LYNN — Lynn Tech’s girls basketball team upped its record 11-3 after taking down visiting Academy of Notre Dame, 45-28, Friday evening.
The Lady Tigers held the Lancers to just seven points in the first half – much to the delight of head coach Kaitlyn Wechsler.
“Defense is what fuels everything that we do,” she said. “Offensively, in the half-court, we know it’s not our strength, so we’ve been working on locking in the last few weeks and finetuning our defense so we can get steals and try to get out and run.”
One player who exemplified the ‘defense-to-offense’ approach was sophomore guard Allison Morales. Throughout the evening, Morales jumped passing lanes, deflected passes, and stole the ball multiple times, leading to open layups and fastbreak points for Tech.
“Allison has been really working hard and stepping up for us on defense, which we need,” Wechsler said. “When her offense is struggling, it’s nice to see she’s still willing to put in the work on defense.”
Not only did the Lady Tigers play stifling defense, but they were unselfish. Camila Rufino Santos swiped a steal and could have scored on her own, but instead, passed it to Morales, who made a lefty layup late in the first half.
Mahlyna Williams scored only two points, but her impact was felt on the defensive end. Williams guarded the Lancers’ center who had a significant height advantage, but Williams’ defensive positioning and physicality made things difficult for her opponent.
“Mahlyna came in last time when their center was hurting us. She brings a smart and physical presence to us. She might be undersized, she might be small, but it doesn’t bother her,” Wechsler said. “She’s still going to be physical, she’s going to push, she’s going to be in the right spot all the time, and we need that from her.”
The Lady Tigers led, 21-7, at halftime and didn’t let off the gas in the second half.
Engelyz Bingham, a 1,000-point scorer as of last week, paced the offense with 22 points, 12 of which came in the second half.
“She’s done a really nice job of that this year – finding her teammates when they’re open, but also knowing when she can see a lane to the basket or an open shot,” Wechsler said. “She’s just an all-around really good offensive player who does what the right move is.”
Now with 11 wins under their belts, Wechsler said she’s “really enjoyed” this season – mainly because of that suffocating defense.
“Especially because of the defense. My assistant coach, Brianne [Caira], and I have been talking about how we haven’t had a team that’s willing to lock in on defense in a long time,” Wechsler said. “We always knew we had to play through our defense, but they’re doing it the right way. They’re doing it in volume, helping and denying, just playing the positions the way that we need to, which is what makes it the most fun for me because I love defense.”
Tech travels to Medford for a 7 p.m. clash on Wednesday.
