LYNNFIELD — The Pioneers kept their tournament hopes alive with a 36-14 rout over the visiting Tigers Monday night at home.
Lynnfield had its most balanced scoring of the season with 11 of 12 players cracking into the scoring column.
Erika Pasquale (2 rebounds), Hannah Doherty off the bench (rebound, steal) and Hayden Valiton (2 rebounds, steal) led the Pioneers with five points each. Jordan Calichman (4 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals), Faith Angelo (1 point, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks) and Olivia Braley (2 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals) delivered a productive punch coming in off the bench, while Taylor Valiton (2 points, 9 rebounds, steal) and Chloe Grieves (2 points, 7 rebounds, steal) also had solid games. Maeve Wertz (2 points, rebound, 3 steals) also contributed.
“It was good that I got to play everybody,” head coach Sue Breen said. “This was the first game all year we’ve been able to do that. That was the goal of the game. This was a game I wanted to be sure every kid got in because they work hard every day at practice and haven’t had a chance to play much. It was a good game and they all played well.”
Lynnfield made it clear from the get-go that it was in it to win it, starting with a 9-0 run in the first two minutes. The Tigers’ Jayne Krause stopped the bleeding – temporarily – with a pair of free throws with 5:07 to go to close the gap to 9-2, but Lynnfield picked things up where it left off with an 8-0 run to end the quarter. Angelo was key, taking a long pass from Pasquale after a Pasquale rebound and laying it in from a tight angle, then grabbing an offensive board and draining two free throws after being fouled. Calleigh Caprio (3 points, 2 rebounds, steal) completed the quarter with a steal and coast-to-coast layup at the buzzer to send the Pioneers into the second quarter on top, 17-2.
“Faith does a very good job and has gotten a lot of good minutes,” Breen said. “She’s just a sophomore who continues to work hard and do good things. She also passes the ball very well.”
The second quarter was tough going for both teams as the Pioneers struggled with turnovers. The half ended with Lynnfield leading 22-7.
Taylor Valiton provided a spark at the start of the second half, scoring the Pioneers’ first four points sandwiched around a Tiger free throw to extend the lead to 26-8. Ipswich rallied with a four-point run to cut the deficit to 26-12. Grieves bumped the lead to 28-12 with about two minutes left in the quarter, then Hayden Valiton converted an old-fashioned three-point play to send the Pioneers into the final eight minutes with their largest lead, 31-12.
Ipswich cut the deficit to 31-14 on a bucket from Reagan McPartlin on the Tigers’ first possession. Angelo answered with another old-fashioned three to make it 34-14 with a little more than six minutes left to play. Vanessa Champy (rebound) and Chloe McEwen (2 rebounds) closed out the contest in the last 34 seconds with one free throw each.
Breen said Calichman played a good game.
“I thought Jordan played great defense and provided a good steadiness tonight,” Breen said.
With the win, the Pioneers improved to 6-9 (4-7 CAL). They are back on the court Thursday at Essex Tech.
“We beat them earlier in the season by nine points, but they will be tough,” Breen said. “I think it will be a good game.”
