Good basketball teams try to “weather the storm” when things aren’t going as planned. That’s exactly what the Saugus girls basketball team (4-3) did on Monday against the Arlington Catholic Cougars, winning 59-43.
The Cougars used a 14-2 run to grab the lead from the Sachems early in the second quarter. Their press caused turnovers, and Saugus’ man-to-man defense couldn’t stop the Cougars’ ability to penetrate the lane. Despite the frustration, the Sachems held on to a slim lead going into halftime 31-29.
Saugus’ head coach Mark Schruender took blame for part of the run.
“It was probably my fault. We were fouling too much,” Schruender said. “It turned into a bit of a fouling fest.”
After the second quarter, teams usually go back to the locker room to reassess and make adjustments, however, the Sachems stayed on the floor to shoot.
“We decided [that] because we were struggling to shoot the ball, why don’t we just continue to shoot and we’ll pull kids to the side to tell them the adjustments,” Schruender said.
It paid off. Ashleigh Moore (six points), Ana Beatriz Silva (seven points), and Peyton DiBiasio (25 points) opened the quarter burying three from downtown as the Sachems went on an early 9-3 run.
“We’ve done a ton of shooting in practice. We see it in practice – the kids can shoot,” Schruender said. “We know they can shoot. It was great to finally see it in the game.”
This time, and unlike the first half, the Sachems didn’t look back.
Schruender made an adjustment going from man defense to a 2-3 zone.
“We went to the zone to refrain from fouling,” Schruender said. “I think that slowed the pace down and got us back under control.”
Freshman DiBiasio was aggressive, scoring eight of the Sachems’ first 14 points in the third quarter. The Cougars didn’t have an answer for her inside-out game as DiBiasio was a threat from the outside, but also used her speed and crafty footwork to get to the rim.
“I thought she [DiBiasio] played extraordinary today,” Schruender said.
On top of DiBiasio, Schruender was happy that everyone played a role in the win.
“It’s always good when you get a lot of contributors,” Schruender said.
In the fourth quarter, the Sachems’ intense defense closed the game out. Switching between man defense and their zone, the Sachems made life difficult for the Cougars. Saugus allowed just five fourth quarter points.
“I was happy in the second half. We showed a lot more restraint – they [Cougars] never got to the bonus,” Schruender said.
The win snaps a two-game losing streak and gives the Sachems their fourth win of the season. The Sachems’ next game is at home on Tuesday against Gloucester with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m.
