Groton Dunstable Travel Basketball

February 28, 2016

PRESS RELEASE

G4/5

The fourth-and fifth-grade girls fell 17-9 to Wachusett. After a close first half, Wachusett pulled away down the stretch. Liv Wadden was strong on both ends of the floor, keeping G-D close until the end.

B4/5

The fourth- and fifth-grade boys finished the regular season strong with a 35-10 win over Athol.  Casey Trimper led scorers with eight points, Theo Murphy, Connor Buchman, Christian Tims and Kevin Broderick all added five each.  Kevin Broderick had multiple assists, Patrick Kelly blocked five shots on the defensive end and Ryan Hamill grabbed numerous rebounds.

B5

The fifth-grade boys finished their regular season at 5-5 with a loss on the final day to Maynard, 32-25.  Although G-D was able to close the gap in the second half,  it trailed by as many as 19 points. Andrew Stenstream and Finn Bernard led the Crusaders with six points each. Taylor Wiercinski added five and Will Vogel four.  G-D will wait until later this week to see who it will draw in the tournament this weekend.

G6

The sixth-grade girls faced Northbridge for the second time this season and came away with their second win.  G-D had a six-point lead at halftime, but Northbridge closed in, tied the game and then went up by one with less than a minute to go.  The G6s team didn't waiver and played extremely aggressive defense, causing key turnovers by Northbridge which allowed Clare Joyce to score the final basket with less than 10 seconds to go, putting G-D up for good - 24-23.

The scoring attack by G-D was very balanced with eight crusaders putting points on the board.  Clare Joyce led the way with seven points, followed by Haly Buchmann with four and Lili Evans added three. Susanna Majkut, Cassidy Lacombe, Lidia Spada, Brooke Barry, and Taylor Caldwell all had two points to close out the offensive charge from the G6 team.

B6

The sixth-grade boys pulled out a victory over Acton-Boxborough Gold,  46–43.  A loss earlier in the year, G-D overcame the past this time with high scorer Josh Dai (19points). He was followed by Chris Smith who scored 15.

B7

The seventh-grade boys finished their regular season with a decisive 56-33 victory over crossover opponent Sutton this weekend.  B7 were excited to play, started strong and maintained their lead throughout the entire fast-paced and well-executed game. Brandon Wiercinski contributed a season-high 23 points. Other offensive standouts this game were Ryan Bernard and Riley Curran.  The B7s showed their considerable defensive strengths with Dougie Tompkins‘ athletic leaps to keep the ball inbound, Matt Fordham’s fast steals, and all the Crusaders’ energetic rebounding.  This was a welcome win, giving the B7s home court advantage for the playoffs next week. 

G8

The eighth-grade girls took on Framingham this past Sunday in their final game of the regular season.  After starting a little slow, the G8's amped up their defense and exploded with some offensive firepower in transition and went into the half leading 35-6.

The second half was never in doubt as the G8s cruised to a 51-18 win.  Lauren Hill and Emma Wilson had strong performances with nine points each, followed by Jillian Van Pelt with eight, Carolyn Mullins with seven and Abby Eisenklam with six.  The G8s will now begin preparing for next weekend's playoffs , where they will enter as the number one seed.

B8

The eighth-grade boys finished their regular season with another strong performance beating the second place team Nashoba, 59-44. This win completes an undefeated regular season for the Crusaders, a 11-0 run and 15-2 record overall including tournaments. While the three-point shooting was not typical (only two for the day), B8 made up for it with tenacious defense, causing Nashoba to turn the ball over often. With just a four-point lead at the half, 31-27, G-D turned it up a notch and held Nashoba to 17 in the second half.

Joe O'Malley was a force on both ends of the court, scoring 17 and creating absolute havoc on the defensive end. Tim Stark also contributed 17 points on a variety of great takes to the hoop. Tyler Peck, against tough defense, still posted 13 points. Charlie Willis also had a strong game, contributing nine points and numerous rebounds. Sammy Eggimann was hustle player of the game, filling in at the power forward position due to injuries.