PEABODY — Behind a strong defensive effort, the No. 3 Bishop Fenwick girls basketball team rolled to a 60-37 win over No. 6 Bishop Stang in the CCL Cup quarterfinal Saturday afternoon. The Crusaders only allowed 14 total points in the first half en route to the win.
“Our defense for the last few games has just been really good,” said Fenwick coach Adam DeBaggis. “Our communication on that end of the floor has been unbelievable and we’re not allowing the other team to get any good shots. It’s also really opening up our transition game, which is helping our offense.”
Senior captain Veronica Tache had a big game for the Crusaders with 20 points on six 3-pointers. Junior Olivia Found filled the state sheet with 12 points, three rebounds and eight assists, while junior Nasha Arnold had 10 points and four rebounds. Junior Maria Orfanos (six points), senior captain Liz Gonzalez (four points, nine rebounds), junior Julia Loescher (four points, two rebounds) and freshman Ella Andrews (four points, two rebounds) also played well in the win.
“Veronica was just lights-out the whole game, but what was really great was getting so many contributions up and down the rotation,” said DeBaggis. “It’s obviously the ideal situation when you have multiple people contributing like that.”
Despite a little bit of back-and-forth in the first few minutes of the game, Fenwick was very quickly able to take control. After Stang jumped out to a 4-3 lead in the early minutes, Fenwick closed the first quarter on a 14-2 run to take a 17-6 lead.
That’s when the Crusaders hit their stride. Behind some big shots from Tache and strong play from Arnold, Fenwick was able to extend its lead out to as many as 19 points before taking a 33-14 lead into the halftime break.
“Good defense and good passing were the keys for that run,” said DeBaggis. “Our assist numbers are way up over the past few games and it’s really opened up our offense. We’re not allowing the opposing team to get any good looks, and then we’re getting great looks on the other end. That’s a great recipe for success.”
The second half was much of the same, with Fenwick extending its lead to as many as 26 points before cruising to a 23-point victory.
Fenwick (10-4) moves on to the CCL Cup semifinal against No. 2 Bishop Feehan on the road Wednesday evening (5).
“We should go into that game with a measure of confidence since we beat them the last time we played, but we know it’s going to be a tough game,” said DeBaggis. “We’re very evenly matched teams with similar makeups, so it’s sure to be another intense high school basketball game.”
