Stuck in the Snow: WHS Girls Basketball Shows Signs of Rust During Loss to Bishop Fenwick

Roads in town have been cleared off since the latest storm rolled through earlier in the week. The girls basketball team, however, remained stuck in the snow at the beginning of action Thursday night against visiting Bishop Fenwick High School.

Snow has impacted the schedule for the Lady Wildcats and cancelled several games, including a slated Tuesday night contest. Back in action Thursday, Wilmington showed signs of rust and eventually fell, 57-50.

“I definitely think that plays into it,” said junior forward Jennifer Stewart. “When we don’t play for a while it definitely affects our game. We have two games coming up within the next couple of days, so I think we’ll do pretty good.”

Stewart scored a team-high 18 points but it wasn’t enough for Wilmington, which fell behind by 10 entering the half after an inconsistent opening two frames.

Maggie Brown dumped home a pair of short baskets early in the third quarter and Stewart chipped in a layup of her own as the Wildcats clawed within 30-27 with 4:52 to play as the Crusaders called a time out to regroup.

With 2:04 remaining, Becca Graves stuck a three-pointer and was fouled to complete a four-point play and an eight-point lead. Less than 25 seconds later, the Crusaders recaptured possession of the ball and put home a layup and were back up by 10 within the blink of an eye.

“Any time you give up a four-point play, it’s not good,” said Wildcat head coach Jay Keane. “The game was pretty physical, and that wasn’t really the hardest foul of the day. But you can’t really worry about the officials. We played through it and had a couple of good runs to get back in the game.”

Wilmington climbed back within five points in the closing minutes, but Bishop Fenwick answered with baskets of its own with each late run the hosts made, closing out the win.

Following the setback, the Wildcats dropped to 6-6 overall, 6-1 in Cape Ann League play. In order to make the postseason, the team must reach 10 wins.

“When we lose like we did today, playing hard and playing with effort, it gives us confidence to play harder next game,” said Stewart.