and Ava came in and was great off the bench with some key rebounds and hoops for us.”
The win allowed the Pioneers (6-6) to reach the .500 mark for the first time this season.
The game did not start well for Lynnfield, which came out flat and trailed 15-10 after the opening quarter.
The second quarter, however, was a different story. Lynnfield rattled off an 11-0 run to take a 21-15 lead after Caroline Waisnor (five points) drained a three-pointer with under three minutes to go in the quarter. Grace Klonsky (nine points, three steals, three rebounds) started the run with a jumper then added two more on a steal and a coast-to-coast layup to make it 15-14. A Cate MacDonald steal and a Buonfiglio offensive rebound and put-back followed by a coast-to-coast drive by MacDonald (nine points, 10 rebounds) bumped the lead to 18-15.
After Waisnor’s 3-pointer, the Hornets’ Sophia Pomeroy stopped the bleeding and cut the deficit to 21-17. A MacDonald free throw and Morelli offensive rebound and put-back closed out the half to send the Pioneers into the break with a 24-17 lead.
“The second quarter definitely gave us some breathing room,” said Bocchino.
Manchester-Essex played its way back into the game with a strong third quarter, outscoring the hosts 12-8, to cut the deficit to 32-29. The damage could have been much worse, but for Morelli, who scored all eight Pioneer points in the frame.
Buonfiglio completed an old-fashioned three-point play after an offensive board to bump the lead to 35-29. After a Hornets’ hoop, Klonsky put on a show with a behind-the back dribble and under-handed reverse scoop layup to make it 37-31.
The Hornets got as close as four, 37-33, but an offensive put-back by Morelli, followed by back-to-back buckets by MacDonald put the game out of reach at 43-33 with under two minutes left.
“Credit to Manchester-Essex, they made some adjustments on defense going to a 3-2 and doubling Tori in the middle in that third quarter,” Bocchino said. “But Tori had another monster game even with that, she is using the glass so well. She is on a roll. I think that was her fourth straight double-double.
“And Ava, the way she came in off the bench tonight, we just cannot afford to waste that kind of effort,” Bocchino added. “She is my awesome sixth man and she can really light it up. Grace had some amazing moves and Cate is starting to spread her game a little.”
Morelli said the team may have been suffering from a letdown coming in after the team defeated Masconomet for the first time in 17 years in their prior game.
“Coming off such a big win at Masco, we may have been overconfident,” said Morelli. “We said all week long that we needed to emphasize the fact that Manchester is a good team, but we may still have been on a high. Once the second quarter came, we stopped thinking about that last game and focused on what we needed to do to win this game.”
It doesn’t get any easier for Lynnfield, which takes on archrival North Reading Friday night at home (6:30).
