SWAMPSCOTT — When you play a team that’s not in your conference, it can be used as a measuring stick – and, at times, a learning experience.
Tuesday’s girls basketball matchup between Swampscott (4-4) and Lynn Tech (5-2) was just that.
In the offseason, Swampscott reached out to Lynn Tech to schedule a game. Although the Big Blue won it, 53-34, both teams walked out with something.
“We haven’t played them before, so they reached out during the offseason and were looking for a non-conference game,” said Lynn Tech coach Kaitlyn Wechsler. “I said, if nothing more, this will be a good test for us and a good challenge. This type of game will get us ready for when we get to the tournament.”
Swampscott got out to a fast start (14-0) with senior captain Jesse Ford scoring nine of her team-high 14 points in the opening quarter.
“She’s someone I can always count on to do the little things. Out of nowhere, she’ll have these offensive spurts,” said Swampscott coach Katelyn Leonard. “When she’s hot, she’s hot. Tonight, she wasn’t afraid to take the shot. She was taking some clean, open looks. We were doing a good job attacking, which created open looks.”
The Big Blue’s defense pressed the Tigers early and forced turnovers, which led to easy baskets. Speaking of, defense has been the main talking point for Leonard’s squad all season.
“We talked all season about our defense being our offense and I think we set the tone defensively with our press,” Leonard said. “Our press really opened things up for us from there.”
Swampscott led 22-4 after the first quarter and 30-10 at halftime.
“They were definitely good,” Wechsler said. “We had some good times, but we also had a lot that we can learn from and grow from.”
Wechsler acknowledged that Tech doesn’t face press or man-to-man defense much in the conference, but it’s something it’ll work on moving forward.
“This is the first time we have seen a team press us. Our conference doesn’t often press, so we definitely will keep practicing breaking it,” Wechsler said. “We also don’t see teams play man against us. I think it was really a learning experience for us to play against a really tough defense.”
For Leonard, she was “very pleased” with the defensive effort, spearheaded by senior captain Victoria Quagrello.
“Victoria Quagrello didn’t do a lot that showed up on the stat sheet, but she was all over the floor. She was forcing steals, getting loose balls, and grabbing rebounds,” Leonard said. “I think her effort really set the tone for the team to follow.”
Despite the Tigers’ offense finding some rhythm in the second half – highlighted by Engelyz Bingham’s (14 points) buzzer-beating three to end the third quarter – it wasn’t enough.
Wechsler is ready to return home and focus on Wednesday’s showdown against Whittier at 5:15 p.m.
“We’re right back at it tomorrow. We talked about how we need to move on and learn from this,” Wechsler said. “We’re ready for another upper-division team. We play Whittier tomorrow. They play in a higher division than us, so we need to be ready to go.”
For Leonard and the Big Blue, they travel to archrival Marblehead on Thursday with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m.
SCORING LEADERS
Swampscott
Jesse Ford: 14
Olivia Quagrello: 12
Cecilia Tripp: 11
Lynn Tech
Engelyz Bingham: 14
Lesnee Izaguirre: 9
Aliyah Volquez: 5
