Marblehead’s girls basketball team took care of business Monday night when it defeated Cristo Rey Boston by a score of 61-7.
It’s easy for a team to play down to the competition or lose focus, but the Magicians stuck to their gameplan and got everyone involved.
“We just wanted to get a lot of kids in and continue to try and move the ball,” Magicians’ coach Paul Moran said. “They’re a Boston team, so they’re usually pretty athletic. They’re good and those kids played hard.”
Talk about a highlight. In the first half, senior guard Zoi Guzzini stole the ball from her defender and dribbled up the court. As she crossed halfcourt, a Cristo Rey defender tried to reach in for a steal, but Guzzini crossed the ball to her other hand to take out the defender. Then, Guzzini found junior teammate Greta Sachs for an easy layup to make it 13-2 late in the first quarter.
Marblehead continued to find open teammates, and its unselfishness led to 13 Magicians scoring. The Magicians’ ball movement was crisp, while their backdoor cuts led to open layups throughout the game.
“We had a lot of backdoor cuts, so we did a good job on that end,” Moran said.
Marblehead led, 37-5, at halftime, then allowed just two points in the second half as the team’s defense was hard to break down.
“We started in a zone, but switched to man. It’s good to be versatile. We’re going to see how other teams play and we’ll base our decision on that,” Moran said.
Moran emphasized that it was a team win, and that his players played well on both sides of the court.
“I thought, as a team, everyone got in and played well. It was a good team win,” he said.
In the second half, the unselfishness continued as Tessa Andriano used a screen from Carys Moran. From there, Andriano drew a second defender before passing it to Carys Moran for a layup.
Sachs led all scorers with 12 points, while Andriano chipped in with seven. Ramona Gillett, Sierra Lienberry, Sophie Bacon, and Carys Moran all scored six points each.