LYNN — The Lynn Tech girls basketball team took control early and never looked back Thursday afternoon, picking up a 57-44 win over Fellowship Charter at home.
“We fell behind early on, but it was great to see us battle back,” said Tech coach Kaitlyn Wechsler. “We had some defensive issues at times, but our offense was able to pick up the slack.”
One of the big reasons for the win was Tech’s hot shooting — as the Tigers knocked down six 3-pointers to go along with a number of mid-range jump shots.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen us shoot that well from the field,” said Wechsler. “That was definitely a pleasant surprise, and hopefully we can continue that trend in the future.”
Jayleen Novas led the way for Tech in the win, notching a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Aliyah Volquez added 12 points and four rebounds, while Lesnee Izaguirre just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds. Nyari Lane-Benjamin put up nine points, while Amie Diaz (four points, five rebounds) and Hannah Calef (four points) also played well in the win.
“We’re the kind of team that needs everyone to step up like that, because we don’t have the offensive firepower to rely on one or two girls,” said Wechsler.
Although the Tigers fell behind 5-0 in the early minutes of the game, they quickly rallied to tie and later take the lead. After a low-scoring first quarter, Tech took a 9-5 lead into the second.
The scoring picked up a bit from there, as the Tigers extended their lead to as many as 12 points before a late Fellowship rally cut the deficit back to single digits. At the halftime break, Tech led 23-16.
The Tigers continued to extend that lead in the second half, pushing it to 18 points in the third quarter and then 22 points in the fourth before coasting to the victory.
Tech also suffered an unfortunate setback in the game when Diaz, a junior captain, went down with a knee injury and did not return to the game.
“It’s emotional for all of us because she’s the heart of the team and a true leader for us,” said Wechsler. “We talked about it and said that we just need to keep pushing forward for her and hold things down until she’s able to come back.”
Tech (4-3) is right back in action with a home game against Minuteman Friday evening (6:30).
“We’ve got to continue to work on our defensive play because that’s our hallmark and we need to get back to that,” said Wechsler. “If we can continue to shoot well, then great, but we need to get back to our roots of playing good defense.”
