LYNN — Getting the new season started on the right foot was the goal for the English girls basketball team on Friday night.
The Bulldogs had to work for it, but held on in the end by staving off a pesky Malden team for a 47-44 win at the Paul Cavanagh Field House.
Senior point guard Ely Guity led the Bulldogs with 14 points, six assists, four steals and three rebounds. Sophomore center Stacy Abreu tallied 13 points while senior forward Sheyla Manon finished with 12 points.
“It feels good. It’s a good relief to get that monkey off our backs,” English coach Mackenzie Charles said. “We just have to play a lot smarter than we did. We should’ve opened up that lead a little more than we did. We just have to play defense without fouling and play smarter.”
For the Golden Tornadoes, Mackenzie Furlong led all scorers with 21 points while Audrey Carlton added six points.
Manon set the tone early in the first quarter. The English co-captain swished three of her first four field goal attempts, and all three of her free throw tries in the period. When Manon missed, Abreu was there to clean it up with an offensive rebound and a lay-in. Manon’s seven points and Abreu’s two led English to a 9-8 edge at the end of the first quarter.
“Sheyla worked hard in the offseason,” Charles said. “She tries to do a little bit too much from time to time but she led our group. She’s a great defender. We just need her on the court by avoiding foul trouble. She spent some time on the bench and we struggled.”
Julianna Perry netted a 3-pointer to start the second quarter, giving the Bulldogs a 4-point cushion at 12-8. Three minutes later, back-to-back buckets from Guity bumped English’s lead to 16-10. Guity sealed the period with a lay-in, placing the Golden Tornadoes in a 19-10 deficit at halftime.
“I thought Ely played great,” Charles said. “She was under control and did a great job sharing the ball.”
English held Malden to just two points in the second quarter.
The Bulldogs didn’t slow down in the third. A make from beyond the arc by Guity and three consecutive buckets from Abreu increased the English lead to 16 at 30-14.
Forcing the Golden Tornadoes to commit turnovers allowed the Bulldogs to turn defense into offense. That’s when the momentum swung in English’s favor.
“We would love to do that more,” Charles said. “Foul trouble made us play zone a lot more but I was really happy with how some of our younger girls played at the end of the game. Kimaniy Dorsey came in and did a nice job for us and she’s only a freshman. She played big minutes.”
English led 37-23 after three.
Malden went on an 11-0 run to start the fourth quarter, whittling English’s lead down to three at 37-34. Ravyn Rapley ended the Malden run with a lay-in to get the Bulldogs back in the game with five minutes remaining.
From there, Malden slimmed the deficit down to as close as one point but English held on for the 47-44 win.
“Malden has a great program,” Charles said. “(Scott Marino) is a very good coach. I think he’s in his second year just like myself and they’ve gotten much better. We scrimmaged them last year, early in the year, and I could see how much better they’ve gotten since then.”
The Golden Tornadoes fall to 1-1 and are back in action on Monday night when they host Revere. English, 1-0, aims for its second win on Monday night when the Bulldogs host Somerville.