Lady Wreckers trounce Bassick

eschickler@bcnnew.com

Everyone contributed to the Staples girls basketball team's 69-38 home win over Bassick on Friday. Staples raised its record to 7-2 and remained in control no matter what rotation coach Ed Huydic used. Bassick dropped to 0-7.

"I was hoping we wouldn't play down to our opponent and continued to do the things we kept on doing," said Huydic. "I was impressed with the energy we had and that we played hard the whole way."

The Lady Wreckers pressed the Lady Lions into committing 28 turnovers, 18 in the first half with junior Jaclyn Katz leading the charge. Katz (eight points, two rebounds, five assists, seven steals, three forced turnovers) made thievery look easy as she stripped Bassick of the ball on a few occasions and went in for easy layups.

"Everybody was doing their jobs and it made easy for me to get the steals," said Katz.

Staples led from the start but Bassick hung tough in the first quarter with Shirley Kaiser (12 points) hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to pull the Lady Lions within one, 11-10, with 2:20 remaining in the first quarter. The Lady Wreckers came back 22 seconds later with sophomore Remy Nolan (eight points, one assist, one blocked shot, two forced turnovers) swishing a trey from junior Julie Strickland (one rebound, two assists, two steals, two forced turnovers).

Bassick played well defensively at times, forcing 12 turnovers, six in each half. Yohnessha Williams (eight points) intercepted a pass at midcourt and converted it into a layup to pull the Lady Lions within two, 14-12 with 1:40 left. However, Strickland intercepted a pass and set up Tori Dodge's jump shot. Dodge (11 points, three rebounds, three steals, three forced turnovers) swished a three with 15 seconds to go to make it 19-12, which was the score after one quarter.

"Huydic was telling us before the game to shoot the ball and I knew I'd have the opportunity and I took advantage of it," said Dodge. "Everybody moved the ball well and got it to me quick enough to shoot."

Dodge was tenacious and defense and helped the press succeed.

"I tried to disrupt their passes and I also tried to help out with the trap," said Dodge.

Huydic said, "We got good play from everyone, particularly Tory Dodge. She exemplified high energy off the bench."

Bassick hit a jumper to make it 19-14 early in the second quarter but didn't score again until there were 6:16 left in the third quarter, which made it 43-15. Staples closed out the quarter with a 22-0 surge and led 41-14 at halftime and extended the run to 24-0 early in the third quarter. Katz fueled the transition after her thefts and set up senior Chelsea Salamone (10 points, one rebound, three assists, one steal, three forced turnovers) for a 3-pointer and two Nicole Brill set shots.

"Everybody was getting open and I was able to get them the ball," said Katz.

Brill (eight points, five rebounds, three assists, three steals, one forced turnover), who is known mostly for defense, showed some positive signs on offense.

"Instead of focusing on defense, I worked on my shooting," said Brill. "My grandfather was at the game and he encouraged me to shoot."

She also excelled on defense and was a reliable rebounder as well.

"I used my body to box out and I worked on it in practice," said Brill.

Sophomore Jessica Coelho (11 points, five rebounds, three steals, threw blocked shots, two forced turnovers) led the Lady Wreckers in the paint. Senior Caroline Accardi (four rebounds, one assist, one blocked shot) and MaryKate Van Sant (four rebounds, two assists, two steals, three forced turnovers) contributed inside.

Showing leadership for Staples was senior captain Suvi Puripattarapan (four points, two rebounds, two assists, one steal, four forced turnovers). Puripattarapan was instrumental with the press in playing relatively few minutes, she got more rest than she was accustomed to because the outcome was never in doubt.

The lead peaked at 40, 58-18 late in the third quarter.

Freshman Nikki Bukovsky (four points) hit two layups late in the game, one from classmate Erica Stein (one rebound, one assist). Sophomore Jessie Ambrose grabbed a rebound.