MANCHESTER — The Lynnfield girls basketball team won its second game in as many days Wednesday evening, notching a 39-27 victory over Cape Ann League foe Manchester-Essex on the road. With the win, the Pioneers move back to an even .500 on the season.
“It’s exciting that we’ve been able to fight back to get to this point where we can kind of reset and take on the last part of the season,” said Lynnfield coach Jeannine Cavallaro. “We faced a few powerhouses early in the season and we weren’t playing great, but lately we’ve really started to come into our own. We were a little flat at times (Wednesday), but we came out ready to play and we fought the whole way.”
Senior captain Ava Buonfiglio led the way for Lynnfield with 13 points and four rebounds, while senior captain Grace Klonsky had nine points and four rebounds. Senior captain Caroline Waisnor had eight points and six rebounds, while sophomore Isabella George had seven points and three rebounds. Juniors Abby Adamo and Riley Hallahan each had six rebounds in the win.
The Pioneers came out like they were fired out of a cannon in the first quarter, sprinting out to a 13-0 lead in the opening minutes of the game. After taking a 15-2 lead into the start of the second quarter, Lynnfield looked to be in complete control.
While the Pioneers continued to hold onto an eight-point lead midway through the second quarter, Manchester-Essex continued to battle back. By halftime, the Pioneers only led by six points at 21-15.
But in the third quarter, Lynnfield started to pull away again. The Pioneers locked down on defense and pushed their lead back to 11 points, eventually taking a 10-point lead into the final quarter before coasting to a victory.
“We showed a lot of grit in this win,” Cavallaro said. “Even though we led wire-to-wire, we still had to battle to get out of a rut and hold on to win the game. I really liked the mentality that we came with.”
Lynnfield (3-3) travels to Ipswich Friday evening (5:45).
“We’re excited for what we can do the rest of the way this year,” said Cavallaro. “We’re starting to hit our stride and I think we’re starting to gain some confidence, and hopefully we can continue to ride this positive wave.”