SAUGUS — The Saugus girls basketball team picked up possibly its marquee win of the season to this point Monday night, pulling away late to knock off a one-loss Lynn Classical team by a score of 51-40 at Saugus Middle-High School.
“Lynn Classical is a well-balanced team that’s well-coached and can hurt you a lot of different ways, but we were fortunate enough to make more shots out there,” said Saugus coach Mark Schruender. “We were able to play some solid defense at times and we rebounded the ball well, and getting contributions from so many different players was a huge boost for us.”
Senior Fallon Millerick led the way in the win for the Sachems, notching 14 points and six rebounds. Freshman Ella Castle was close behind with 12 points and five rebounds, while sophomore Ashleigh Moore (seven points), eighth-grader Peyton DiBiasio (six points, seven rebounds) and senior April Aldred (six points, three rebounds) also played well. Senior Cassandra Israelson added three points and two rebounds, while sophomore Ashleen Escobar led the team with nine rebounds.
“I loved the way we moved and distributed the ball out there,” said Schruender. “The girls were incredibly unselfish and we had a ton of girls make shots for us (Monday).”
On the Classical side, junior Lauren Hennessey led the offensive attack with 14 points. Junior Ava Thurman added seven points and three rebounds, while senior Molly Mannion had six points and five rebounds. Sophomore Lauren Wilson (five points, six rebounds), senior Reese Brinkler (four points, seven rebounds), junior Akiyah Brown (two points, eight rebounds) and junior Delaney Dana (two points, five rebounds) also played well in the loss.
“At the end of the day, basketball is a game of shot-making, and we just didn’t make enough shots out there (Monday),” said Classical coach Tom Sawyer. “Our effort was good and we fought the whole way, but in the end it just wasn’t our night.”
The game was a back-and-forth battle through the entire first half and some of the third quarter, with the Sachems taking a slim 25-23 lead into the halftime break. Saugus started to pull away a bit in the third quarter, benefiting from a combination of solid shooting on its end and some turnovers on the part of Classical. By the time the third quarter was over, the Sachems led 36-28.
Saugus stretched that lead out to as many as 11 points in the fourth quarter en route to the victory.
Classical (9-2) is right back in action Tuesday (6) on the road at Revere.
“The good part about losing when you have a back-to-back is that you don’t have to sit too long with that bad taste in your mouth,” said Sawyer. “We’re just going to regroup and try to come out and notch a big league win.”
Saugus (5-4) also has a quick turnaround, playing Tuesday night (7) at home against Danvers.
“You’re only as good as your next game, and we have to come right back out and gear up for another tough test,” said Schruender. “Danvers beat us on their home court earlier this year, so the girls are excited to get another crack at them.”
