Friday, January 25, 2008
One Giant Step for Melrose
The Melrose Lady Raiders (11-1 Middlesex League) sought to avenge an early season loss to Belmont tonight at home, and did so, not with style, but old fashioned toughness, handing the Marauders (10-2 ML) their second defeat. The victory moves Melrose back into undisputed possession of first place.
Melrose struck first, as Colleen Hanscom banked in a runner going right to left. Meg Kirwan dropped in four first quarter points before getting her second foul and heading to the bench for the lion's share of the first half. She was soon followed by Hannah Brickley, who earned her second foul struggling to tie up a loose ball.
At the end of the foul plagued first quarter, Melrose led 12-11. The officiating was remarkable in its mediocrity, as the officials missed out of bounds calls, called ticky-tack fouls and let hammer time go, and generally marred the intensity. Both teams probably felt wronged by the zebras.
Belmont hung around in the first half as they worked to get the ball down into their twin towers Clare Sullivan and Molly Galvin and both had their moments. But the key player of the first half was unsung Laura Irwin who brought energy and toughness into the game, dominating on the glass and leading Melrose scoring at halftime with six points.
For the most part, Melrose handled Belmont's various presses, which appeared to be a loose man-to-man, a 2-2-1 knock off of the old UCLA press of John Wooden, and a half court trapping press off the 1-3-1.
Melrose continued to struggle in the first half at the line, going 2-6. At halftime, Melrose led 22-19, the identical score to their first match.
Melrose quickly extended the league in the early second half, with Kirwan and Brickley back from foul purgatory. Kirwan quickly made her presence known slashing to the basket, although the Lady Raiders struggled mightily beyond the arc, making only one of about a dozen treys.
However, what won the game was aggressive man-to-man full court defense, with the guards denying easy entry passes into the post, and the Melrose bigs winning the war underneath, bringing double-team help from the weak side, and stepping in to steal entry passes. Emily Clark, Irwin, Brickley and Siena Mamayek all did yeoman work under the boards.
Melrose opened up a 38-30 lead after three, aided by the home court advantage of Belmont shooting into the spacious end of the gym, which Melrose opened up for this game. Melrose frustrated Belmont by taking away the point guard penetration and allowing Belmont few easy baskets after the break.
Kirwan's slashes to the basket, some good passing from point guard Colleen Hanscom, and Hannah Brickley's offensive putbacks keyed the fourth period rally, as Melrose extended the lead to high double figures down the stretch. Belmont was still in the game down 42-32 with 3:42 left.
Kirwan finished with eighteen including fourteen in the second half, Brickley added ten and double figures rebounding, Hanscom and Irwin both had seven, and Mamayek and Clark both had four points.
Melrose improved from the line in the second half, shooting 11 for 13 from the line to finish 13 for 18, a dramatic improvement from 4 for 11 in the earlier contest.
Melrose won the game on the defensive end, with pressure from the outside and toughness on the inside as the Melrose bigs won the battle with Belmont's bigger front line. Melrose achieved the 'keys' of reducing turnovers, battling the bigs down low, and making more free throws.
Back Row Gang "Energizer of the Game" went to Laura Irwin.
Score by Periods
Melrose 12 10 16 12 50
Belmont 11 8 11 06 36
Melrose struck first, as Colleen Hanscom banked in a runner going right to left. Meg Kirwan dropped in four first quarter points before getting her second foul and heading to the bench for the lion's share of the first half. She was soon followed by Hannah Brickley, who earned her second foul struggling to tie up a loose ball.
At the end of the foul plagued first quarter, Melrose led 12-11. The officiating was remarkable in its mediocrity, as the officials missed out of bounds calls, called ticky-tack fouls and let hammer time go, and generally marred the intensity. Both teams probably felt wronged by the zebras.
Belmont hung around in the first half as they worked to get the ball down into their twin towers Clare Sullivan and Molly Galvin and both had their moments. But the key player of the first half was unsung Laura Irwin who brought energy and toughness into the game, dominating on the glass and leading Melrose scoring at halftime with six points.
For the most part, Melrose handled Belmont's various presses, which appeared to be a loose man-to-man, a 2-2-1 knock off of the old UCLA press of John Wooden, and a half court trapping press off the 1-3-1.
Melrose continued to struggle in the first half at the line, going 2-6. At halftime, Melrose led 22-19, the identical score to their first match.
Melrose quickly extended the league in the early second half, with Kirwan and Brickley back from foul purgatory. Kirwan quickly made her presence known slashing to the basket, although the Lady Raiders struggled mightily beyond the arc, making only one of about a dozen treys.
However, what won the game was aggressive man-to-man full court defense, with the guards denying easy entry passes into the post, and the Melrose bigs winning the war underneath, bringing double-team help from the weak side, and stepping in to steal entry passes. Emily Clark, Irwin, Brickley and Siena Mamayek all did yeoman work under the boards.
Melrose opened up a 38-30 lead after three, aided by the home court advantage of Belmont shooting into the spacious end of the gym, which Melrose opened up for this game. Melrose frustrated Belmont by taking away the point guard penetration and allowing Belmont few easy baskets after the break.
Kirwan's slashes to the basket, some good passing from point guard Colleen Hanscom, and Hannah Brickley's offensive putbacks keyed the fourth period rally, as Melrose extended the lead to high double figures down the stretch. Belmont was still in the game down 42-32 with 3:42 left.
Kirwan finished with eighteen including fourteen in the second half, Brickley added ten and double figures rebounding, Hanscom and Irwin both had seven, and Mamayek and Clark both had four points.
Melrose improved from the line in the second half, shooting 11 for 13 from the line to finish 13 for 18, a dramatic improvement from 4 for 11 in the earlier contest.
Melrose won the game on the defensive end, with pressure from the outside and toughness on the inside as the Melrose bigs won the battle with Belmont's bigger front line. Melrose achieved the 'keys' of reducing turnovers, battling the bigs down low, and making more free throws.
Back Row Gang "Energizer of the Game" went to Laura Irwin.
Score by Periods
Melrose 12 10 16 12 50
Belmont 11 8 11 06 36
// posted by Ron Sen, MD, FCCP @ 8:43 PM 
