Needham Girls Clinch Playoff Spot with Win over Framingham

Earning a win on “Senior Night” is an exciting feeling for any high school athlete, but punching your ticket to the MIAA tournament on that same day is something special. The Needham Rockets girls basketball team happened to do both on Tuesday, as they defeated the Framingham Flyers, 47-26.

“These kids have been in the program for four years, all four years they’ve qualified for the tournament (and) they’ve had a lot of success. They’re used to having success, so its just consistent with who they are and what they’ve accomplished in their four years,” said Needham head coach Kim Benzan.

The Rockets may not have appeared ready for the playoffs during the first quarter, as their offense struggled to score points or take advantage of any additional opportunities after various rebounds. In fact, the offense would frequently be whistled for travels or turnovers.

These various turnovers allowed for Framingham to rely heavily upon Claryssa Cunniff and Tiana Souza to not only put points on the scoreboard, but also force turnovers.

“We started our five seniors, three of whom are coming off of very serious injuries. One of our girls hadn’t played in almost eight weeks and only had one practice. Another girl had missed seven games, so I think that sort of [was our issue],” said Kim Benzan.

Despite Framingham’s early lead, Needham tallied 15 points during the second quarter, as well as secured an important three-point shot during the closing seconds of the first half, which was taken by Tory Waldstein.

“I think it was a momentum builder. I thought that really made the difference,” said Benzan. “It tied the game, so it enabled me to go into halftime [and tell the team], forget about what just happened, we’re at 0-0 and let’s start a new game.”

Entering the final 16 minutes, the Rockets played some of their best team basketball, as well as held Framingham to just six points through two quarters. Players such as Alana Bollas, Shelby Cohen and Jessica Quinter contributed some key points, as well as played aggressively on defense.  

Framingham ignored playing as a team and chose to force a variety of shots outside the paint, which allowed for Needham to score points on the fast break.    

“We didn’t shoot very well in the second half,” said Framingham head coach Chip DelPrete. “We were down a lot and the only way to get back in the game is either hit three’s or take it to the basket. They had bigger kids than us inside, so we resorted to the three.”

Following the win, Benzan expressed that she is focused on finishing the season strong, as well as making sure her players are healthy and ready for the upcoming tournament.

“We have three very tough games ahead on the road, so we really needed this win tonight and we still have a long way to go before we’ll be healthy and we have to get some practice time under a lot of these kids belts who have been out for a long time,” said Benzan.