By Avonlea Cummings
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
Basketball is a fast-paced game, counting down the seconds on the shot clock, teams have only 35 seconds to strategize and execute their chances to the hoop. Alongside strategy, comes agility, and the determination to stay in the game every second of every quarter. Dressed in bright bubblegum pink uniforms, in honor of breast cancer awareness, the Medfield girls' basketball team gave their all on Tuesday, January 30th for their second-season matchup against the Westwood Wolverines. The Warriors would silence Westwood and continue their ten-game winning streak, finalizing the evening’s score with an outstanding 69-25.
In one high jump, Westwood junior Angelina Homsy tipped off against Medfield’s Izzy Kittredge to commence the first half of the evening’s competition. Suddenly, both sides of the court were ignited, quickly setting the scene. Medfield’s senior Annie Stanton was quick to apply the Warrior’s offensive pressure.
Throughout the first half, Medfield took control of the ball, but the Wolverines weren’t going to make it easy for them. Westwood was hungry for more points too, and worked hard to defend MedBall’s skills on the court. Freshman Naya Annigeri snapped the ball effortlessly around Medfield’s offensive side, quickly making passes to Tess Baacke, Stanton, Sadie Cumming and more. MedBall created holes in Westwood’s strong defensive efforts and capitalized on any chance they could. By the end of the first half, Medfield took the reigns of the night’s matchup and led the scoreboard 40-11.
A ten-minute debrief split the halves and the players and coaches discussed their plans on how to continue to challenge the opposing teams. After a quick warm-up, the second half began, and the action picked up right where it left off. Westwood looked to make strong passes to one another quick and snappy in hopes of keeping possession as they traveled down the court. It was a back-and-forth battle as each team continued to sub out players for refreshed legs on the court. The Medfield girls played every member of their roster throughout the game, giving them all a chance to experience more time on the court. Mary Palladino, Jailen Annigeri, and Olivia Whelan, continued to defend their side of the court alongside their teammates, looking to snag more points when they got the opportunity. Naya Annigeri tallied up 16 individual points, Annie Stanton secured 14 points and Tess Baacke pocketed 10 points for the MedBall girls. As the time clock ticked away, Medfield tacked on 29 additional points in the second half giving the MedBall girls the upper hand as the game came to a close, the Warriors would win 69-25.
Roars of cheers came from the stands as the final buzzer sounded into the air and the Med-Ball girls would celebrate another victory of the season. Senior captains Annie Stanton and Sadie Cumming shared their thoughts on the game and being able to give everyone time on the court.
“It felt really good to be on the court today, we work very hard during practices, so it was really great to see everyone out there,” said Stanton. “It’s rewarding for us to get the playing time, it’s good for everyone to get a feel for what it’s going to be like,” said Cumming.
Captain Stanton also shed light on their pink uniform tradition: “We do them (the uniforms) for breast cancer awareness, we have been doing it for a long time now, it’s a tradition that has been passed down by generations,” said Stanton.
Stanton and Cumming spoke about the great success of this season, and how the team’s energy plays a big role. “I think everyone has as much energy as we can on and off the court, when everyone is hyped up there is so much good vibes which makes everyone want to do better,” said Stanton.
“We are really geling on and off the court which has been great, we are doing a lot of team bonding which helps a lot. We have been communicating well on the court too, which also helps,” reflected Cumming.
The MedBall girls will travel to take on Ashland High on Friday, February 9th, the tip-off is set for 5PM.
