Strong Second Half Propels Stoughton High Girls’ Basketball over King Philip

The girls’ basketball team looked like two different teams Friday afternoon, when they hosted King Philip in a Hockomock League Crossover Game.

The Black Knights played with little intensity in the first half, committed numerous turnovers, were ice cold shooting—only making four shots and scoring just 12 points—and had trouble rebounding. As a result they trailed 20-12 at halftime.

But in the second half, Stoughton played with great intensity, dominated the inside and rebounding well, played outstanding defense, took everything to the basket and outscored the Warriors, 34-16, to take a 46-36 victory.

The crossover games are played with each team from the Davenport Division (small schools) playing a team from the Kelly-Rex Division (large schools) that finished league play in the same position in the standings. Both King Philip and Stoughton wound up in last (fifth) place in their respective divisions.

With the win, Stoughton is now 5-11 overall, and ended up 3-10 in the league and 1-7 in the division. The Warriors now drop to a 3-16 overall, and finished 1-12 in the league and 1-7 in the division.

Both teams were without a key senior starter. The Warriors were without leading scorer and All-Star Lauren Trudeau and Stoughton was without forward Sydnee Jackson.

In the first quarter, both teams played solid defense, but both teams were lackluster on offense, committing many turnovers, with Stoughton holding a 7-6 lead after the first quarter.

King Philip took control in the second quarter, outscoring Stoughton 14-5 to take a 20-12 lead at halftime. Junior Katie Brennan (11 points), led the attack for the Warriors.

“We changed it around for the second half and decided to go with a man-to-man three guard defense and get away from our inpatient outside shooting and began to take everything inside to the basket,” said Stoughton coach Janet Sullivan. “Most importantly, we played with intensity and utilized our two big players down low, for easy baskets.”

Junior captain and leading scorer Chrystal Holland had a double-double, scoring 12 of her 14 points in the second half to go along with her ten rebounds. Sophomore center Nicole Daniels was the ‘chairman of the boards’ with 11 rebounds and eight points. Sophomore forward Katherine Chlus filled in as the third forward for Jackson, and played strong defense and had some important rebounds.

Stoughton also got much better second half play from a trio of guards that continually broke King Philip’s press, drove to the basket and dished off to Holland and Daniels for easy baskets. MacKenzie McGrath, a sophomore guard, had nine points, but her five first half points helped to keep Stoughton close. Sophomore Emma Zuk added seven assists and six points, and junior Jackie Kuhn added six points.

“We needed more contributions other than from Holland and Daniels and we got it with very good play from our guards,” said Sullivan. “It was good to be able to play well at the end of a close game and get many players to contribute. That’s a sign that we’re a more mature and talented team than we were at the beginning of the season.”

After a 0-6 start, the improved Black Knights have since gone 5-5 and have played better at both ends of the court.

Stoughton came out from halftime on an 11-2 run, to take a 23-22 lead with 3:42 left in the third quarter. The lead changed hands eight times, as both teams heated up and exchanged baskets, with Stoughton clinging to a 31-30 lead entering the final quarter.

The Black Knights went on a 9-2 spurt, to take a 40-32 lead with 4:45 remaining in the game. King Philip then responded and cut the deficit to four points, 40-36, with Alicia Cuoco and Jenna Liljeberg (six points each) leading the comeback attempt.

But Stoughton recovered and scored the final six points of the game over the final 2:30 to capture the victory, their this season.

“We played well in the first half and took their inside game away from them, but in the second half, they shut us down, offensively, and then we lost our patience on offense,” said King Philip coach Jim Leonard. “After that, we couldn’t stop their penetration to the basket and they began to utilize their height advantage for easy baskets.”

Stoughton will conclude its season at the Sharon Tournament with a 1:00 p.m. game on Monday against Holliston and a 5:00 p.m. contest against Notre Dame (Hingham) on Tuesday.