![https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4JF4Ji_0qMSGgix00](https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&url=4JF4Ji_0qMSGgix00)
( Dec. 21, 2023 ) Missing several key players, the girls basketball team found a way to grind out a 32-26 win over Bristol- Plymouth on the road Tuesday for the Whalers’ first victory of the season. The win followed a 58-38 loss to Monomoy at home Friday.
“It was kind of a tough, grind of a game,” coach Raf Osona said after the win. “We had to really dive deep into our bench. It was kind of a sloppy, defense-driven game, but this young squad that was filling in and creating their own dynamic on the fly was able to get it done.”
Nantucket entered Tuesday’s game without captain and leading scorer Maddie Lombardi, who was unavailable due to illness.
The Whalers lost other key players Alana Ludvigson-Ferreira, Madison Silva and Mani Taveras over the course of the game to foul trouble or injury, but the bench stepped up to earn the victory.
Marin Mooney filled the scoring void for the Whalers with a teamhigh 14 points, with 10 points in the first half and a couple buckets in the fourth quarter to hold on to the win.
“She was really strong around the rim and was able to finish,” Osona said of Mooney. “With Maddie out, we were trying to figure out who was going to make up the scoring, and she stepped right in and did a great job. On the defensive end she had a few blocks and a number of rebounds, so she was really the standout player of the game.”
Osona said freshmen Madden Myers and Makayah Viera also contributed key plays, with Myers grabbing several key rebounds and Viera knocking down a pair of free throws in the final minutes of the fourth quarter to help secure the victory.
“The young players that came in having very little experience, Marin included, really were thrust into their first hectic, high-pressure situation, and they handled it really well,” Osona said.
“I think in part that’s due to the leadership of Joan (Harris). She was very calm, cool and collected when things were getting really messy, and she was able to help stabilize the game for the younger players.”
Harris trailed only Mooney with seven points. Silva scored five and Viera, Myers and Ludvigson-Ferreira all scored two in a game that was tight throughout, with the teams tied after one quarter and the Whalers leading by two points at the end of the second and third quarters.
In Monday’s 58-38 loss to Monomoy, Nantucket posted its largest scoring output of the season to date but couldn’t slow down the Sharks’ high-powered offense that finished with eight three-pointers.
After a tight first quarter that ended with the Whalers trailing 14-10, Monomoy got hot from beyond the arc and knocked down a trio of three-pointers in the quarter to stretch their lead to 33-18 at halftime.
Monomoy continued its strong shooting in the third quarter with three more makes from beyond the arc, including two by Kiley Mawn, who finished with a gamehigh 20 points. The Sharks were doubling up Nantucket 51-25 heading into the final quarter.
Lombardi led the Whalers with 13 points off a three-pointer and six of 10 shooting from the freethrow line. Ludvigson-Ferreira scored nine, with one three-pointer, and Harris finished with eight points.
Nantucket, now 1-4 on the season, will hit the road again today to take on Wareham before a two-week break from game action for the holidays.
Comments / 0