Defense Key for Stoughton Girls' Basketball Team in Win over Hingham

After a 0-6 start to the season, the young Stoughton High girls’ basketball team has since gone 4-4, giving great optimism for the final four games of this season and for next year, as well.

Stoughton played two games in the past two nights, losing Friday at Hockomock League rival Sharon, 63-58, and winning its first non-league contest of the season, Saturday afternoon at Hingham, 44-36.

Against Hingham, Stoughton got its best team effort of the season, with great balance on both offense and defense. Nine different players scored for the Black Knights and the defense held Hingham to only 36 points, including only five points in the first quarter and six in the third quarter.

“Our defense was the main reason for this victory,” said head coach Janet Sullivan. “Both teams were very evenly-matched, but our defense not only shut them down, but forced them into turnovers and it allowed us to pick up some points on the offensive side.”

Stoughton jumped out to a 10-5 lead after the first quarter and held an 18-16 halftime lead, in a defensive struggle.

Junior co-captain Chrystal Holland (13 points) missed a lot of the second half, on the bench with foul trouble, but other players stepped it up for Stoughton. Sophomore center Nicole Daniels only had three points, but came down with 13 rebounds, not giving Hingham any second chance opportunities.

Senior Sydnee Jackson added six points, but it was the great effort by junior Jackie Kuhn that gave the Black Knights a big lift. Kuhn had eight points and six steals and played a very tenacious defense that caused several turnovers by Hingham. Katherine Chlus, a junior forward, also added a great effort on the defensive side of the ball as well.

Stoughton has had its troubles in the third quarter this season, but not in this game. The Black Knights came out with a determined effort, outscoring Hingham, 13-6 to take a nine-point advantage into the final eight minutes.

Hingham did manage to outscore Stoughton, 14-13 in the final quarter, but it wasn’t enough and Stoughton held on for the victory, to raise its overall record to 4-10.

“We have been using more players and they are learning their roles and we’re getting more and more contributions throughout the lineup,” said Sullivan. “This will make us a stronger team for the rest of this season and next season.”

Friday night Stoughton traveled to Sharon, a team the Black Knights had January 19 at home, for their first win of the season.

This time around, the two evenly-matched teams squared off in Sharon for another hard fought battle, with the Eagles gaining revenge. The two teams went back and forth throughout the first half, with Sharon taking a slim 30-28 lead into halftime.

The battle waged on in the third quarter with much more offense from both teams, as the Eagles outscored Stoughton, 17-15, to take a 47-43 advantage into the final eight minutes.

Stoughton got great performances from its inside trio of Jackson (16 points), Holland (17 points) and Daniels (eight points and 11 rebounds). Kuhn (six points) and sophomore Mackenzie McGrath (five points) also played well, contributing solid defense.

The difference in the game was in the final four minutes when Stoughton’s shooting went cold and Sharon’s Lily Abarbanel connected on three of her five three-pointers, including consecutive treys in a 90-second span, to give the Eagles the victory. Sharon connected on nine three-point shots throughout the game to maintain the lead.

“The game was decided in the final few minutes, when we couldn’t hit a shot and they kept hitting three’s,” said Sullivan. “We had good looks at the basket, but just went cold, and didn’t capitalize on our opportunities down the stretch. Our defense played well, but their shots went in and it was enough to put them over the top.”

Stoughton has four games remaining, starting with Tuesday’s Senior Night contest at home against Canton at 6:30 p.m.

Next Friday afternoon at 4:00 p.m., the Black Knights will host either King Philip or Attleboro in a Hockomock League crossover game, a contest against the team that finishes in the same position from the Kelly-Rex (large schools) Division. Stoughton is part of the Hockomock League’s Davenport Division (small schools).

The season will conclude at the Sharon Tournament when Stoughton will play Holliston, on Monday, February 21 and Notre Dame Academy of Hingham in the season’s finale, the next day.