PEABODY — The Peabody girls basketball team upped its record to 2-0 after a 71-56 win over Beverly on Friday. Despite it being a four-point game at halftime, the Tanners used a big third quarter to get the job done – and then some.
With just a 32-28 cushion at the break, head coach Stan McKeen wasn’t pleased with his team’s intensity.
“We didn’t come out how I thought we would, like we did against Masco the other day when we were on fire,” he said. “We talked in the locker room that the intensity wasn’t there. Beverly’s bench, whenever they made a basket or created a turnover, they were up out of their seats… It was the opposite for us. It was like they were dead. I told them they needed to be more intense.”
Well, if any two people got that memo, they were Logan Lomasney and Ally Bettencourt.
Lomasney scored eight of her game-high 27 points in the third quarter, while Bettencourt (22 points) scored 10 in the third.
It wasn’t just their scoring, but also, their determination to win every rebound and push the ball upcourt.
“Ally was a force tonight,” McKeen said. “Logan rights the ship for us when we’re in a bit of a slump.”
Peabody outscored Beverly 22-13 in the third quarter and didn’t look back once it established the double-digit lead.
McKeen was impressed with Beverly guard Jules Stevenson (14 points).
“Beverly has a nice young team. Their guard is quite the shooter. She’s really good,” he said.
Another bright spot for the Tanners was sophomore Sophia Coburn (8 points), who showed off her outside shot in the second half while grabbing a handful of rebounds.
“She had some nice shots on the outside and grabbed some big rebounds,” McKeen said. “She was a bit frustrated at the start for missing some shots, but kept with it and hit some from the corner.”
The Tanners continued to dominate the glass in the fourth quarter, eventually wearing down the Panthers to pick up their second win of the young season.
Despite the victory, McKeen knows his team needs to be more clinical around the rim.
“We have a good team – no doubt about it,” McKeen said. “Our experience is big for us. We have size and good shooters. We move the ball really well. The only knock on tonight was the missed shots around the rim.”
