Gonsalves Closing In On Record

Following a wait of close to 10 days, tonight could be the night that town resident and basketball standout Brenna Gonsalves becomes the all-time leading scorer at Coyle-Cassidy High School when the Warriors host Bishop Stang in an Eastern Athletic Conference game at 6:30 p.m.

If she scores 12 points against the Spartans, Gonsalves will become the all-time leading scorer at Coyle-Cassidy. She would surpass the school record of former Warrior star and current Norton resident Eric Ferris, who scored 1,397 points during a stellar career.

Gonsalves, a senior captain and star guard, eclipsed the girls’ mark of 1,148 points held by former Warrior standout Emily Larocque with a 14-point effort during a non-league game against Old Rochester on Dec. 14 in Taunton.

She moved within 11 points of tying the school’s all-time record with a 21-point, 10-rebound performance during a 48-38 victory over city rival Taunton on Sunday, Jan. 30 at Coyle-Cassidy High. The Warrior star currently has 1,386 career points.

But Gonsalves and the Warriors have not played since then, having their home EAC contest with Martha’s Vineyard last Tuesday postponed because of weather. Coyle began the 2010-11 campaign by winning 12 of its first 14 games. The Warriors currently sit in first place in the EAC with a 4-1 record, while Bishop Feehan is second at 3-1.

The only losses for the Warriors this year came against Cardinal Spellman, 36-29, in a non-league game in Brockton Jan. 9. Coyle also suffered a hard-fought 45-41 setback to the Shamrocks in Attleboro on January 25.

“It was another epic game against Bishop Feehan,” said Coyle-Cassidy head coach Mike O’Brien. “But we really stopped ourselves on offense in both of those games. We executed on offense and got the shots we wanted. We just could not finish.”

But as good teams do, the Warriors responded to the tough loss to Bishop Feehan with a pair of victories. They first dominated conference foe Somerset 73-30 in Taunton Jan. 28 before getting the 10-point win over the Tigers two days later.

“The kids were disappointed that they lost to Bishop Feehan, but they did a good job bouncing back emotionally in practice and in the next two games,” O’Brien said.

After tonight’s game, Coyle-Cassidy will host Martha’s Vineyard in another conference contest Saturday at 3 p.m. The Warriors will then conclude their league slate by traveling to Dartmouth for a re-match with the Spartans next Monday night at 6:30 p.m.

The next night Coyle will head to Bridgewater-Raynham for a non-league contest on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. The Warriors will round out the regular season with a non-league home game against Abington Friday, Feb. 18 at 6:30 p.m. and a non-league road contest against Old Rochester on Monday, Feb. 21 at 6:30 p.m.

“We are building towards the state tournament,” O’Brien said. “We want to win our remaining games. If we can do that we can potentially get a second or third seed, which could mean a couple of home games in the tournament.

“We also want to keep getting better. We need to continue to work on finishing inside and handling the physicality of other teams. We also want to improve our bench play. We always stress to the kids that you don’t have to score to have a good game.”