Pictures |
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SCOREBOARD SHS-61 vs Burncoat-40 |
SCOREBOARD SHS-47 vs Westboro-68 |
SCOREBOARD SHS-58 vs St. Peter Marian-38 |
SCOREBOARD SHS-64 vs Leominster-47 |
SCOREBOARD SHS-60 vs Fitchburg-44 |
Shrewsbury’s Taylor Lincoln gets past Gardner’s
Val Butler during the Colonials’ 49-47 win. (T&G Staff/STEVE LANAVA)
Shrewsbury 51, Leominster 24
Juniors Kelsey Giedyman and Bridgette Hally each pumped in 11 points for the
third-ranked Colonials (12-5, 6-3 Mid-Wach A) at home.
Amanda Levasseur netted 12 points for the Blue Devils (5-10, 5-4).
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Shrewsbury wins battle — and war
By John McGuirk CORRESPONDENTSHREWSBURY—
Throughout the night, the pinging sound of whistles echoed off the walls inside the Shrewsbury High gym. As
expected, Fitchburg and Shrewsbury, the two top girls’ teams in the Mid-Wach A, waged a physical battle in
which 43 fouls were called.
But as physical as the game was, the host Colonials also had some offensive
firepower, enough to claim a 60-44 victory.
“It was definitely a big win for us,” Shrewsbury coach Erin Largess
said. “Any win is a big win. Tonight it happened
to be two teams with good records. Every game, you have to show up, and the girls certainly showed up tonight.
”The triumph qualified Shrewsbury (10-2, 4-1) for the postseason. For the Red Raiders (8-1, 4-1), the loss was
their first of the season. Offensive balance proved to be the key for the Colonials, who had nine players in the
scoring column led by Bridget Halley’s 14 points. Behind a strong first quarter in which the Colonials outscored
Fitchburg, 13-2, the tone was set for the evening.
Shrewsbury’s zone defense and height advantage prevented the Red Raiders
from penetrating inside. Meanwhile,
the Colonials had little difficulty working the ball inside where Halley and Kelly McKenna (11 points) scored easy
baskets from the low post.
Even when Fitchburg made the necessary defensive adjustments, Shrewsbury turned
to its perimeter game, which
proved just as lethal. A pair of treys by Erin Kinback (10 points) and a 3-pointer by Victoria Benoit helped extend
the lead to 33-16 late in the second period.
Despite Largess being forced to make multiple substitutions due to foul problems
(Shrewsbury was whistled for 25
personals), it proved to be no big deal. The Colonials continued to force the action. Leading, 33-21, at the break,
Shrewsbury’s offense did get off track at times — enough so that the Red Raiders closed to within eight on three
occasions in the second half.
Fitchburg’s offense was spearheaded by senior Shea Donnelly, who finished
with a game-high 21 points. She was the
only Red Raider in double figures.
The Red Raiders converted on 15 of 33 free throws. Shrewsbury made 14 of 23.
“Shrewsbury got the ball inside and did some things and shot well from
the outside,” Fitchburg coach John Donnelly
said. “We needed to get that eight-point deficit at least down to four, and we just couldn’t do it.”
Shrewsbury 62, Leominster 47
Taylor Lincoln led the way with 13 points as the fourth-ranked Colonials (8-2)
hit 14 of 18 free throws in the fourth
quarter when the host Blue Devils (2-7) were forced to foul.
Sophomore Amanda LeVasseur led Leominster with 14 points.
Shrewsbury 49, Gardner 47
The No. 2 Colonials held off a late Wildcat rally to escape with their first
Mid-Wach A victory.Kelly McKenna led
Shrewsbury (7-1, 1-0) with 13 points and 10 rebounds while Ali Wood had 11 points, including several key free
throws down the stretch. Taylor Lincoln added 10 points for
the Colonials.
Chelsea Richard scored 17 points for Gardner (3-3, 0-2), which led, 19-17,
at halftime.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Colonials answer coach’s call
By Jim Wilson TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
jimwilson@telegram.comSHREWSBURY— After falling behind by 11 points
with just over five minutes remaining,
Shrewsbury High coach Erin Largess had a simple message for
her players during a timeout.
“I told them they were better than this and they’re handing the
game over to them because you’re not playing as
hard as they can,” Largess said. “They responded.”
The No. 2 Colonials went on a 19-6 run to end the game as juniors Kelsey Giedymin
and Erin Kinback each
sank free throws to seal a 50-48 victory over visiting Doherty High.The Highlanders took a 42-31 lead with 5:20
remaining thanks to a 10-0 run that featured five points from senior co-captain Jewel White and 3-pointers from
Diamond Powell and Keisha Jones. Shrewsbury fought back after a timeout, forcing five consecutive Doherty turnovers
while getting baskets from Taylor Lincoln, Bridget Halley and
Kinback to cut the deficit to 42-40 with 3:40 left.
“I think we picked up our pressure defensively and we stopped their
guards from getting easy looks into the post
,” Largess said. “That got our momentum going. That
got us going again. We were smarter on offense.”
With just over a minute left, Halley’s put-back gave Shrewsbury a 46-45
lead. Powell sank a free throw to tie the
game, but Giedymin nailed a turnaround jumper from inside that
was matched by a White layup with 20 seconds left.
Doherty’s comeback hopes were dashed after Giedymin and Kinback each
made their free throws, and a last-second
push up the court stalled when the Highlanders were whistled for a traveling violation. It was the second close loss in
a row for No. 6 Doherty (4-2), which suffered a 57-56 loss
to Burncoat last week.
“I hate to say we’re young, but we only have two seniors,”
Doherty coach Jim Reynolds said. “I think we’re going to
be in a lot of games like that against good teams like this, and that’s now two tough losses in a row. I think we can play
better. We play well for three quarters and then we got nervous and we got careless with the ball and made some
turnovers. We knew how good this team was.”
Both teams were cold from the floor to start the game with the Highlanders
heading into halftime ahead, 19-17.
Giedymin led the Colonials with 15 points, 12 in the second half, while Hally added 10 and Lincoln and
Kelly McKenna each recorded 8 points.
“I asked them at halftime, ‘How many of you missed a shot from
inside?’ and six of them raised their hands and
that’s at least 12 (points) and I know some of them missed
three or four,” Largess said. “We make those, we’re OK.”
White led all scorers with 18 points, 15 in the second half, while sophomore
sister Alayna added 12 and Jones finished
with 9.
What was important for Shrewsbury, a team with just two seniors, is that the
Colonials are showing a knack for
winning big games. Aside from a 68-47 throttling by Westboro, the Colonials have responded since with victories
over tough opponents in Doherty and Holy Name.
“It’s good that we’re getting here and we’re finding
success,” Largess said. “Last year, we hadn’t been there,
but now
they want it and they’re competing.”
Shrewsbury 58, SPM 38
Senior forward Taylor Lincoln scored 13 points to lead the host Colonials
(3-1) to a win over the Guardians.
Sophomore guard Tory Benoit added 10 points and five steals for Shrewsbury.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Seniors pave the way for Rangers
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
By Steve Farley CORRESPONDENT
WESTBORO— Despite losing some key players to graduation, it appears
Westboro still has the experience, the
talent and the depth to compete against anybody in Central
Mass.
And last night’s 68-47 win over Mid-Wach A power Shrewsbury proved that
the Rangers aren’t ready to give up
their elite status just yet.
“This is a totally different season,” said Westboro coach Scott
Kittredge, whose team’s only loss was to Holy Name
in last year’s Central Mass. Division 1 final at WPI. “This team has a lot of experience which is a plus, but we’re
starting over. I don’t want to look at (this season) as a continuation of last year. This is a different team.”“We did lose
a couple of good players, but the five of us have been playing with each other since third grade,” said senior guard
Annette Kristiansen, who dropped in a game-high 14 points. “The people we brought up from the JV team last year
have all fit right in. We have a deep bench. We feel really confident about our team. We know roughly how the other
teams we play are.”
And they should.
Ten different players reached the scoring column. Emily Mongeau, one of five
seniors Kristiansen was referring to,
tossed in 12 points. Senior center Danielle Coffey dropped in 11 points, while sophomore forward Leah Murphy,
added nine points.
Westboro (2-0) only trailed once, 5-4, but after five straight points —
all free throws — by Coffey, senior Laura Keaney,
Kristiansen and Molly Hession, Westboro led, 9-5, with less
than four minutes to go in the first quarter.
Shrewsbury cut it to 11-10 after a basket by Taylor Lincoln (10 points) with
1:34 to go, but the Rangers scored the
final five points of the opening eight minutes on a three-point play by Murphy and a bucket by Kristiansen to take a
16-10 lead.
“We have five seniors, four who have played four years,” Kittredge
said. “We have a lot of seniors who have played in
a lot of games.”
Westboro, which got to the free throw line 21 times in the first half, led
by as many as 13 in the second quarter, but
the Colonials (2-1), led by senior Lincoln and sophomore guard Victoria Benoit (team-high 11 points), only trailed
by five, 28-23, after the sharp-shooting Benoit drilled a jumper
with 1:48 to go before halftime.
The Rangers, though, scored eight unanswered points before intermission on
a pair of free throws each by
Kristiansen and Coffey, a putback by Liz Power and a baseline
jumper by Murphy.
“It was physical both ways,” Kittredge said of number of fouls
called. “We were able to get a couple of their post
players out and we were able to take advantage of it. Anne is able to distribute to the post girls. She’s able to distribute
or Mongeau is from the outside.”
“We try to take it as it comes,” Kristiansen said. “There
are some people on this team who are good at shooting.
There are some people on this team who are good at taking it to the hole. And there are some people who can shoot
and take it the hole. (The offense) comes in the flow of the
game.”
In the second half, Westboro hardly went to the line at all, but caught fire
from the floor. The Rangers methodically
built a 24-point lead in the fourth quarter.
“It’s tough when you play a team as good as Westboro with seniors
as good as Westboro has,” Shrewsbury coach
Erin Largess said. “I’m putting in juniors on the court against an undefeated team with seniors on the court. In the first
half, we certainly fouled a lot and turned the ball over too much…and we missed eight free throws. You can’t play a
good team if you miss your free throws. (Westboro) shot very well in the second half.”
Shrewsbury 61, Burncoat 40
The host Colonials (2-0) led by 19 points at the break and cruised past the
Patriots (0-1). Kelly McKenna
was the lone Shrewsbury player in double figures with 12 points.
Samantha Ashton had a game-high 20 points for Burncoat.
Shrewsbury 59, Nashoba 24
SHREWSBURY (59)
Erin Kinback 2 0 6, Alli Wood 1 0 2, Kelsey Giedymin 5 0 14, Bridget Haley
5 0 10, Kelly McKenna 2 0 4,
Tory Benoit 1 0 2, Elisabeth Nelson 1 2 4, Kati Morgan 1 0 2, Taylor Lincoln 3 0 6, Jenna Tonelli 1 1 3,
Tiffani Grillo 1 0 2, Patrice Brimilio 2 0 4. Totals: 25 3 59.
NASHOBA (24)
Rebecca Krantz 3 3 9, Emily Huxtable 1 0 2, Hannah Perez 1 0 2, Maddy Hawkins
3 3 9, Katherine Polido 1 0 2,
Colleen Frost 0, Jillian Bucciero 0, Megan Goodnow 0, Kelly Macko 0, Laura Millet 0, Ginelle MacLaughlin 0,
Jen Harding 0. Totals: 9 6 24.
Halftime: S, 31-8. 3-point goals: Giedymin 4, Kinback 2. Records: S 1-0, N
0-1. JV: S, 39-32.