Reading Girls Basketball Knocks Off Watertown

Reading High girls basketball knocked off Watertown High 56-33 on Friday night in a game that was never close.

Watertown jumped out to an early 2-0 lead when Michelle Poirier scored on a running layup but that was the end of the good news for the Lady Red Raiders. Despite freshman Gabriella Coppola's feisty play - the senior point guard from Watertown showcased intense defense and consistently beat her defender off the dribble - Reading's down low combination of Melissa Dalpozza, Carlene Kluge, and Olivia Healy proved to be too difficult matchup to overcome.

"It was tough, because their size advantage led to their rebounds which led to their transition opportunities - we needed to do a better job getting back in transition than we did though," said Watertown Coach Patrick Ferdinand.

In the second quarter, Reading's Siobhan O'Sullivan came on as a substitute and made an immediate impact. After playing tough defense and dishing out two assists, she collected the ball with time running out in the half, pulled up and nailed a short jump shot to put Reading up 30-13 after two quarters.

The second half opened with a driving layup from Reading's Katherine Callahan to push the lead to 32-13. Watertown showed a spark with two consecutive three point shots by Michelle Poirier that cut the lead to 44-22. Additionally, Gabriella Coppola sparked a mini comeback from Watertown with strong defense and consistently initiating the offense from up top - she repeatedly drove the lane, forcing double teams and repeatedly attempting layups or passing to open teammates. Coppola finished with a team high 14 points for the Laddy Red Raiders.

On Friday night though, Reading always had an answer. Olivia Healy finished the contest with a game high 17 points, many of which came in transition opportunities. Reading Coach Kim Penney believed that the game's fast pace played to her squad's advantage.

"We like to run," said Penney." But still too many turnovers, we need to cut down on those."