COHASSET — Every time the winter season begins, it may be powerful to heat up.
It didn’t take lengthy by any means for Hailey Flynn. The Duxbury ladies basketball captain tallied a team-high 13 factors Friday evening, because the Dragons opened their season with a powerful 43-33 victory towards Cohasset on the street.
“Coming into this yr with this group, I wished to play quick and strain lots,” mentioned Duxbury coach Brian Keller. “I believed we did an excellent job general. A few of our shot choice has to get a bit bit cleaner, however I’m very pleased with their effort. This crew will run by way of a wall in the event that they needed to.”
It didn’t begin off so nice for the Dragons (1-0), as they surrendered a 5-0 scoring run to start the sport. Nevertheless, that was exactly when Flynn discovered her rhythm. The senior tallied 4 factors within the opening quarter. Her teammate, Ella Fitzpatrick, corralled a rebound, then beat the buzzer with a put-back as Duxbury took a 13-11 lead into the second stanza.
Then Flynn took the sport over. The captain struck for 9 extra factors within the body, whereas the Dragons held the Skippers scoreless within the quarter to grab a 25-11 benefit on the half.
“I feel we actually pleasure ourselves on our protection,” mentioned Duxbury junior Madeline MacKinnon. “Duxbury is understood for holding (groups) to a low quantity of factors. Having a scoreless quarter is large for us. That’s one thing I feel we’re going to be essentially the most pleased with from this sport.”
When enjoying a crew as proficient as Cohasset, nevertheless, the battle isn’t over. The Skippers (0-1) regained momentum to start the third quarter. Union Faculty commit Addy Andrews dropped 4 fast factors within the opening two minutes, attempting to will her crew again into rivalry.
With 4:35 left within the stanza, Keller utilized a timeout for Duxbury after seeing his group’s lead trimmed to 9 factors at 28-19.
“We took a breath,” MacKinnon mentioned. “They got here out with a whole lot of power, which we knew. We knew the strain was coming, however we performed our sport.”
Then the Dragons returned to type.
Fitzpatrick stepped up for Duxbury with 5 factors late within the third, because the Dragons discovered themselves with a 35-26 lead coming into the ultimate body.
“I feel one thing that’s inconceivable to cowl is the quantity of guards that we’ve got on this crew,” mentioned Flynn. “Anyone can actually carry the ball up, which is one thing that’s big. We’re all assured in one another and in ourselves in bringing the ball up. That was big once they began urgent us.”
From that second on, Duxbury was ready to make use of its tantalizing protection to stave off any hopes of a comeback bid. MacKinnon concluded her evening with 10 factors and 4 rebounds for the Dragons. In the meantime, junior Regan Donovan added seven factors to go together with 10 boards within the victory.
Andrews completed with 11 factors and 7 rebounds to guide Cohasset, whereas Kate Greer tallied 10 factors for the Skippers.
“We don’t actually depend on one single particular person,” Keller mentioned. “Anyone can impulsively take over for us. We’re a tough crew to cowl due to that. We don’t actually say: ‘OK, you’re my 20-point scorer, and also you’re going to attain 20 for us.’ It’s (the truth that) anyone can rating at any time. (Flynn’s) a senior captain, stepping up and taking management of the sport when it was beginning to slip away a bit bit.”
