Groton Dunstable Travel Basketball
January 3, 2016
Press Release
G4/5
Tenacious defense against a solid Nashoba team powers the fourth- and fifth-grade gorls to a 16-14 victory. Charlotte Guziejka, chasing down loose balls and rebounds, and Caitlin Saboliauskas, with several steals, highlighted the great team effort. At the end it was Emerson McAdam with a big basket in the final two minutes to break the 14-14 tie. Ball movement and hustle kept the ball in G-D’s hands for the most of the final two minutes.
B4/5
The fourth-and fifth-grade boys lost to Nashoba 12-22. Kevin Broderick scored four points for B4/5. Connor Buchman and Theo Murphy played tough defense.
B5
The fifth-grade boys ended their three-game, overtime winning streak with a 30-25 defeat at home to Acton-Boxboro. B5 couldn’t get any bounces around the rim and was limited offensively throughout the contest. Andrew Stenstream led the way with 11 points and Will Vogel added four. G-D made a late rush to close the contest to three points, but A-B made some crucial foul shots down the stretch to secure the victory. B5 now stands at 3-2 in the league.
G6
The sixth-grade girls were sluggish out of the gate and ended up with a lopsided 42-23 loss to Lunenburg. G-D had difficulty with the full court press and, with 27 percent shooting from the floor, were unable to close the gap. The G-D girls also got into foul trouble, especially in the second half, and that ended up costing them at the foul line.
Cassidy Lacombe and Haly Buchmann lead G-D scoring with six points each, Clare Joyce added three and Lili Evans, Lidia Spada, Taylor Caldwell, and Becca Brenna all had two points.
B6
The sisxth-grade boys lost to Leominster 56-9. With two of B6’s players missing, it was Leominster’s day. The boys faced a skilled press and a consistent zone defense. G-D adjusted as the game progressed - cleaning up both the press break and offensive play, and even scored on it.
High scorer was Chris Smith with five points. Tucker Granville scored two and Tommy Raymond scored two.
G7
The seventh-grade girls won their second game in a row at Reading. G-D jumped out to an early 5-0 lead thanks to Emily Hutchins who sank two free throws and a three pointer to open the 2016 year. G7 looked very strong in the first half especially at the line where they shot a blazing 80% (8 of 10). In the second half, they struggled against the Reading press, turning the ball over numerous times and squandering a 14-point lead, which shrank to only two with about a minute to play. As the clock wound down G-D held on, sinking a few key free throws and converting in transition to win the game 34-30.
Brenna O’Malley had a monster of a game on both sides of the court and in transition, finishing with six points and seven rebounds. Ali Vogel was also strong with six steals, 10 rebounds and one point. Kyleigh McDonald led the team in scoring with seven (including a three-pointer). Katie Eberhardt chipped in five points to round out a very balanced G-D offense where nine players scored.
B7
The seventh-grade boys traveled to Sutton for a crossover game and a 42-30 win this week. At this mid-season point, the B7s are working well together on both sides of the ball. Scoring was spread well across the team and defensively the boys achieved their week’s defensive goal of holding Sutton to 30 points. Two key contributors were Matt Lamarre for his smart interior passes and Matt Fordham for some timely defensive plays to stop Sutton’s scoring momentum.
With this week’s win, the B7s move into a tie with Wachusett for first place.
G8
The eighth-grade girls had a great Christmas holiday. It started out by competing in the Fundamental Hoops Holiday tournament, where they advanced to the finals and lost an exciting game, 47-45 to a tough Pentucket team. In a battle of two top teams, it boiled down to execution on free throws as G-D shot an uncharacteristically low 2 for 11 and Pentucket shot an impressive 13 for 16.
G8 wrapped up their weekend as they returned to league play at Wachusett. The girls started out strong and never looked back. Strong passing, solid outside shooting and tenacious defense paved the way for a solid 48-15 win. Emma Wilson paced a strong attack by GD's guards with 17 points and several hustle plays on defense. Nicole Tammaro (nine points), Jillian Van Pelt (six points) and Rachel Erickson (four points) also delivered tremendous guard play.
B8
The eighth-grade boys hosted Nashoba in a key divisional match-up which promised to be a battle from start to finish. And that is exactly how it unfolded. Nashoba jumped to an early 10-2 lead. G-D responded, coming back and keeping the game close throughout the first half, which ended 34-28 with Nashoba holding the lead. That lead they would hold until the five minute mark when Charlie Willis hit a baseline jumper for 58-56 lead for G-D. After a key stop, Tyler Peck nailed a step back three-pointer for a five-point advantage and from that point the B8 was in control. They played strong defense and hit for 14 of 16 free throw attempts in the second half.
Peck led the scoring with 22 points, including four three-point field goals. Joe O'Malley was once again key for the G-D on both ends, contributing 18 points. Willis finished with 10. Elias Jiser contributed eight and Jack Foster had key hoops in both halves. Tim Stark was tenacious on the defensive end, shutting down Nashoba's key player in the second half, and handed out key assists throughout the game.
