Norwood Girls Hoops Scores Victory Over Milton

The Norwood girls basketball team used a balanced scoring attack and physical play style to out-muscle a 4-9 Milton team by a score of 49-31, Friday night at the Savage Center.

It was the second win of the season for the Lady Mustangs who showed great determination and fight from the opening tip.

Justine Ryan, Norwood’s leading scorer with 15 points, put the Mustangs ahead in the first quarter 7-5 with a jump shot from the top of the key.

Sarah Eckhardt added a follow-up lay-up off a rebound to make it 9-5, and Makenna Lane, who finished with 12 points, hit a three later to extend the lead to 13-5, Norwood.

“Other people stepped up scoring, and it was more of a team effort tonight,” Ryan said after the win.

Lane and Ryan added a couple of long-range threes in the second to extend the lead to fourteen at 21-7, until Milton answered with a three–point play to cut the deficit to 11.

It was at this point that the game got physical, as Milton’s Katie Krauss and Ryan battled for position on the floor.

Within a 10-second span three fouls were assessed on both teams for pushing. Both sides were warned by the referees that technical fouls would be charged to both teams if the physical play continued.

Despite the Mustangs carrying a 23-12 halftime lead, Milton came out strong and ready to battle in the second half. They countered with a basket and a three-point play to cut the Mustang lead to 23-17, before Norwood’s Megan O’Connor answered with a pivotal three-pointer from the wing.

O’Connor also added a steal, an assist and two free throws to push the lead back up to 28-19 for the Mustangs.

“Meg O’Connor had showed incredible improvement in practice lately, I had to give her some time tonight and she was just incredible,” second-year coach Brian Merringer said.

The Mustangs added some great ball movement to score easy baskets underneath the hoop, one on a give-and-go between Ryan and Lane that put the Mustangs comfortably ahead 45-29.

“Our goal was to get better as the season progresses and to improve against teams we face twice on our schedule and we did that tonight,” said Meringer.

Milton, who had previously beat Norwood, fell to 3-7 in league play while Norwood improved to 2-8. The Mustangs next game will be Tuesday night at Framingham.