A great season for the Saugus girls basketball team came to an end Thursday night as the No. 7 Sachems fell to No. 2 Tewksbury, 53-20, in the Division 2 North quarterfinals. Saugus kept it close early, even taking a lead in the first few minutes, but eventually Tewksbury’s defensive intensity won out.
“We played well early and took a lead, but Tewksbury is a very talented team and they played great defense on us,” said Saugus coach Mark Schruender. “We also missed a lot of shots, and it just wasn’t our night out there.”
Senior Alessia Salzillo played a solid game for Saugus, scoring seven points and played well defensively. Fellow seniors Marissa Stockwell, Alana Aldred and DJ Munafo also played well in the loss.
Despite the tough loss, Schruender is happy with how the season went.
“We accomplished a lot this year, making it to the tournament again and being co-champions of the NEC South with Danvers,” Schruender said. “So obviously this is a tough loss, but we can still be proud of what we were able to do this year.”
As for the seniors, Schruender notes that they were the ones who really helped pull the program back up from the basement.
“When those four showed up, we had won six games in three years,” said Schruender. “Now we’ve been to the tournament three years in a row and won a conference title, and it’s a testament to their hard work and dedication.”
Saugus finished the season with a 14-8 record.