Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Game 9: Wakefield 46 Melrose 38
The first battle of former Lady Raiders as coaches went to Wakefield, as Meghan O'Connell's Lady Warriors handed Lindsay Shanahan's Lady Raiders their eighth consecutive loss 46-38. The win elevates Wakefield to 6-5.
Melrose's decision to go with three-quarter court trap through the first quarter proved disastrous as Wakefield went up quickly 9-2 and led after one period 20-9. Opening up the floor gave the Warriors uncontested threes and points in transition. That proved to be a margin that Melrose could not overcome despite production from multiple sources.
Melrose finally went into man-to-man defense and was able to play Wakefield even for the rest of the evening. Wakefield led 27-18 at the half and 35-24 after three, and was able to hold Melrose off, although Melrose got as close as six at 37-31 with 3:32 remaining and 43-36 with 40 ticks left on the clock.
The positive differences tonight included Melrose's edge on the boards and fewer turnovers as the Lady Raiders had 21 miscues, well down from their average.
Unofficially, Melrose was able to fire off 55 shots tonight as a result, converting on 12, and also made 11 for 20 (55 percent) from the free throw line.
Cat Torpey had 10 points, 12 rebounds, 5 blocks, and a steal, Katey Sullivan had 13 points and 9 rebounds, and Maeve Moriarty had 9 points. Ashley Harding had 7 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Sullivan had 3 Performance Ratings System points and Torpey had 12 (including 10 on blocked shots).
The loss drops Melrose to 1-8 as they travel to face first place Watertown Friday night.
Game Analysis: After Melrose abandoned the extended defense, they were able to force Wakefield into far fewer uncontested shots, and Wakefield turned the ball over repeatedly trying to get into their offense featuring back cuts and generally shot poorly after a hot first frame. Melrose was able to use their size advantage inside but couldn't make enough shots tonight.
Melrose's decision to go with three-quarter court trap through the first quarter proved disastrous as Wakefield went up quickly 9-2 and led after one period 20-9. Opening up the floor gave the Warriors uncontested threes and points in transition. That proved to be a margin that Melrose could not overcome despite production from multiple sources.
Melrose finally went into man-to-man defense and was able to play Wakefield even for the rest of the evening. Wakefield led 27-18 at the half and 35-24 after three, and was able to hold Melrose off, although Melrose got as close as six at 37-31 with 3:32 remaining and 43-36 with 40 ticks left on the clock.
The positive differences tonight included Melrose's edge on the boards and fewer turnovers as the Lady Raiders had 21 miscues, well down from their average.
Unofficially, Melrose was able to fire off 55 shots tonight as a result, converting on 12, and also made 11 for 20 (55 percent) from the free throw line.
Cat Torpey had 10 points, 12 rebounds, 5 blocks, and a steal, Katey Sullivan had 13 points and 9 rebounds, and Maeve Moriarty had 9 points. Ashley Harding had 7 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Sullivan had 3 Performance Ratings System points and Torpey had 12 (including 10 on blocked shots).
The loss drops Melrose to 1-8 as they travel to face first place Watertown Friday night.
Game Analysis: After Melrose abandoned the extended defense, they were able to force Wakefield into far fewer uncontested shots, and Wakefield turned the ball over repeatedly trying to get into their offense featuring back cuts and generally shot poorly after a hot first frame. Melrose was able to use their size advantage inside but couldn't make enough shots tonight.
// posted by Ron Sen, MD, FCCP @ 9:24 PM 
