Owen Jones
Junior Sadie Candella attempts to block her opponent from passing the ball. The girls' basketball team won their Senior Night game against Leominster 37-24 on Feb. 8.
The girls’ basketball team continued a strong season on Tuesday, Feb. 8 with a 39-24 victory over Leominster as they celebrated a strong group of seniors on Senior Night
The team was missing injured senior Anna Grace Hjerpe, but the other five seniors all received a spot in the starting lineup and performed well in the victory. Senior captain Danielle Adams led the way with 14 points, including eight unanswered points to begin the game.
“I was really happy about [my own performance], but I could not have done it without the rest of the team feeding me the ball and being aggressive,” Adams said.
To add to Adams’ strong performance, sophomore Sophie Hjerpe contributed nine points. Senior Amy Sullivan and senior captain Jada Carter-Frem supplemented strong defensive performances with six and four points, respectively.
While the team got out to a lead early, they were struggling at the free throw line, missing all of their free throws in the first quarter.
“I think adjusting to the energy of tonight’s game, we lacked a little bit on our free throws,” Adams said.
The shooting struggles allowed Leominster to tie the game at 16 by half-time. However, the second half was a very different story. Sullivan believes the team was able to refocus themselves during halftime.
“I think we had to regroup at halftime and focus on what we wanted to accomplish as a team,” Sullivan said.
In the second half, Sullivan, Carter-Frem and the rest of the team’s defense held Leominster to just eight additional points.
“I think we did really well on defense,” Sullivan said. “We communicated with each other, and we moved as a team. We were always there to help one another on defense, which was really key.”
The team also found their stride on offense late into the game. Their free-throw shooting saw significant improvement in the second half.
“I always say free throws win games, so I’m happy we were able to improve on what we were missing in the first half,” Adams said.
Sophie Hjerpe made the sole three pointer of the game. Overall, they finished the game on a 23-6 run.
“I think we really stepped up and took care of the ball,” Sullivan said. “We played good defense, got the boards, and we were able to pull out with the win, which was really exciting for us.”
As part of Senior Night traditions, all six seniors were honored after the game, joining their families on the court for pictures. This win added to the best season these seniors have had as members of this team. The team is now 11-6 as they prepare to travel to Oakmont on Friday, Feb. 18.
Editor’s Note: This article contains sources who are members of The Harbinger’s Editorial Board. Such members have been removed from this article’s editorial process in order to maintain fair and bias-free reporting.