Friday, December 28, 2012
Better Days, Melrose Drops to 1-4
Melrose brought more energy and fewer turnovers tonight, but came up short as the Burlington Red Devils won the Christmas tournament consolation game 54-48.
The Lady Raiders came out quickly led by Senior co-captain Sydney Doherty's seven first quarter points. But Burlington had a scoring weapon of their own in Sarah Hood and the teams were tied at sixteen after the opening frame.
Melrose had averaged only 35 points through four games, but had better ball movement and shot fifty percent for the first period en route to the fast start.
By halftime, the score was even at 25, with seven points for Sydney, six from Brooke Bell with a pair of threes, and five for Kayla Wyland. Freshman Sarah Foote also added a three and Jill MacInnes rebounded effectively as she started and brought her usual intensity.
The third period was the calm before the storm as both teams stiffened defensively and struggled offensively.
The fourth period belonged to Burlington, with superior results from Jazmine Smith, Katie Han, and Hood, as the trio helped Burlington forge a nine point lead which Melrose couldn't overcome. Melrose's early shooting fell off, although Sydney Doherty (12) led Melrose to close within the final six. Unofficially Brooke Bell and Sarah Foote also had eight points and Bell added six assists. Unfortunately, with Kayla and Jill fouling out late, Burlington controlled the boards and ultimately recorded the win.
Melrose falls to 1-4 at the quarter pole of the regular season.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Snow Falls, Shots Don't as Melrose Drops Semi to Tewksbury
Melrose hosted Tewksbury in the opening round of the Holiday Hoop-a-La Tournament. The visitors scored first, led 8-2, and never trailed as Melrose fell to 1-3 with a 39-32 defeat.
Melrose struggled offensively throughout the night, as Tewksbury switched up defenses, and led 12-7 after one period and 21-15 at the half.
It wasn't turnovers as much as shooting percentage as Melrose shot only 20 percent for the evening, unofficially 10-49.
With Melrose trailing 33-22 after three, Melrose faced a tall task of trying to come back with a struggling offense. They did go inside to Kayla Wyland (10 points, 12 rebounds) but it was not enough as Tewksbury's Semenza and Porcaro made key plays down the stretch to hold the lead. Ashley Harding had 6 rebounds off the bench in a losing cause.
Melrose will face Burlington at 5 P.M. in the consolation game.
Melrose struggled offensively throughout the night, as Tewksbury switched up defenses, and led 12-7 after one period and 21-15 at the half.
It wasn't turnovers as much as shooting percentage as Melrose shot only 20 percent for the evening, unofficially 10-49.
With Melrose trailing 33-22 after three, Melrose faced a tall task of trying to come back with a struggling offense. They did go inside to Kayla Wyland (10 points, 12 rebounds) but it was not enough as Tewksbury's Semenza and Porcaro made key plays down the stretch to hold the lead. Ashley Harding had 6 rebounds off the bench in a losing cause.
Melrose will face Burlington at 5 P.M. in the consolation game.
Friday, December 21, 2012
In a New York Minute, Lexington 63-36
Melrose traveled to Lexington to face the undefeated Minutemen, and the Lady Raiders came up on the short end 63-36.
Lexington opened up with a three, and never trailed, going out to a 22-10 first period lead and never looked back.
Melrose actually shot relatively well early (9-20 in the first half), but Lexington's balance and outstanding freshman Anna Kelly proved to be too much amidst a flurry of turnovers.
Brooke Bell led Melrose with nine points as the Lady Raiders fall to 1-2.
Game analysis: Lexington's ball movement and outside shooting dominated. In the effort to make things happen, Melrose committed over 35 turnovers, which mean that fewer scoring opportunities.
Lexington opened up with a three, and never trailed, going out to a 22-10 first period lead and never looked back.
Melrose actually shot relatively well early (9-20 in the first half), but Lexington's balance and outstanding freshman Anna Kelly proved to be too much amidst a flurry of turnovers.
Brooke Bell led Melrose with nine points as the Lady Raiders fall to 1-2.
Game analysis: Lexington's ball movement and outside shooting dominated. In the effort to make things happen, Melrose committed over 35 turnovers, which mean that fewer scoring opportunities.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Not Half Bad, Melrose 41 Woburn 39
In what broadcasters called a "must" game at Woburn, Melrose overcame an eleven point deficit late in the first half (26-15), rallying to beat the Tanners 41-39 and even their record at 1-1.
Unfortunately, guard Shannon Lahiff injured her ankle in the victory.
The game started slowly, with defenses dominating, although Woburn went out to a 11-7 lead before freshman Sarah Foote drained a three-pointer near the buzzer to close the lead to one.
Melrose reduced the turnovers dramatically for the game, but struggled offensively in the second period before cutting the lead to eight at half on a Sydney Doherty trey.
Melrose came out quickly in the second half, with senior Ashley Baldwin adding defensive experience and shutting down Woburn's perimeter game. Melrose got the lead at 28-27 and the teams played within a few points of each other for about the final ten minutes.
Maeve Moriarty had a key three pointer deep in the fourth period to give Melrose a one-point lead, and Kayla Wyland had a pair of critical plays, a late layup and a final second block on a layup to seal the win.
Game analysis: Melrose held Woburn to thirteen second-half points, outscoring Woburn 23-13 to earn their first win of the 2012-2013 campaign. Once again, three point shooting was a key factor. Ashley Baldwin's perimeter defense and solid work at both ends on the glass from Kayla Wyland critically impacted the outcome.
Unfortunately, guard Shannon Lahiff injured her ankle in the victory.
The game started slowly, with defenses dominating, although Woburn went out to a 11-7 lead before freshman Sarah Foote drained a three-pointer near the buzzer to close the lead to one.
Melrose reduced the turnovers dramatically for the game, but struggled offensively in the second period before cutting the lead to eight at half on a Sydney Doherty trey.
Melrose came out quickly in the second half, with senior Ashley Baldwin adding defensive experience and shutting down Woburn's perimeter game. Melrose got the lead at 28-27 and the teams played within a few points of each other for about the final ten minutes.
Maeve Moriarty had a key three pointer deep in the fourth period to give Melrose a one-point lead, and Kayla Wyland had a pair of critical plays, a late layup and a final second block on a layup to seal the win.
Game analysis: Melrose held Woburn to thirteen second-half points, outscoring Woburn 23-13 to earn their first win of the 2012-2013 campaign. Once again, three point shooting was a key factor. Ashley Baldwin's perimeter defense and solid work at both ends on the glass from Kayla Wyland critically impacted the outcome.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Reading 51 Melrose 32
Melrose hoped to get off to a fast start this season, but defending state champion Reading had other ideas as Olivia Healy led the Rockets to a 51-32 win.
Reading rode a 21-9 first period to an insurmountable 36-20 lead, and Melrose could never recover.
The Rockets stifled Melrose with excellent individual assignment defense featuring excellent help and solid defensive rebounding. This helped force sixteen first half turnovers which also limited the Melrose offense. The Rockets also used a relatively passive 1-2-2 "jug" trap, which had little impact on Melrose.
Melrose couldn't really get a lot of offensive flow going thanks to the Reading defense. And Healy must have had at least thirty points as she did the lioness' share of the damage offensively.
For the game (unofficially) Melrose was 14 for 54 from the field, 10 for 46 on two pointers, but 4 for 8 from three-point land. Melrose was 0 for 4 from the line.
Sydney Doherty led Melrose with eleven points including a trio of treys and Katie Sullivan added eight points.
Melrose showed some new wrinkles including a lot of 2-3 zone and some new zone trap action.
Reading rode a 21-9 first period to an insurmountable 36-20 lead, and Melrose could never recover.
The Rockets stifled Melrose with excellent individual assignment defense featuring excellent help and solid defensive rebounding. This helped force sixteen first half turnovers which also limited the Melrose offense. The Rockets also used a relatively passive 1-2-2 "jug" trap, which had little impact on Melrose.
Melrose couldn't really get a lot of offensive flow going thanks to the Reading defense. And Healy must have had at least thirty points as she did the lioness' share of the damage offensively.
For the game (unofficially) Melrose was 14 for 54 from the field, 10 for 46 on two pointers, but 4 for 8 from three-point land. Melrose was 0 for 4 from the line.
Sydney Doherty led Melrose with eleven points including a trio of treys and Katie Sullivan added eight points.
Melrose showed some new wrinkles including a lot of 2-3 zone and some new zone trap action.
Free Press Preseason Article
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
ML Basketball Preview (Steve Pacheco)
Sunday, December 09, 2012
Landscape Change
Melrose comes off a pair of sub .500 seasons with senior leadership and experience looking to rebound.
The team has winning athletes, including seven players who played on the state championship volleyball team.
Melrose has historically relied on athletic half-court man-to-man defense, opportunistic transition offense, and during its extended run at the top of the Middlesex League, a physical inside presence complemented by high school superstar level guard play.
For example, Melrose continues to have players at the collegiate level, Hannah Brickley at Trinity, Colleen Hanscom at Bridgewater State, and Siena Mamayek at WPI to name a few. Shey Peddy stars in the Israeli professional basketball league after being drafted by the Chicago Sun of the WNBA. Shannon and Meg Kirwan had successful college careers at Bentley and Emmanuel.
Melrose's biggest competition comes from Reading, returning from an undefeated state title season of its own, led by Olivia Healey, a Division I signee with Richmond. The Rockets got a devastating loss to injury for the season with the loss of her fellow guard Morgan O'Brien, an Assumption recruit. Reading remains talented, but Kim Penney's team will need younger players to step up quickly.
This year boys and girls games will be played at different sites. Steve Pacheco, a longtime area sports writer, updates the process. His column speaks for itself.
A critical excerpt:
Meanwhile, plenty of other teams will look to rise. Watertown with the Coppola sisters can make noise, Woburn always brings athleticism, has height, and excellent coaching, and teams around the league fundamentally seek "payback" for a decade of Melrose dominance.
Not that anyone should care what my opinion is, but I think the change is extremely negative for the basketball programs, fans, and players. Fans now must choose which teams to support. The work-around of creating equal balanced starting times could have been easily achievable, and I believe that the Middlesex League did both boys' and girls' programs a disservice with this change. I strongly recommend that you read Steve Pacheco's articles concerning the change.
Melrose has historically relied on athletic half-court man-to-man defense, opportunistic transition offense, and during its extended run at the top of the Middlesex League, a physical inside presence complemented by high school superstar level guard play.
For example, Melrose continues to have players at the collegiate level, Hannah Brickley at Trinity, Colleen Hanscom at Bridgewater State, and Siena Mamayek at WPI to name a few. Shey Peddy stars in the Israeli professional basketball league after being drafted by the Chicago Sun of the WNBA. Shannon and Meg Kirwan had successful college careers at Bentley and Emmanuel.
Melrose's biggest competition comes from Reading, returning from an undefeated state title season of its own, led by Olivia Healey, a Division I signee with Richmond. The Rockets got a devastating loss to injury for the season with the loss of her fellow guard Morgan O'Brien, an Assumption recruit. Reading remains talented, but Kim Penney's team will need younger players to step up quickly.
This year boys and girls games will be played at different sites. Steve Pacheco, a longtime area sports writer, updates the process. His column speaks for itself.
A critical excerpt:
Why did this change? It’s simple. A parent of a Lexington girls player threatened legal action stating that having the girls varsity always playing at 5:30 p.m. with the boys playing after is not in compliance of Title IX. I am certainly not a lawyer, nor will I pretend to be one, but I thought the schools did a good job with highlighting potential marquee girls games and making them the “primetime” game. But obviously that was not the case. Regardless, this isn’t where I am about to go with this.
Once lawsuits are threatened it’s game over unfortunately and the league’s AD’s voted to have opposite site varsity games using the same scheduling format used in soccer.
Meanwhile, plenty of other teams will look to rise. Watertown with the Coppola sisters can make noise, Woburn always brings athleticism, has height, and excellent coaching, and teams around the league fundamentally seek "payback" for a decade of Melrose dominance.
Not that anyone should care what my opinion is, but I think the change is extremely negative for the basketball programs, fans, and players. Fans now must choose which teams to support. The work-around of creating equal balanced starting times could have been easily achievable, and I believe that the Middlesex League did both boys' and girls' programs a disservice with this change. I strongly recommend that you read Steve Pacheco's articles concerning the change.
