Melrose Stymied By Spartans' Defense

STONEHAM — If defense wins games, then the girls’ basketball team appears to be on the right track.

Friday night the lady Spartans smothered visiting , holding them to just 13 first-half points en route to a 49-27 victory.

The Raiders were led by strong performances from Kelsey Gilbert, Sydney Doherty and Emma Caffey, while Stoneham’s Ariana Tuccelli, Vanessa Bramante and Jen Geraghty helped carry their squad.

The Spartans set the tempo early in the first quarter. Controlling the glass and repeatedly getting the ball down low to Bramante for easy buckets. 

On the defensive end, Stoneham refused to allow any easy shots and limited Melrose to just six points through the first eight minutes.

Melrose stayed competitive early in the second quarter. Doherty routinely found ways to get to the free throw line, and made it a 15-8 game roughly two minutes into the frame.

However, the Spartans had an answer almost all night, as Bramante had a terrific three-point play and upped it to 18-8. 

Melrose continued to try and push the pace after playing good defense on their end, but the Spartans would have none of it, suffocating any drives into the lane before going on a 6-0 run led by several inbound steals and easy transition lay ups.

With the game beginning to slip away before the first half was over and Stoneham dominating every loose ball and their own defensive end, Melrose managed to cut it to 28-11 after a long jumper from Caffey. The teams then traded buckets to close out the half with the Spartans leading, 32-13.

It was the same old story for Melrose in the second half. After Jenny McGee hit two free throws to open the third quarter, more unforced errors, lack of rebounding and stifling defense by the Spartans brought the game to 40-15 with 3:22 to play in the quarter.

To their credit, the Raiders continued to play hard, as Brooke Bell hit a long three-pointer late in the quarter to make it 41-21 Stoneham heading into the final frame.

Melrose (4-8 overall; 4-8 in Middlesex League games) tried to claw there way back in by getting to the line throughout the fourth quarter, but the Spartan defense would have none of it, holding the Raiders to just six points to close out the game after Lisa Limone hit a jumper with 2:30 to play.

Stoneham, who improved to 11-2 in league games and 13-2 overall, will return to the floor on Tuesday when they host Lexington at 5:30 p.m. Meanwhile, Melrose's next game is also on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., when they play host to Winchester.