Tewksbury Girls Basketball League Begins Their Season

(Editor's note: The following information was submitted by the coachs and administrators of the Tewksbury Girls Basketball League.)

JUNIOR LEAGUE

LYNX 8 MERCURY 2

While there was some evident rust on the Lynx players from the off-season they were still able to come away with a win against a tough Mercury team. Defense was the key to the win with Grace Morris (5 steals, 1 block), Marissa Brangiforte (7 steals, 4 rebounds), and Kendall Donahoe (4 steals, 4 blocks) all leading the effort. The Lynx got solid looks at the basket all day but many of the shots (64 of them) just were not falling. Grace opened up the scoring in the 1^st quarter with 2 buckets and the Lynx took a slim 4-2 lead into the half. In the 2^nd half Grace added another bucket and then Jessica Caredeo finished off the scoring with a bucket in the 4^th quarter. Almost everybody on the Lynx attempted a shot on the day. Leading rebounders were Jessica with 8, Lauren McIntyre with 6, Janine Richardson with 5, Marissa with 4, and Sabrina Alman with 3. Sarah Milne had the only 2 assists on the day showing her heads-up passing. Molly O’Neill played solid defense on the day and Elizabeth Stephens had a couple of nice shots late in the game.

COMETS 17 STORM 6

The Comets started the season out this past weekend against the Storm. The girls got off to a slow start in the first quarter not scoring, but holding the Storm to only 2 points, the key was good defense and strong rebounding lead by Leanne Durham, Kiley Tibbetts and Rachel Conway, while Bridget Burgoyne and Madison Bourassa pressured the ball on top. The Comets took control in the second quarter and the rest of the game with stifling defense which lead to many fast breaks. Leading the way was Erin and Lizzie Gallella with Shannon Crowley, Meghan Ostertag and Morgan Woodman. The key to our victory was our strong team defense, which lead to easy points on the other end, all the girls contributed, by pestering the ball denying a pass, blocking a shot or rebounding a missed shot. The team played well.

Team Storm came out on the short end of a 17-6 loss. The first game was fast paced with plenty of action on both ends,Devyn Veits scored 4 points and Christine Santos added 2 points, Stephanie Lemus, Rachel Lemus, Sydney Crowley , Elisabeth Lewis, were solid at both ends of the court. Brigh Cote and Mikaela Enax made several great steals on defense. Olivia Axson and Heather Mclaughlin controlled the boards at both ends of the court.

SPARKS 6 MONARCHS 2
The Sparks started the season with a nice win led by the scoring of Abigail Naugler (4) and Brianna Walker (2). Alexa Harrington and Julia Cafferty came close on a couple more baskets. Surabhi Keesara and Julia Giaimo secured the low post in both rebounds and defense. Sarah Molander had a solid game helping Brianna and Alexa in the guard position. Defensive Player of the Game was Brianna Walker The Sparks had a great game and were very excited with the win.

ROCKERS 19 LIBERTY 9

The Rockers played a hard fought game beating out the Liberty on Saturday 19-9. The game was paced early by Faith Rocco and Gianna Ragucci taking good shots and scoring a couple of buckets to take an early lead. The score was tight at the half as the Rockers led 10-7. The third quarter started quickly for the Rockers as Ali Wild and Sansan Nguyen both scored some much needed points to further the lead. The ball distribution by Ashlyn Bisso and the rebounding by Thanh-Thanh Nguyen were key to widening the lead as the game headed for the fourth quarter. Danielle Bain ran the point and created some open shots to help Taylor Bellavia score some much needed fourth quarter assurance points to cap off a great game for the Rockers.

A good effort was given by the Liberty team but the scrappy Rockers were too much for them in the first game of the season. The offense was led by Madi Sjostedt, Caitlyn Fiore, and Rena Ruggiero with 2 points each and Alexis Hillis with 1 point. The Liberty defense was led by Rebecca DeFrancesco with 2 blocked shots, along with tough defense by Faith Mazzipica and Hailey Bedley. Haille Carciofi, Kendra Waugh and Julia Garland all contributed on both ends of the court, making some good passes on offense and working hard on defense.

STARZZ 14 MYSTICS 13

The Mystics started out the season with a loss against a very talented Starzz team that has lots of speed and grit. The Mystics came out in the first quarter flying and Shannon Farias hit 3 big baskets for us. Becca Smith had great vision taking it to the hole and nailed a great jump shot from just outside. We were able to establish 8-2 edge by the end of the quarter. In the 2nd the Starzz came roaring back and were able to shut down the Mystics scoring chances and ended up tying the score going into halftime. In the 3rd, Stephanie Mercurio made a great fake towards the left side and pulled up for the jumper and nailed her first points in the big league. And in the 4th qtr Christa Davis was able to establish her position on the low post and banked in a beautiful shot off the backboard for 2. Isabella DeRoche made a nice move going up for the jump shot and was fouled on the play and made 1 of 2 from the line. We will regroup now, lick our wounds and turn the page quickly.

INTERMEDIATE LEAGUE

EAGLES 25 COUGARS 22
After a formidable 16 to 2 Cougar offensive explosion in the first quarter, the Eagle team defense went into to overdrive holding the Cougar offense to just 6 additional points over the next three quarters. Led by Marissa Doherty and Madison Wescott the Eagles would mount one of the best come backs ever. Alexandra Bourassa was a monster on the defensive and offensive boards pulling down all rebounds and blocking several shots. Jacquelyn Marchant would join her as our two defensive stars
of the game. Eagles look to welcome back Sammy Suroweic from a sore knee next week.

The Cougars came out in the first quarter and established a huge 16-2 lead against the speedy Eagles. Offense was clicking and the defense was just awesome. In the 2nd quarter the Cougars came out flat and allowed the Eagles to pick up momentum and watched them chip away at the lead. The score going into halftime was all of a sudden tied at 18-18. In the 3rd, the game went back and forth but the Eagles seemed to be able to carry the momentum from there huge 2nd qtr comeback and it carried them through the rest of the game. In the end the Cougars learned alot from this early season experience and now will be better off for it as we move forward. We will put this behind us but we will not forget the sick feeling it left behind in our stomachs. We will improve every part of our games this week and be ready the Wildcats next Saturday.

TERRIERS 19 WILDCATS 10

The season started off well for the Terriers as we set the tone early with several key defensive steals in the first quarter by Emily Langone (defensive player of the week), Irene Houde, Kendyl Spinelli and Jordyn Cavvichi resulting in an early Terriers 8-0 lead in which we would never relinquish from there. The outstanding defensive effort would continue all afternoon as Alexis Brincklow, Samantha Ogden, Rachel Kelly, Carla Tenaglia and Michelle Tenaglia controlled the defensive rebounds throughout and never allowed the Wildcats to get comfortable within our zone. The offensive scoring was supplied by Kendyl Spinelli (8pts), Emily Langone (4pts), Jocelyn Stavros (3pts), Alexis Brincklow (2pts) and Mikayla Dolan (2pts) who along with her points had several offensive rebounds which allowed second chance opportunities for the Terriers.

HUSKIES 20 WAVES 14

The Huskies played a strong game against a tough Waves team. Offensively the Huskies were led by Victoria Mirabito, Lisa DeVito and Emily Amaral. Lily Wyatt also had 4 points and a big game rebounding the ball. Nicole Lucia, Madison Bugley and Stefanie Cunningham were very strong on defense and helped the Huskies control the rebounds. Kayla Marshall and Sarah Sullivan played great games defensively and forced multiple turnovers. Defensive player of the game was Kayla Marshall

As a team the Huskies played a very strong game.

 WOLVERINES 24 JAYHAWKS 18

The Jayhawks put up a great battle against the Wolverines for our season opener, but came up short in the end as they fell 24-18. All 11 girls put in a solid effort and should be proud of themselves! The game went back and forth up until the last few minutes of the 4th when the Wolverines finally pulled away. Emily Burns(2) netted the first hoop of the season for the team and together with Tayla Spezzano, who was named Defensive Player of the Game, were all over the court, making super steals and ripping down rebounds. Chelsea Pellegrino (8) was our high scorer as she had several break aways to the net and made some beautiful shots. Haley Marchant and Olivia Powers both stood their ground under the hoop knocking away passes and grabbing key rebounds. Britney Bourassa(4) got in on the action with two beautiful outside shots as did Victoria Horton(2) and Caitlin Panessiti(2). All three girls also put in a great effort with quick hustle on the court and tough defense. Meghan Graczyk was always in the right spot at the right time making key passes to her team and put up some nice shots on net as did Michaela Svendsen, who was also was a great support under the net with some blocked shots and rebounds. Emily Saunders made her presence known as she helped moved the ball swiftly around the key and also made some great attempts on net, but they just wouldn't fall.

SENIOR LEAGUE

BLAZERS 38 SONICS 20

The Blazers started the season off strong with a win over a tough Sonics team. While the Blazers had a tough time getting going in the 1^st once they shook off the rust the points started coming quickly led by strong interior play by Calleigh Finneral. Strong defense and quality fast breaks was the key to victory in this game. Six different players scored for the Blazers with Ariana Calouro and Calleigh each with 10, Kirsten Dick with 8, Karalyn Gallella with 6, and Caitlin Carroll and Emily Velozo with 2 each. Leading rebounders were Karalyn with 8, Calleigh with 6, and Caitlin and Taylor Donahoe with 5 apiece. Kirsten and Ariana added 5 and 3 steals respectively. Shalimar Hulme and Emily Duquette played strong defense throughout to limit the Sonics scoring chances. Calleigh was 5 for 9 and Kirsten was 4 for 8 shooting on the day.

The Sonics struggled offensively during the first three quarters finally finding the basket in the fourth. Shannon Smith led the way with seven points, followed by Marissa Conlin scoring five and Katie Dunlevy with four points. Jessica Lehmann and Jamie Burger helped out with two points each. The Sonics D was tenacious and led by Stephanie McHatton and Mary Crowe with lots of help from Delaney Chisholm. Defensive players of the game were Stephanie McHatton and Jamie Burger. But the Blazers were on fire and not to be denied.

MAGIC 20 PACERS 16
It was a great first game by the Magic with many contributing. The Magic played great defense, and took many good shots and had enough fall to earn the win. Cassie Froio and Meg Braciska led all scorers with 6 points a piece and combined made 6/6 in free throws. Great job! Sarah Ward did some great shooting adding 4 points, and centers Michelle Creedon and Sarah Baptista added a bucket a piece, and were the defensive players of the game Heather Doyle and Nicole Petherbridge showed great ball movement and had many assists. Rachel Langone and Ashley Figucia played well on both sides of the ball. Great teamwork Magic!