Twinfield-Cabot’s Alice McLane looks for someone to pass to while heavily guarded by Northfield opponents Bella Powers (left) and Natalie Higgins (right) during play at Twinfield, January 2. Twinfield-Cabot defeated Northfield, 29-21.
by Ken Brown
MARSHFIELD – The Twinfield-Cabot girls’ basketball team battled through some offensive struggles over the holiday break, busting out in a big way against crosstown rival Danville last week to improve to 4-1 on the season.
Kendall Fowler scored a game-high 15 points to lead the Lady Trojans to a dominant 56-34 home win over Danville last Thursday.
Jorja Washburn (14 points), Alice McLane (13), and Haylee North (11) led a balanced attack for Twinfield-Cabot, who raced out to a 31-17 halftime lead and never looked back.
Lauren Joncas led the Lady Bears with 13 in the loss, as they fell to 0-5.
First year head coach Jack Whalen was happy to see his squad break out offensively after splitting a pair of defensive battles with Peoples Academy (PA) and Northfield over the holiday break.
Kendall Fowler (left) of Twinfield-Cabot looks to pass over Bella Powers (right) of Northfield as Trojan Carley Mancini (center) follows the action. Twinfield-Cabot topped Northfield, 29-21.
“We needed to come out against Danville with a lot more energy, control the pace of the game, and the girls did exactly that. Four of our starters scored in double figures, but what I was most proud of was our defensive energy in our press. Our goal every game is to hold our opponent under 30 points, and if we do that, we won’t lose many games,” said Whalen.
After a resounding 16-point win over PA in their season opener, Twinfield-Cabot’s offense sputtered in a surprising 27-24 road loss to that same Lady Wolve’s team four days before Christmas.
Sophie Beck led PA with 12 points and Savannah Haney added eight for their first win of the season. Jorja Washburn scored a team-high 12 for the Lady Trojans in the loss. Whalen’s squad bounced back with a 29-21 home win against Northfield last Tuesday, but the offensive struggles were still there against a team that is still in search of their first win of the season. With the offense seemingly back on track, the 4-1 Lady Trojans are ranked sixth in the current division IV standings. Whalen’s team will get a good litmus test this week with a pair of pivotal league matchups that include a Williamstown squad that is 4-1 and near the top of the division.
“We had some struggles for a couple of games over the break, but overall, it has been a good start to the season. We bounced back with a win against Northfield after losing to PA, but it wasn’t our best game. What we learned from that stretch is that we need to play with more energy if we want to control the pace of the game. We did that against Danville and that needs to be the focus going forward. If we can do that, the scoring will come. Sometimes when we are too worried about scoring, it pulls our focus and causes frustration. I’m very proud of our team’s shift in focus and we will definitely need to stay locked in with three tough road games ahead of us,” said Whalen.
The Lady Trojans traveled to Williamstown on Tuesday and will stay on the road for another Mountain League match-up against Blue Mountain on Thursday.
