PHOTO BY BOB ROCHE
English’s Ely Guity drives past Danvers’ Hannah Llewellyn.
By DILLON DURST
In a low-scoring, defensive battle, Danvers was able to secure its eighth win of the season with a 47-33 win at Lynn English Tuesday night.
Hannah Llewellyn led the Falcons offensively with 16 points, including three consecutive 3-pointers in the first quarter. Lili Montanari added 10 points off the bench for Danvers, while teammate Julia McNulty finished with eight points and eight rebounds.
Ely Guity led the Bulldogs (5-11) with nine points. Mashayla Johnson added eight points for English, including two 3-pointers, while Regina Ngaleu pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds for the Bulldogs.
“After our loss last Friday at Revere, which was probably our worst game in 10 years, we lost a lot of our spirit and mojo, so I was concerned coming into this game and playing here,” said Danvers coach Pat Veilleux. “I was a little worried about our mojo, but I think we came out and got good leadership from our captains.”
The Falcons’ defense, behind a menacing full-court press, held English to two points in the first quarter, and jumped out to an early 13-2 lead. Both teams scored six points apiece in the second quarter, with Danvers holding a 19-8 lead at the half.
“Our defense, again, has always been our savior, even when we struggle on offense,” Veilleux said.
“We started slow tonight,” said English coach Rachael Bradley. “We really didn’t come to play.”
English came out hot to start the second half, however, putting together an 8-1 run to cut Danvers’ lead to four. However, the Falcons were able to regroup and put together a 9-2 run of their own, ending the third quarter with a 29-18 lead.
“I thought we did a pretty good job at handling their run and keeping our poise in the second half,” Veilleux said.
After only scoring seven points in the second quarter and nine in the third, Danvers poured in 18 points in the fourth quarter to put the finishing touches on a double-digit road victory.
“Overall, I just thought we played poorly,” Bradley said. “But at the same time, the effort continued throughout the game. It’s just that we didn’t have a full 32 minutes of it tonight.”
Bradley said that the Bulldogs settled for too many 3-point shots, but also gave a lot of credit to Danvers’ stifling defense.
“Danvers is a great defensive team, and you can’t take away anything from their defense tonight,” she said. “I thought we could’ve taken care of the ball better at certain times. We had a couple mental errors, and on forced turnovers in the first half because we never really broke through (the press), and that killed us.
“But I’m proud of the way we played at different points. We just need to put a full 32 minutes together.”
After the game, Veilleux applauded the Bulldogs’ quickness and tenacity, and said he believes his team’s confidence has returned.
“(This was a) huge win for us. This gets us to eight wins, and one win closer to the tournament.
“That’s the bottom line.”
Dillon Durst can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @DillonDurst