The Marblehead girls basketball team took on rival Gloucester on Valentine’s Day and the Magicians gave their home crowd a late present, defeating Gloucester 46-35 Tuesday night.
Once the clock hit its zeros, Marblehead coach Paul Moran said he was proud of his team.
“The girls played great tonight,” Moran said. “This was really the definition of a team win. Gloucester is a good team that is well-coached. This was not an easy game by any means, which makes what the girls accomplished today even more impressive.”
The Magicians got off to a slow start as they trailed 9-5 at the end of the first quarter, but responded in the second with a 10-3 run. Key plays during the Magicians’ run were an offensive putback from junior Katie Burns, an unorthodox right-handed floater from fellow junior Sam Dormer, and a smooth spin move in the post that led to an open left-handed layup from freshman Tessa Andriano.
Once Marblehead reclaimed the lead 15-14 after Andriano’s bucket, the Magicians led the rest of the way – which Moran was ecstatic to see.
“We almost gave up the lead at one point, but the girls really did a good job tonight on both sides of the floor,” Moran said. “We wanted to speed up the tempo of the game, and I feel our full-court press helped make that happen. The girls also shared the ball so well tonight that it was only a matter of time before we would get going offensively.”
The hosts led 17-14 at the end of the first half, and unlike its start to the game, Marblehead exploded for a 9-2 run to open the third quarter (26-16). Andriano came up big during the run as she scored seven of the Magicians’ nine points.
Despite all the momentum being on Marblehead’s side, Gloucester fought back and finished the frame on a 8-2 run to cut the lead to four (28-24).
In the fourth, the Magicians went on a 12-0 run in just over three minutes to give them a comfortable 40-26 lead. Senior Sara Bosio came up clutch, connecting on two three-pointers.
Bosio scored 10 of her 12 in the fourth, something that didn’t go unnoticed from her coach.
“Sara came up huge tonight,” Moran said. “Sara really played phenomenal.”
Leading the way for Marblehead was Andriano (15 points, six rebounds). Also playing well for the Magicians were Dormer (10 points, four rebounds, three steals, two blocks) and Burns (six points, 15 rebounds).
Marblehead has two games remaining on its schedule, and Moran knows how important they are.
“We have to win one of these next two games to clinch a spot into states,” Moran said. “We have Swampscott and Ipswich left, so both games will be tough.”