LYNNFIELD — Friday night at home, the 1-5 Lynnfield Pioneers were taking on one of the toughest teams in the Cape Ann League in undefeated North Reading, which came into the game undefeated at 5-0.
The Hornets were averaging 55-plus points per game, but not on this night, as the Pioneers played what head coach Sue Breen said was their best defensive basketball of the season, giving the Hornets fits before going down, 37-29.
Senior captain Taylor Valiton scored a team-high 10 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Sophomore Hayden Valiton (8 rebounds) scored seven points and sophomore Maeve Wertz (8 rebounds) scored six. Freshman Chloe Grieves (2 points) had a monster game on the glass with 14 rebounds to go with four blocks and three steals.
North Reading sophomore Sophia Gallivan led all scorers with 16 points with fellow sophomore Ariana Demetri and junior Kiersten Higgins chipping in seven and six points, respectively.
“Our defense was so much better tonight and better than it’s been all year,” Breen said. “Our kids are a little frustrated because they thought they could do it and I think if we had played just a little bit better on offense, we could have. It just came down to how we could score more points, but I am proud of how they played.”
North Reading coach Bob Romeo gave credit to the Pioneers’ defense.
“We have been playing well, but we just weren’t finding the net tonight. A lot of it is to [Lynnfield’s] credit,” Romeo said. “They’ve got some length and they made us shoot it a little differently. It seemed like we were getting shots, but nothing was going.”
North Reading had been blowing out opponents with an average margin of victory of more than 20 points. But instead, the Pioneers came out hot, leading 8-6 after Hayden Valiton swished a pair of free throws about four minutes in. After that, the Hornets capitalized on a bundle of Pioneer turnovers, closing the quarter with a 8-0 run to open up a 14-8 lead.
It was more of the same in the early part of the second quarter with the Hornets holding Lynnfield scoreless for eight minutes spilling over from the first quarter. The visitors took a 22-14 lead into the halftime break.
The Pioneers flipped the script to start the second half. A Hayden Valiton steal and layup, then an Emma Rose (4 points) steal and layup cut the deficit to 22-18 in no time. North Reading closed out the quarter with a 10-5 run to lead 32-25 with eight minutes to go.
Both teams struggled to score in the fourth quarter with four combined baskets between them, but North Reading had just enough to hold on for the win.
“Making that little defensive adjustment in the third quarter was a big difference. We thought they were going to come in that third quarter burying threes because that’s what North Reading does,” Breen said.
“They hung tough. They made that little run at the start of the third quarter that got them back in the game,” Romeo said. “We had some defensive plays when we needed them, but there was nothing pretty about this one. There was a lot of grinding and the referees were letting them play. There was a lot of contact both ways, which is fine.”
Breen complimented Wertz, Grieves, Taylor Valiton, and Rose for having strong games.
“I thought Maeve played very well and Chloe also played well. Chloe had a ton of rebounds. She is just very steady all the time. She boxes out well and stopped a lot of easy baskets for them. Taylor and Emma also played well,” Breen said. “Overall, I thought they all played well and I am proud of how they played. It was a tough, physical game and they really hung in there. Even though we didn’t win, there are so many positives to take away from a game like this.”
Lynnfield’s next game is Tuesday at home against Essex Tech with tip-off slated for 5:30 p.m.
“They are a tough, scrappy team,” Breen said.
North Reading (6-0) returns home Tuesday against Newburyport at 6:30 p.m.
“They’re big, so there will be a lot of competition there,” Romeo said.
