Groton Dunstable Travel Basketball

February 7, 2016

Press Release

G 4/5

The fourth- and fifth-grade girls lost to top ranked Littleton, 27-18. In their best effort of the season, G4/5 were ferocious from start to finish against a bigger and faster Littleton team. Emerson McAdam and Caitlin Saboliauskas led on the defensive side of the ball, while Regan Gilmore paced an improving offense.

B4/5

The fourth- and fifth-grade boys lost a tough-fought rematch against Middlesex TAP 33-20. Casey Trimper led G-D with eight points, Kevin Broderick and Ryan Hamill added four apiece. Connor Buchman and Patrick Kelly played great defense and worked the boards hard for G-D.

Bye week - no game.

The sixth-grade boys defeated Acton-Boxboroug. High scorer was Josh Dai with 20, 10 in shots and 10 in free throw points. Other scorers were Smith with nine, Raymond six, Lacombe six, Booth two and Gerrish two.

The seventh-grade girls entered the holiday break on a high note, with a gutsy win over Maynard in a physical battle at the Middle School North. After falling behind initially, G7 settled into their game and ended the first half with a 17-11 lead, led by an aggressive Kyleigh McDonald (10 points) whose dribble penetration was unstoppable. Maynard pulled to within one to start the second half, and even grabbed a 1one-point edge later on. Overly aggressive play ended up costing Maynard though as a number of their players fouled out, including two on a foul and technical foul that sent McDonald to the line for five free shots. G-D pulled away shortly after, winning the battle of wills on the boards helped in no small part by Olivia Shusta (four points, eight rebs.), Katie Eberhardt (one point, nine rebounds) and Ali Vogel (six points, nine rebs.). Vogel converted on a number of layups in the last minute of play to stretch the G-D edge from one to nine points. G-D also had solid offensive contributions from Aine Murphy (four points), Amanda Lacombe (five points) and Caroline Straw (three points). The final buzzer blew with the score 38-29 G-D and overjoyed home-court fans.

The seventh grade boys played a strong game, but lost to a tough Wachusett opponent with a final score of 33-42. It was a fast and physical game with a close score through much of the game. B7 was up by three points at the half with great pass execution and playing with an impressive intensity. The B7s stayed strong during the second half with key steals and rebounds from Matt Fordham, Matt Lamarre, Riley Curran and Kyle Plausse. But the Wachusett defense held G-D’s scoring to a minimum during the last five minutes of the game and maintained its momentum for the win.

The eighth-grade girls battled Wachusett this past weekend, fending off a second-half surge where their double-digit lead dwindled to three points. Both teams started slow on the offensive end, and G8 went into halftime with a 17-8 lead.

Wachusett opened up the second half strong, reducing G-D's lead at the 8:00 minute mark to 27-24. G8 then went on 22-2 run to end the game finally winning, 49-26. Nicole Tammaro led all scorers with 13 points and five assists. She also grabbed three rebounds and made two steals. Bronwyn Mulligan (11 rebounds, four assists, one block, one steal), Jillian Van Pelt (four steals, three rebounds, two assists) and Abby Eisenklam (five assists, two blocks, six rebounds, three steals) were also big contributors. G-D is now 10-0 in league play.

The eighth-grade boys headed to Ashburnham to take on Oakmont with the hopes of gaining it's 10th consecutive league win and securing the regular season championship. There was little doubt even early in the contest with B8 racing out to a 21-4 lead and 39-8 half-time advantage. Oakmont could not match GD's defensive intensity, speed, and depth (six of eight available players scored in the half). In a slower second half, G-D ended with 65 points to Oakmont's 20. Sam Eggimann led the team and contributed 14 points. Jack Foster had 13 points and Joe O'Malley snuck in 15 in limited minutes, including two-three pointers. Colin teDuits led the rebounding for the Crusaders. Sam Smethurst played a strong game as well and contributed four points.