PEABODY — In a Northeastern Conference girls basketball showdown Tuesday night, and despite a late surge from Saugus, Peabody held off the Sachems, 46-37, for win No. 8.
Peabody led, 25-15, at halftime and extended its lead to 14 points (37-23) entering the fourth quarter, but Saugus wouldn’t go away.
Saugus’ Peyton DiBiasio scored nine of her game-high 16 points in the fourth quarter. The sharpshooter connected on two threes and converted another basket – plus the foul – within the first three minutes of the fourth to make it 39-32.
“She’s an elite scorer,” said Saugus assistant coach Norma Waggett. “She can hit from really deep, she can drive, she can dish, and she really gets our offense going.”
The game got to within four points when Shawn Sewell of the Sachems knocked down a midrange jumper with 3:19 remaining in regulation.
However, the run ended in a flash when Peabody’s Ally Bettencourt drilled a straightaway triple to make it 44-37 with two minutes to go.
“She’s the consummate player on both ends of the court. She’s dealing with a hamstring injury, so we didn’t know if she was going to play tonight,” said Peabody coach Stan McKeen. “She’s probably the best all-around player we have this year.”
Peabody’s assistant coach, Joy Wallace, spoke highly of Bettencourt’s competitive nature.
“I think she’s just an ultra-competitive person and she is going to do whatever it takes to get the job done,” Wallace said. “She has that super drive to do it. She’s definitely a leader for us.”
Despite trailing for the majority of the action, Waggett was proud of her players for never quitting.
“They worked hard and they were trying to get stops. Our shots just didn’t fall tonight, but they came together and didn’t back down,” Waggett said. “I’m just super proud of their effort.”
One player who was fighting for every loose ball and rebound was Saugus’ Madison Botta. Despite the Sachems being undersized, Botta found second-chance opportunities through offensive rebounds and steals.
Both Waggett and assistant coach Taylor Bogdanski described Botta as “relentless.”
“She’s an animal on the offensive boards. She’s relentless on defense. She’s an important part of getting our defense going,” Waggett said. “She gets us so many second-chance opportunities, which are so important because we’re undersized.”
Peabody used its size to its advantage, as Elizabeth Bettencourt finished with a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Sophia Coburn also pulled in 11 rebounds to go with eight points.
The Tanners were coming off a tough road loss to Waltham on Monday. Fatigue was something McKeen was nervous about heading into the contest.
“We played last night, so I was really worried about this game off of a back-to-back. We played in Waltham and we lost. We didn’t get home until 10 p.m., then they had school. Earlier this season, we had a back-to-back and we struggled,” McKeen said. “Tonight, though, I thought we played well. They played well as a team. The defense did well and we shut down their outside shooting for the most part. I think it was a great team effort.”
Saugus will be back at home Thursday when it hosts Dracut at 6:30 p.m. Marblehead welcomes Newton North at 7 p.m. the same night.
