GAME RECAP: Plymouth North at Marshfield (January 27, 2009)
Final Score: Marshfied 72, Plymouth North 40
The Marshfield High School girls basketball team has found great success so far this season. Heading into the final weeks of their regular season schedule, the team has compiled an 11-2 record, including their latest victory, 72-40, over a visiting Plymouth North team.
Leading the way for the Rams on Tuesday was the usual suspect, sophomore Nicole Beresford, who recorded a double-double against the Eagles (20 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 assists). The other double-double in the game was posted by the young lady who has to be the best sixth-player in the ACL, freshman Erin Doherty, who came off the bench to record 15 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal. Junior Kendra Kerr also scored her typical double-digit total, chipping in with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists, and 1 block. Senior Carley Lenahan also helped the team’s cause with 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Excellent defensive performances were put forth by senior captains and back-court mates Jenn Dowd (2 points, 6 assists, 4 steals, 1 rebound) and Lindsey Morrison (2 points, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 rebound).
The other most noteworthy stat line of the night came from sophomore Kim Robbins, who only played in the final four minutes of the game when the outcome was no longer in question and the starters for both teams were on the bench; however, even in light of those circumstances, it was still highly impressive to see her spend four minutes on the court and record 9 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 points.
Clearly, the Rams’ future looks bright; their top three offensive players (Beresford, Kerr, and Doherty) will all return next year, and their backup guards, junior Francesca Miceli and sophomore Kelly Fitzgerald, have continued to improve throughout the year. Of course, everybody’s focus is fixed sharply and exclusively on this year’s campaign, but it’s nice for fans to know that there’s plenty of promise and potential for long-term success in the MHS girls hoop program.
As far as the Eagles performance went on Tuesday, the North squad played even with Marshfield through the first quarter, and stayed competitive until halftime, but the Rams pulled away for good in the third quarter. However, Plymouth North saw strong performances by Jazzmin Silva (12 points, 5 assists, 5 steals, 2 rebounds), Antonia Capella (12 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal), and Shana Follette (6 points, 6 steals, 5 rebounds, 4 assists).
Looking down the short-term road, the Marshfield girls will get an idea of how good they truly are over the next couple of weeks. Their upcoming schedule includes a rematch on the road against Somerville, who sits atop the Greater Boston League standings, as well as home-and-away games against a strong Fontbonne team, whose top player, Alexis Peters, averages 17.1 points per game. On Friday night, Marshfield will host a Sandwich team that won last year’s league title and currently sits in 3rd place in the ACL standings. The girls also still have to travel over the bridge on February 6th to take on a Falmouth team whose only league loss was to the Rams, 57-45, although the Clippers were without their experienced point guard in the first match-up on January 13th; her healthy presence back in the lineup, along with a Friday night home-court advantage for the Clippers, will make that game a much more formidable challenge than the first clash between the two teams. Once all these games have played themselves out, the Rams should feel battle-tested heading into the state tournament, but Marshfield fans are hoping they can get to that tournament with a league title on their resume.
A highlight reel from Tuesday’s game is available below, along with a post-game field report from MSB correspondent Brittany Viall.
HIGHLIGHT REEL:
FIELD REPORT:
