From left: Sara Durfresne of Lunenburg tries to hold onto the ball as Bromfield’s Amy Jorgensen and Montana Burke attempt to steal it. (Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Despite a very aggressive and relentless fight put up by the Lady Trojans, Bromfield lost at home to the Lunenburg Knights, 48-60. It was their first defeat and a tough loss after beating Oakmont High School the previous Friday, 49-35.
The girls varsity basketball team started out strong with center starter Sue Ross winning the jump ball. Defensively, Bromfield dominated the court in the first quarter and outshot their opponents. In the second quarter, the girls had two rebounds and four defensive steals. Bromfield was down 20 to 25 at halftime.
Bromfield came out looking for a comeback after halftime. In the third quarter alone, the girls racked up 10 rebounds and three steals.
After the first steal, junior co-captain Montana Burke scored a lay-up. Junior starter Casey Magrath sank a jump shot after a crucial steal that increased Bromfield’s offensive momentum. Additionally, Bromfield outscored Lunenburg 15 to 13 but still trailed by three points entering the fourth quarter.
Lierhaus made a jump shot, then got fouled on a drive to the basket, and as a result made both free throw shots. With two minutes and 59 seconds left in the last quarter, Magrath fouled out. Burke made a reverse lay-up with 33 seconds on the clock reaching a final score of 48 to 60.
Bromfield’s strong defensive play led to two shot-clock violations against their opponents. At the end of both the first and second halves, Lunenburg was in foul trouble, but Bromfield was not able to take advantage of the free throw shot opportunities.
“Even though we lost, the game was really a great effort by our team,” said senior co-captain Katja Lierhaus. “It was so obvious that we really wanted to win but we weren’t making free throws and couldn’t get our jump shots in. However, our defense was really, really good.”
Sophomore Sue Ross goes up for a shot.
Bromfield’s Athletic Director Pam Alexander agreed.
“I’ve seen the girls shoot better in their previous games, but defense against Lunenburg was very strong,” she said. “Lunenburg had strong offensive players and we really were able to slow them down.”
Junior Dareen Kanaan, a second year varsity player, is out with a concussion she incurred during a pre-season scrimmage and said she hopes to be returning to play by the third week in January.
“Although we lost, it wasn’t a bad game. Our team played great defense throughout the game, but our shots just wouldn’t fall,” she said after watching her team play against Lunenburg.
When asked about the difference in play between the girls’ first two consecutive wins against Montachusett Technical High School and Oakmont High School versus the loss against Lunenburg, Lierhaus responded, “The biggest difference between this game and the last two was that at Oakmont and Monty Tech all our shots were falling. Other than that, we pretty much were on our game.”
Senior Molly Papazian said this was an important game for her team.
“We need to work on not being as nervous during big games,” she said. “We need to come out strong like we did in the second half and play the entire game like we did in the third quarter.”
Burke and Lierhuas led their team offensively with 13 and 11 points respectively. Magrath finished with eight points, Ross scored seven, while Amy Jorgenson had two. Off the bench, senior Katie Drummey added three points to the overall score and Papazian scored four.
The Bromfield girls varsity team faces off against Murdock High School at home on Friday, Jan. 6 at 6 p.m. for their next game.
