LYNN — The Lady Rams kept their perfect season intact Thursday night when they hosted Medford. Classical (14-0) used its tenacious defense to pick up a 50-19 victory.
The way the Rams started the game dictated the flow, as their fast pace and ability to steal the ball made all the difference. Medford won the tip-off and, immediately, the Rams collapsed on the ball-handler for a steal, leading to a fast-break layup from Keisha Perez (seven points).
“I really liked our defensive intensity,” Rams’ head coach Tom Sawyer said. “The kids worked really hard on defense and that was the difference tonight.”
Classical started the game on a 9-0 run – one featuring several highlight-worthy plays. Senior guard Lauren Hennessey (10 points) threw a defense-splitting pass – taking two Mustangs out of the play – to senior Akiyah Brown (eight points) who finished an open layup.
A few moments later, Hennessey again provided a crowd-pleasing pass to Lauren Wilson (14 points) who got open with a backdoor cut.
“[Ball movement] is something we continue to work on,” Sawyer said. “Trying not to get the ball stuck – we want to keep it moving.”
The Rams defense held the Mustangs to two first-quarter points.
There were two players who stuck out defensively: Ava Thurman (three points) and Perez. Both players were everywhere on the court, racking up steals and deflections.
“I give them a lot of responsibility out there. It takes a lot of hard work and effort and you can only do that if you like or love playing defense,” Sawyer said. “They [like or love] playing defense because they know it helps their team win.”
The Rams continued to pressure the Mustangs into turnovers, giving them a 28-6 lead going into halftime — and the pressure didn’t stop there.
Wilson continued to make hustle plays to start the third quarter. On one play, she jumped the passing lane and used her speed to steal the ball and get an easy layup.
“Deflections are really important to us and it’s a stat we keep track of,” Sawyer said.
Wilson was not only defending, but also scoring at will. Of her game-high 14 points, she scored 11 of them in the third quarter to help extend the lead to 46-12.
Despite the Rams being undefeated, Sawyer isn’t letting anyone on the team get carried away.
“We don’t really talk about it. We prepared for Medford tonight, and then starting tomorrow we’ll prepare for Everett on Tuesday,” Sawyer said. “Only one team finishes the year without losing. We’re just happy to compete every night and we’ll just enjoy tonight’s win and get ready for Tuesday.”
Tuesday’s game against Everett tips off at 6 p.m.
